You get what you pay for

Sony's T100 digicam exhibits all the usual traits of its handsome siblings - great pictures, light weight and stellar battery life. But for many people its €490 price tag makes it overkill unless you've simply must have the latest fashion. Read the full Sony T100 review in today's paper.

In games, Halo 2 jumps to the PC from the Xbox - to the sound of near-total indifference. A three-year-old game, it looks and plays its age. To add insult to injury, you need to run it on Windows Vista. Virtua Tennis 3 has been translated to PS3 and PSP without some of the X360 version's goodness - but remains huge fun. Metroid Prime Pinball is a weird one - released two years in the US, its sole purpose seems to be to introduce the Rumble Pak to the DS. Neither that nor the game are worth the effort. Japanese RPG Enchanted Arms proves no more interesting in this PS3 version than it did on X360.

Lost in translation

German gadget maker Mio isn't a well known brand round these parts so we had no expectations when picking up its new GPS receiver, the C520, a mid-range device. Although it looks similar to competitor products from Garmin and TomTom, the real letdown was the outdated maps. That can be corrected but its interface still lacks something compared to its rivals. Full review of the Mio C520 in today's paper.

In games, Forza Motorsport 2 (X360) retools the excellent racer sim with many worthy upgrades and an appeal spanning petrolheads to casual gamers. Mercury Meltdown Revolution hits the Wii and feels instantly at home thanks to responsive tilt controls. Meteos: Disney Magic (DS) simplifies the falling-blocks puzzler and adds layers of cuteness, neither of which improves on the original.

Pervert's dream

The zoom lens on practically every camera is highly visible. When the zoom gets hidden inside the body, there's not much to play with - usually 3x. So the Casio Exilim EX-V7 could end up the pervert's choice of camera, with its 7x zoom tucked away invisibly.

The €450 cost counts against it (versus other compacts in this class) but there's a lot of good things going for this little beauty. Read the full Casio Exilim EX-V7 review in today's paper.

In games, Shadowrun (X360) has a great set-up (mixing technology and magic in an FPS) but fails to follow through, particularly in its poor single-player effort. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (released on many formats but reviewed on 360) raises the bar for many movie tie-ins with some ace visuals and an engaging opening chapter. But it quickly degenerates into inoffensive but routine hack'n'slash. Finally Full Auto II: Battlelines essays the chaotic next-gen racer on PSP but asks too much of the little machine.

Well in-bred

The Razr clones keep on coming. The latest offspring from the Motorola labs/photocopying machine goes by the name of MotoRizr and, yes, it shares most of its DNA with much of the rest of the Moto range.

That's not to say it's bad, it's solid and not unattractive ... just oh-so-familiar. Read the full MotoRizr review in today's paper.

In games, Mario Strikers Charged Football risks a complaint from the Advertising Standards Authority. Not much football, just lots of wacky cartoon action, and the Wii's first online multiplayer game.

Picross DS could be another crossover hit for Nintendo, aimed at the Sudoku crowd. Part Battleships, part numbers puzzle, it may just end up in newspapers too as the next craze. Smash Court Tennis 3 plays the PSP's straight man to the light comedy of the Virtua Tennis series. Rather too straight-laced for its own good, it still packs a decent game of racquet and ball.

Finally, Buzz Junior RoboJam (PS2) will please the little 'uns, employing the big red buzzers for more silly fun. No one over eight will be impressed, though.