camera

Mio looking to capture new audience with GPS camera

Mio Technology is hoping to take GPS to new places, more specifically, beyond the car. At Computex 2008 (Asia's largest technology trade show), Mio unveiled a new concept product called the "PND (portable navigation device) camera" that integrates a GPS radio into a digital camera. Details and specs are pretty light at the moment, but according to GPS Business News, the device will feature a 3.5-inch touch screen and with the two integrated technologies, the camera will be able to geotag your photos.

Now, this isn't a completely novel idea. We've seen GPS modules … Read more

BenQ camera sports iPhone-like touch screen

The Taiwanese manufacturer has just introduced what it claims is the world's thinnest 8-megapixel digital camera, the BenQ T850. Measuring a compact 14.9 millimeters thick, it has a stainless steel casing, a large 3-inch LCD display, 3x optical zoom, and high ISO 1,600 setting.

But while its imaging features are nothing to brag about, the T850's iPhone-like touchscreen capabilities stand out from the competition. According to the press release, users can access almost all the camera functions with three simple finger movements: tap, circle, and swipe. The swipe gesture (left to right across the screen), … Read more

Kenko camera does the Mickey thing

Japanese camera accessories maker Kenko is slapping pictures of Disney characters on its new point-and-shoot.

The DMC-50 comes with a 5.17-megapixel sensor, 2.4-inch LCD screen, 128MB of internal memory (with SD card expansion slot), and 4x digital zoom. That's right, boys and girls, this shooter doesn't have an optical zoom lens: This new kid on the block is begging to be ousted from our labs so far as specs are concerned.

What's mildly interesting is the rear interface, which looks like a portable game console. But other than that, the design is still quite conventional, … Read more

Canon 5D Mark II book on Amazon.com becomes blogospheric oopsie

There's something to be said for missing a big rumor because of a national holiday. Unless there's some real information, I don't really care about posting every time a new product name surfaces in software, or in this case, on a book title on Amazon.com.

While I was relaxing on my day off, non-vacationing bloggers had already spread the rumor about a Canon 5D Mark II book appearing on Amazon.com (Engadget, PhotographyBay, Gizmodo, and lots more), which was then discredited by the book's publisher in a Dpreview forum as simply a placeholder entry.

Frankly, … Read more

Snap 10-megapixel photos with GE E1030 camera, $129.99

If you're in the market for a new camera and want as much megapixel bang for the buck as you can get, Micro Center has the 10-megapixel GE E1030 on sale for just $129.99. (Yes, General Electric makes cameras--who knew?) That's a good $50 less than you'll pay elsewhere.

The E1030 features a 2.7-inch LCD, 3X optical zoom, and automatic face, smile, and blink detection. It offers a dozen scene modes and can record 25-fps VGA movies. It can also stitch together panoramic shots right in the camera. The camera has a paltry 26MB … Read more

CNET's camera and camcorder review status report

I'm not too proud to steal a good idea, in this case Katz's most excellent CNET's HDTV review status report. I, too, get besieged by e-mails asking when we're planning to review camera x, why haven't we yet reviewed camcorder y, as well as escalatingly irritated e-mails as to why I failed to respond to a reader's previous e-mails regarding the previous two questions. And since today is Phil Ryan's last day with us, I, too, have just become a lone reviewer staring down an onrushing tide of the almost 200 new products … Read more

Canon considers fuel cells to power cameras

A patent has been filed by Canon for a technology that uses fuel cells to power dSLRs instead of the conventional lithium-ion batteries.

For those not familiar with fuel cells, they are often mentioned as a greener alternative power source, with some cars already running on it. Another interesting fact is that, unlike traditional batteries that supply a constant voltage, the current will fluctuate in accordance to the device's needs.

What this means for Canon is that its cameras, if powered by fuel cells, can draw power from the source more effectively, leading to a longer-lasting battery while at … Read more

Sony posts loss, but has rosy outlook for electronics division

Weighed down by its financial unit, Sony posted a $45 million loss for its fourth quarter earnings Wednesday.

Analysts were expecting an average estimated profit of $260 million for the quarter.

Revenue for Sony's video game unit, which competes head-to-head with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, grew by 26 percent in the past year based on better sales of the PlayStation 3 console.

Still, the bright point of the company's quarterly report was its electronics business. Revenue was up 9 percent due to increased sales of its digital cameras, video cameras, and notebook PCs.

The … Read more

Two family-friendly photo printers from Canon

Canon just added two new players to its roster of Selphy portable photo printers: the CP770 and CP760, both heavily marketed to families interested in printing photos directly off their phones and digital cameras. We liked its full-size sibling, the Selphy CP740, so we're looking forward to checking these out.

Let's take a look:

Selphy CP760:

$100 Familiar rectangular shape 2.5-inch color TFT screen Features Canon's "Portrait Image Optimize" technology for light photo fixes on the go. Print resolution: 300x300 dpi Connects via PictBridge, USB, IrDA, or directly through memory card slots

Selphy CP770: … Read more