Flip Video Mino

Hello, I'm Rich Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Flip Video Mino. Now, I have a cold, but even my Lemsip-addled brain can work out how to use this little gadget. It's a little brother to the Flip Video Ultra, which has enjoyed enormous success in the States and is doing rather well over here too. The Mino is very similar to the Ultra in its simplicity of use. If you want to record, you press the big red button. If you want to stop recording, you press the big red button. Then you've got your playback controls: volume, play and pause, and you can now fast-forward and rewind videos. There's a TV connection at the side and a tripod socket at the bottom. So what's changed from the Ultra? Well, as you can see, the Mino is slightly smaller, and much slimmer. This is mostly down to the the Mino's addition of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery instead of AA batteries, as on the Ultra. The Mino still has the signature Flip flip-out USB, but it's now been moved to the top of the camera. As well as transferring footage, that USB connection now also charges the battery. This does mean that if you run out of juice while out and about you can't just stick in a couple of new AAs, or even swap in a spare, because, like the iPod, the battery isn't user-replacable. But most of us are used to charging our gadgets by now, and the saving in buying batteries -- and in size -- is certainly worth it. Flip told us in an exclusive interview for Crave, our daily gadget blog, that the Mino is aimed at a younger demographic who want something they can slip in their pocket, and that's certainly true of the Mino, which is much more mobile phone-sized than the chunkier Ultra. It also feels a bit sturdier, too. It's still only VGA, so it's best for the Web. You can shoot 60 minutes of footage, which is more than enough for those YouTube clips. Flip has improved the sound quality of the Mino, improving the microphone and adding a second speaker for better playback sound. Flip has also added Muvee software, which can cleverly mix your footage together and even add your own music. I'm Rich Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Flip Video Mino.