Digital Shot

After having teased us with the powerful-but-expensive XH G1 and XH A1 high definition prosumer camcorders, Canon has now brought that same 1080i goodness to the the little guy with its first consumer-oriented HD model, the iVIS HV10. Recording onto standard miniDV cassettes using the HDV format, the Optura-like HV10 features a 1/2.7-inch CMOS able to capture 2,048 x 1,536 stills, 10x optical zoom, a 2.7-inch LCD display, and miniSD slot for storing photos. Compared to Sony’s HDR-HC3 this device certainly holds its own, as its optical image stabilization trumps the Sony’s electronic version, and its maximum video capture resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 is higher than the competition’s 1,440 x 1,080 — though the HC3 sports an HDMI output, while the HV10 does not. Best of all, its 150,000 Yen ($1,300) pricetag will set you back about $400 less than the HC3 when this model (in either black or silver) debuts next month in Japan; the US release, however, is still up in the air.

[Via CamcorderInfo, Akihabara News, and Impress]

Canon intros first consumer HD camcorder, the iVIS HV10 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a move probably intended to placate investors after a disastrous second quarter — recently-reported net losses of $282 million were even higher than expected — Kodak has announced that it will shift the manufacturing of its digital cameras over to Singapore-based Flextronics International. Although Kodak will continue to “develop the high-level system design, product look and feel, and user experience” of the cameras, Flextronics will acquire most of the company’s Digital Product Center in Japan, and will be responsible for the assembly, production, and testing of the entire lineup. As part of the deal — which Kodak hopes will help bring products to market more quickly as well as control costs — about 550 of its employees will be transplanted to Flextronics facilities in China. While Kodak is currently the number one seller of digital cameras in the US, it’s been difficult for the company to make the transition from film, with 100,000 workers having lost their jobs since 1988. Assuming that the requisite conditions are met and regulators give the thumbs up, the two companies plan to seal the deal before the end of the current quarter.

[Via LetsGoDigital]

Kodak digital cameras to be manufactured by Flextronics originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We’d like to think if you were carrying a 3.5-inch $150 GPS receiver on your person you’d be able to use it for more than just geo-tagging your Cyber-shot photos, but hey, that’s Sony for ya. Their new GPS-CS1 tracks your coordinates while you’re out and syncs your timed route to your PC with their Picture Motion Browser, which then uses the timestamps embedded in your photographs to provide maps with geographically coordinated “virtual push pins” for augmented photo library meta-posterity. It’s an interesting and compelling concept even despite the typical Sony walled garden, but now that they’ve pioneered the method we think someone’s liable to hack up a quick and dirty GPS-enabled smartphone app to do the same for the rest of Flickr-using types (and don’t say Zonetag — doesn’t count).

Sony’s GPS-CS1 provides GPS for cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 04:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.