The Koreans and Japanese started it, but the twist-and-shoot camera phone is becoming a staple design for other makers, including Nokia, whose N90 model is being promoted heavily in television ads. Dutch electronics maker Philips has also adopted the design, but instead of introducing an ultra high-end phone like the $7,000 Nokia N90, the Philips 968 is priced as a mid-range phone and offers good value for money. The tri-band GSM 968 doesn't have the souped-up photo and video capabilities of the N90's Carl Zeiss lens, but still offers an acceptable 1.3-megapixel integrated camera with the ability to record MPEG-4 video. If you took the N90, removed much of its fancy design elements - such as the twistable camera module - pared down the features slightly and shaved about $4,000 dollars off the price, then you'd have the 968, priced at a very competitive $2,980. While it won't stand out in the crowd as well as the N90, the 968 isn't a slouch in functionality. It's powered by a Linux operating system that not only offers the standard downloadable screensavers, wallpapers, ring tones and Java for games and applications - it also supports handwriting recognition. You may ask: 'what do you write on?' That's the other bonus feature of the 968: Its 262,000-colour LCD screen is touch-sensitive, allowing you to write on it with a stylus, which should come in handy, especially when inputing Chinese. Other basic features of the 968 include an SD card slot for memory expansion and PC connectivity through a USB cable. But the 968 does come up short in terms of connection options. It has no infrared or Bluetooth support, which makes it extremely difficult to transfer files to and from the 968. That means there is no way to send your photos from the 968 to your friends unless you MMS them. If you want to send them to multiple friends, then the costs can add up quickly. Considering the fact that exchanging photos and ring tones between phones is becoming quite common these days, this will be a sore spot for many users. PROS: twist-and-shoot design; touch-sensitive display; handwriting recognition CONS: no infrared; no Bluetooth
