Kodak PlayTouch mini-camcorder is more Science Club than Rugby Club

Kodak's PlayTouch is the latest in its line of Flip-ity 'Play' camcorders, following its more rugged cousin the PlaySport. This one's packing serious features that make it more egghead than meathead.

The PlayTouch records in 1080p and has, as the name implies, a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen to navigate the menus. It's glare-resistant for shooting in daylight, which is a smart, er, touch.

It offers image stabilisation and face-tracking and can make use of an external microphone jack as well as the on-board mic. There are a few neat effects, including high saturation and a '70s film look', in case you ever want to do a shot-for-shot remake of Fawlty Towers in its original quality. That's how we're going to review this thing. Definitely.

On-camera editing lets you snazz up your photos and videos, admittedly in very basic ways, before you share them. Cruelly dumped on holiday? Now it's even easier to crop him or her out of your photos before they appear online. That's super-easy too, with a built-in USB arm and a 'Share' button to automatically upload to YouTube or Facebook. You can also link the camera to your social-network profile and tag people in-camera.

With HDMI output -- the cable's even thrown in -- and enough on-board storage to record 10 hours of video and an SD/SDHC expansion slot, this really is the PlaySport's less active but more intelligent brother. Like the PlaySport, it even comes in four slick and weirdly named colours -- Smoke Gaze (black), Chrome, Cabana (orange) and Spa Blue (teal).

The Kodak PlayTouch will be available this autumn and cost around £200, significantly more than the PlaySport's £130. If you'll excuse us, we're off to Barthelona to cast Manuel.