Samsung introduced a few new point-and-shoot cameras yesterday and while some were more of the same, one stands out from the crowd. The HZ35W pairs a 12 megapixel sensor with Schneider KREUZNACH lenses and both optical and digital image stabilization for crisp, clear pics. The 24mm lens extends for an optical zoom of 15 times and the backside is graced with a 3″ AMOLED display. But the integrated GPS adds appeal for you geo-taggers out there:

“With the HZ35W, users can geo-tag digital images, recording the longitude and latitude of where in the world the photo was taken.  The camera will display the name of the city, state, and country on its AMOLED screen.  Thanks to its visual map-view feature, users can even check the photos’ location on a map without having to upload the images to the Internet.”

If that’s not enough, there’s the nearly standard 720p high definition video recording at 30 fps as well. And an HDMI interface can pump your pics to the big screen. Samsung hasn’t disclosed a price just yet, so we’ll have to see if the cost is off the map or somewhere near the crossroads of affordable and powerful.

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During the Consumer Electronics Show, I took a bunch of pictures with the Google Nexus One handset and it performed admirably. The flash was ideal in very low light setting although after a few meters away from your subject, the value decreases quickly. But I’m already getting questions about the video capability of the device. I was going to shoot a comparison between the iPhone 3GS and the Nexus One, but my friends at NewTeeVee beat me to the punch. There you can see two videos to compare.

Their verdict? The Nexus One offers better clarity, but the iPhone 3GS handles the white balance better. I’m not surprised by the video quality, though — the Nexus One captures 720 x 480 up to 20 fps while the iPhone 3GS grabs 640 x 480 up to 30 fps. For fast-moving action, the iPhone may trump the Nexus One. But for basic scenery with little to no movement — quite common for my cats, as you’ll see — the Nexus One offers a solid experience. And just like the iPhone, I was able to upload the file directly to YouTube, although I was cautioned that “large” files can only be sent over Wi-Fi.

I don’t think the Nexus One — nor the iPhone 3GS, for that matter — will replace my higher-end cameras for planned video. However, the best camera is the one you have with you, as they say. And since I carry my phones everywhere, the Nexus One camera will get plenty of use when I least expect it — like when the cats decide to get their five minutes of daily exercise. ;)

Note: I’ve received errors when trying to play the video back at HighQuality, so I suspect that it’s still in process at YouTube. If it doesn’t work when you view it, I recommend taking a look later. And if you’re curious about those low light pics, here are two faces you might recognize: Dave Zatz and jkk.

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All of this doubling down doesn’t cost a cent more than the current Pro card either — the MSRP of the new Pro X2 is still $149.99. And just like the current offering, you can upload JPEG, RAW or video files from your camera without wires. The new Endless Memory mode will even free up space on your card as photos are offloaded. My own testing of an Eye-Fi card showed it to be a usable solution, but not nearly as fast as using a USB cable or card reader. I’d probably see more benefit if I transferred pics to various online photo sites since the card can do that automatically, but I tend to edit photos before shooting them to the web. However, with these latest improvements in the hardware, I may have to take another look. There’s something very appealing about moving high-resolution photos or videos from a DSLR to a computer without wires.

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There’s no price or official announcement from Samsung just yet, so we’ll all have to wait for an actual shipping product. Based on the FCC documents, here’s what you’ll be waiting on in addition to the wireless functionality: 14.2 megapixels, 7x optical, 3.5″ LCD touch screen, microSD support and high-def video recording of 720p at 30fps. Here’s how it looks from the FCC’s point of view — and it makes me wonder: what camera do they use?

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Image Credit: Zatz Not Funny

Now this is a clever use of digital image processing — Sony’s DSC-WX1 can seamlessly stitch pictures together for a massively wide panoramic image. Dave Zatz recently took the WX1 for a spin — and I do mean “spin” literally. Aside from the standard bells and whistles on a 10 megapixel pocket shooter, you have to do a little spin for that panoramic mode. You tap the shutter release and physically pan around while the WX1 captures images. Then the camera stitches the input together for a super-wide view — and from the two samples Dave shared, it looks pretty seamless. I don’t see any evidence of the photo stitching, meaning Dave either has a super-steady hand or the WX1 is good at what it does. Click the above image for a larger size and see if you can find any stitching.

The WX1 lists for around $350, but is readily available for $299, and includes a few other nice features for a portable picture taker: a premium f/2.4 lens, stationary wide angle of 24mm, 5x optical zoom, anti-motion blur mode, 10 fps shooting, and 720p video capture.

Image Credit: Sony

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Image credit: Google

Photo buffs using Picasa get an early holiday gift — a free 4 GB Eye-Fi Home Video wireless SD card with the purchase of cloud storage space. Google is offering the deal to folks purchasing 200 GB of online storage at a cost of $50. Along with the storage is the Eye-Fi card and one year of geotagged transfers from it — the card is valued at $69.99 while the service is worth another $24.98, so at $50 for the storage and Eye-Fi kit, it’s a solid deal.

A few caveats appear on the offer page: U.S. and Canada only and you’ll have to be a first-time buyer of Google’s storage product. Having used an Eye-Fi in the past, I’ve found that it’s not a primary photo offload solution for me. Although it is convenient to transfer photos from my Canon EOS Rebel T1i without any cables, it can be a slow process — especially if I have a bunch of pics to transfer. I find that using a USB cable generally offers a faster experience for my workflow. Typically, I transfer all pics from my camera to a computer. I then choose which ones I want to work with and edit, which is easier to do on the computer than on the camera. Only after editing, do I upload any to an online service. Of course, if you don’t have a USB cable with you, the Eye-Fi is a lifesaver. Aside from standard pics, the 4GB Eye-Fi Home Video does support transfer of video files, but not the RAW images that I use. For that, you need to step up to the Eye-Fi Pro card.

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I previously mentioned the super, pre-holiday deal on the Panasonic high-definition camcorder, but a deal is only good if the product works well. So this afternoon, I got some playtime with the HDC-SD10 and recorded a short video of my office area. My workspace is quite the mess and I wasn’t even planning to share the video, but I was so impressed with the 1920 x 1080 output, that I decided to upload it. I still have to get a handle on the various buttons and features, but overall, this is a solid camcorder for the $299 I paid.

I originally thought I’d have to upgrade my iMovie 08 to the current edition, but it turns out that the older application imports the AVCHD file format. Perhaps iMovie 09 offers support for direct recording from camera to Mac, but that’s not a feature I really need, so I’ll stick with the software I have.

Obviously, the video that you’re able to view is compressed and resized down from 1920 x 1080, so you’re not getting a true view of what I can see. But the quality from where I sit is quite good, especially for the price. And with the small size and weight of the HDC-SD10, I suspect this little device just made the cut for January’s Consumer Electronics Show.

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So is this the best handheld camcorder out there? Of course not, but at this price, I simply couldn’t pass it up. As you can see by the photo gallery, the HDC-SD10 has roughly the same footprint as my iPhone 3GS, so it’s pretty small. And it doesn’t weigh all that much either — the body only weighs 85 grams more than my iPhone and the battery doesn’t add much more heft. I can easily see myself throwing this in a gear bag — OK, maybe not throwing — for use at CES and on the run.

The HDC-SD10 supports recording in full 1920 x 1080 at up to 60 interlaced frames per second or 24 fps progressive and sports a 16x optical zoom. The device records to an SD card in AVCHD format and can also take 2.1 megapixel stills. Other features include:

• Optical image stabilization
• 2.7″ LCD with touchscreen for camera controls and settings
• 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x mini HDMI, 1 x component out
• iAuto function for auto-focus, auto-exposure subject tracking
• Integrated microphone for Dolby Digital stereo recording
• 725 mAh battery

Again, there are plenty of better high-definition cameras on the market today — just not at $299.99!

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I’m on a bit of a camera kick this morning. Just after I scored a $299 Panasonic 1080p camcorder from Amazon today, I caught Sal Cangeloso’s thoughts about BorrowLenses.com – a camera lens rental service. I’ve been using my Canon EOS Rebel T1i for months, but only with two lenses. The standard 18-55mm kit lens is a good starter lens, but I’ve added a Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens as well. I’m in the market for a fast telephoto, but they don’t come cheap and that’s where BorrowLenses comes in.

For one week, Sal rented a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 II USM for his digital SLR at the cost of $74 plus shipping and optional insurance. While that might sound like a large sum for a week’s worth of use, this particular lens would cost you $1,900 to purchase. So with that perspective in mind, I think the rental rate is quite reasonable. Some of the telephoto glass I’ve been longing for will easily set me back over $1,000. And if the lens doesn’t really meet my needs, I’m either out that $1,000 or I have to deal with selling it at some discount. From where I stand, a small up-front rental fee is cheap insurance to ensure that I like what I’m planning to buy. Note that some brick-and-mortar camera shops offer lens rentals, so BorrowLenses isn’t necessarily unique. However, Sal’s experience appears very positive, which is good enough for me.

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In a side-by-side comparison, one could argue that pics from the iPhone 3GS look better than those from a Droid. That doesn’t mean you can’t make the Droid photos a little better. Adobe released a mobile Photoshop app for the iPhone a few weeks back, and the same title hits the Android Market today. The free software is limiting in terms of what picture qualities you can change, but I find myself using it on most of my pics. In fact, just yesterday I tweaked this little number using Photoshop for iPhone.

Harvesting the feed corn

What I like about the app is how simple it is. You just choose what function you want and then slide your finger left to right for the adjustment. You can save the photo locally or save and upload to Photoshop.com where you have 2 GB of free storage.

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The Mole arrived late last night, so I’ll have to put it through the paces for a few days yet. From a specification and features perspective, it sounds pretty impressive. Like many standard webcams, the resolution isn’t all that high — we’re talking QVGA and VGA at up to 30fps here. But, it’s a standalone camera so it doesn’t need to be tethered to a stationary computer. The Mole has integrated Wi-Fi so it works as long as there’s a wireless signal. And if you need to extend your viewing beyond your network, there’s an SD card slot to record what the Mole sees and hears. The Mole can also upload videos directly to YouTube which I’ll test, but I’m not sure I’d use that feature all too much.

As far as remote access, you can view the live stream from any Internet connection. Astak says that it even works on the iPhone, so I’ll have a look-see on my 3GS. Remote tilting and panning is also supported: the vertical tilt range is 120-degrees while the horizontal panning is a wide 270-degrees. 15 LED lights help the Mole see in the dark and there’s a motion sensor feature too. When the Mole detects movement, it can email or tweet. I see a number of good uses for the Mole, so I’ll get it set up and take a closer look. Kitties — you have been warned!

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I used the app briefly and it offers enough features for the download to try:

• Crop, rotate and flip
• Exposure, saturation, tint and black & white
• Sketch and soft focus
• Effects of vibrant, pop, border, vignette blur, warm vintage and rainbow

Most of the effects are utilized by swiping your finger — a left swipe reduces an effect while a right swipe increases it. I took an iPhone photo from a recent trip to Bushkill Falls with Barb and liked the final results. Here’s the original pic with the various menus and effects to give you a visual idea. Is it the best photo editing app on the iPhone? Doubtful. But for casual photo users that want to snap and edit pics for online viewing moments later, it’s quite usable.

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I’m probably in the minority here, but I only connect my iPhone via USB once in a blue moon. Basically, I connect the phone to my MacBook to change up the music or to get a software update. That’s probably once every two to three months. With today’s wireless technology, I simply don’t like to connect a phone with wires. Of course, that leads to other challenges — like when I want to get a photo or screenshot off of the iPhone. I’ve been going the dreaded email route up to now, but after watching this video of WiFiPhoto over at Gear Diary, I’m sold. The $0.99 price didn’t hurt, either!

WiFiPhoto lets you pick and choose photos on your phone and then transfers them in full size over an ad-hoc wireless connection to your PC or Mac via your browser. Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer are all supported: you simply type in the IP address of your iPhone, which is provided by the app. It’s simple and effective, plus it avoids clogging up my Inbox while cutting out the “save downloads” step that I so often have to do. The software will also autorotate pics or create a zip file of multiple photos. Here’s a few pics I transferred, along with a shot of the interface.
 

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The MiFi models 2352 and 2372 have an integrated application server that adds the ability to run programs, in addition to the MiFi core function of serving as a 3G router over Wi-Fi. Applications can be preloaded that add functionality to the MiFi to augment the usefulness of the gadget. The agreement announced today describes Eye-Fi software that will allow MiFi owners to upload photos to the MiFi from a camera, even when 3G isn’t available. Uploading to online services is then done automatically when connectivity is possible.

This is a limited scenario, and while those who need to free up space on a camera will appreciate this ability, it sort of duplicates the ability of the Eye-Fi itself. The Eye-Fi is an SD card with Wi-Fi ability integrated, allowing for cameras to tap right into Wi-Fi hotspots. As long as 3G connectivity is present, the MiFi taps into that network and creates a Wi-Fi hotspot. So if 3G is present, the camera with an Eye-Fi installed can connect directly to the web through the MiFi. Confused? It does add functionality to the Eye-Fi user, just not much more than they already have.

Novatel is also announcing enterprise-type software that will be preloaded on these MiFis, such as VPN and anti-virus software. This might add more value for MiFi owners.

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I’m nearing four months of Palm Pre ownership but I’m still carrying two phones with me. Why? Several reasons, but one of them is that my Pre can’t record any video. The hardware of the Pre is certainly capable, but there’s no software support for it. Although I expect we’ll see a webOS upgrade within the next week or so, I don’t think Palm will have added such support, either. Enter some clever developer types armed with command line knowledge, pointed out at PreCentral.

The webOS Internals group shares that knowledge on their wiki if you’re into rooting your Pre and living in a Terminal. I’ll wait to see if there’s a simpler way to fire up a video camera on my Pre, but many adventurers aren’t waiting. They’re either running some command lines or installing an early, test application file. There’s some basic video and sound captures coming right from the Pre as a result, but the files currently appear to be playable only in very specific apps due to the file format and container. The Pre’s camera and processor should theoretically handle 720 x 480 video capture, but I’d expect Palm to only offer VGA recording, if any, in the future.

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