CES 2008

(Credit: Eye-Fi)

Wireless memory card company Eye-Fi just announced a partnership with Lexar to develop future products. According to an announcement on Tuesday at CES, Eye-Fi will combine its wireless technology with Lexar's flash memory and branding to produce a Lexar wireless SD card.

I spent some time with the original Eye-Fi Card back in November, and was pleased with what I saw. For a first effort at a new consumer device, the Eye-Fi Card worked as advertised and wirelessly uploaded photos to both local computers and online photo sharing sites with minimal fuss. Hopefully this will remain the case as wireless Lexar cards start to ship. The branding and interface might be slightly different, but since both products will use the same basic Eye-Fi technology, they should be similar and fairly direct to use. The original Eye-Fi card can't access public hot spots (hotspots must be registered on the card before it can connect), but perhaps future Lexar/Eye-Fi cards will see expanded Wi-Fi compatibility.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Besides its high-def and waterproof camcorders, Panasonic has unveiled five more models ranging from simple miniDV to hybrid SD/hard drive.

The Panasonic SDR-S7 is a new ultracompact camcorder that records its footage to SD and SDHC cards. The slim shooter looks similar to the rugged SW20, though it lacks any waterproof, shockproof, or dustproof attributes. It features a 10x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch flip-out LCD screen, and a Quick Start feature Panasonic claims lets it start recording just 0.6 second after opening it. The SDR-S7 ships in May, with a suggested retail price of $300.

Described by Panasonic as "hybrid" camcorders, the SDR-H40 and SDR-H60 can record video to either SD/SDHC cards or to their respective 40 GB and 60 GB hard drives. According to Panasonic, the H40 can record up to 36 hours of footage to its hard drive, while the H60 can store up to 56 hours. The H40 sports a 42x optical zoom and the H60 uses a 50x zoom lens, and both use Panasonic's Advanced Mega Optical Image Stabilization system. They both also feature an Anti Shock Shield, which Panasonic claims helps protect their hard drives from bumps and drops. The SDR-H40 ships later this month with a suggested retail price of $450, and the SDR-H60 ships in May with a $550 price tag.

Though not quite as flashy, the Panasonic VDR-D50 and PV-GS90 are the company's respective DVD and miniDV camcorder offerings. Like the SDR-H40, both models feature 42x optical zoom lenses with Panasonic's Advanced Mega O.I.S. The VDR-D50 ships later this month and will retail for about $350, while the PV-GS90 ships in February with a suggested price of $280.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic just revealed a new waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof compact camcorder at today's CES press conference. According to Panasonic, the new SW20 can handle dunks in up to 5 feet of water, drops from up to 4 feet, and will keep most dust out of its pint-size, colorful casing.

Though Panasonic has been producing its rugged Toughbooks for several years now, its camcorders have had this persistent quirk of breaking if you drop them several feet or submerge them in water. The SW20 is the first rugged, waterproof camcorder I've seen so far from Panasonic (last year's SDR-S10 camcorder was shockproof, but not meant to be soaked). The SW20 records video to SD and SDHC cards, capable of recording over 13 hours to a 16 GB card, Panasonic claims. It sports a 10x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch flip-out LCD screen and, according to Panasonic, can start recording just 0.6 second after the camcorder is opened.

The Panasonic SW20 ships in February, with a suggested retail price of $400. It will be available in silver and red versions.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic kicked off its CES digital imaging announcements with two new high-definition camcorders. Eschewing both tapes and DVDs, the Panasonic HDC-HS9 and HDC-SD9 record 1080/24p video directly to SD/SDHC cards.

According to Panasonic, the HDC-SD9 is the smallest, slightest 3CCD 1080/24p camcorder yet, weighing in at less than 0.7 pound. It writes AVCHD video to SD and SDHC cards, storing up to 6 hours of high-def footage to a 16 GB card. With the company's newly announced 32 GB SDHC card, the space doubles to up to 12 hours.

The 3CCD HDC-HS9 can also record footage to SD and SDHC cards, and adds a 60 GB hard drive to provide even more shooting time. While it's not quite as small or light as the SD9, the HS9 can record up to 23 hours of AVCHD video directly to its hard drive, Panasonic claims.

Both camcorders feature Panasonic's Optical Image Stabilization system, 5.1-channel surround sound with a zoom microphone function, and face-detecting auto-exposure systems. They also include Panasonic's Intelligent Shooting Guide and Intelligent Shooting Selection Playback, two features that Panasonic claims can detect various shooting errors like out-of-focus shots or rapid panning, and either warn users about them or skip them entirely. Finally, both models are also Viera Link compatible, letting users connect them directly with Panasonic's new Viera series of HDTVs.

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 and HDC-HS9 ship in March, with suggested retail prices of $800 and $1100, respectively.