CES 2009

(Credit: Polaroid)

People are still lamenting the passing of Polaroid Instant Film into history, but thanks to technology featured in its tiny portable PoGo printer launched in 2008, the company is offering a new shoot-and-print option: the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera. And despite its parent company's woes, Polaroid has no intention of curtailing product plans in 2009.

Plans for a 21st century Polaroid camera were announced in August 2008, but the product itself was announced at CES 2009.

The camera, which has a certain retro boxiness to it, is pretty big in comparison to most point-and-shoots with its camera specs. The 7-megapixel camera/printer measures 4.7 inches wide by 3 inches high by 1.3 inches deep and weighs 10 ounces--without paper, battery, or SD card. Keep in mind though: the original instant-print cameras didn't fit in a coat pocket, but this one does.

There's a 3-inch LCD on back and controls are simple. The only disappointment is the lack of an optical zoom, likely due to space constraints (there's a 4X digital zoom, though).

The camera uses Polaroid's Zink (zero ink) 2-by-3-inch paper. The LCD simply pops up, you insert a deck of 10 sheets, and you're ready to go. Shoot something you want to print? Hit the Print button on back, pick the photo, and press OK. In less than a minute you have a print.

I have had a chance to play around with the camera and I've got to say that it's a lot of fun, but definitely not for everyone. The print quality is just OK, which for a photo that small is fine (though I hope Polaroid can figure out how to do larger print sizes). Also, the camera itself is comparable with any other inexpensive 7-megapixel camera.

No pricing was announced, but I would guess it to be around $200 when it ships in spring 2009.

Camera Armor, a maker of protective silicone skins for dSLRs, has announced its first line of protective skins for point-and-shoot cameras.

Camera Armor's silicone protective skins are custom fit for each camera model and provide shock-absorbing protection. The compact skins allow complete access to controls and buttons, including battery and memory card access, as well as a polycarbonate LCD protective shield.

They are clear to allow the original color of the camera to show through, and have a special grip texture to prevent accidental drops. The Compact Camera Armor skins are initially available for the Canon SD1100 and Sony W-120. They retail for $14.95.

Our colleagues over in the U.K. have reviewed the LG Renoir already, but since it's a Europe-only phone, we weren't able to handle the device on our own. If you recall, the LG Renoir is an 8-megapixel camera phone with plenty of high-end photo features like face detection, blink detection, manual focus, an ISO sensitivity of up to 1,600, and more. At CES 2009, LG had it out on display for everyone to try, and I finally had a chance to see the Renoir in person.

LG Renoir

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

The LG Renoir looks and feels like most other LG touch-screen phones. The home screen has the four icons along the bottom, while the menu interface has the navigation icons along the right side. This interface is similar to the one on the LG Incite and the LG Glimmer. It's a really good-looking phone, with an intuitive touch interface that has vibrating haptic feedback.

But of course, what I really wanted to see was the camera. The camera features something called Touch Shot, which lets you tap something on the screen to auto focus on an object, and then when you lift your finger, a photo is automatically taken. As you can see in the video here, we also had a chance to see how the face detection and blink detection worked. If it notices a blink, the phone warns you that someone blinked, and you can then take the photo again. With the face detection, once there's a green square around someone's face, the screen will actually follow the person's face whenever he or she moves around. The video doesn't quite capture the coolness of it, but it's a taste of how the camera works.

LG Renoir's home screen

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

Though we didn't get a look at them, other camera features include a Beauty Shot, which removes imperfections and blemishes from the skin, and Art Shot, which adds photo effects like different color tones.

Other Renoir features include Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a camcorder that can take 120 frames per second (fps) of high speed video and turn it into a 5 fps time-lapse recording, support for XVid and DivX video codecs, and more. It's currently available in Asia and Europe only.

The high-speed Casio EX-FC100 fits a ton of neat features in a slim design.

(Credit: Casio)

When they launched, Casio's high-speed Exilim models with frame rates of 1,000-plus frames per second (fps) wowed all but the purists in the digital photo community. But cameras like the EX-F1 and EX-FH20 are bulky and the features too difficult to use for many. So Casio put the circuitry in the dryer on High and popped out a sensor and chipset that packs its high-speed technology into tiny, easier-to-use digital camera packages: the 9-megapixel EX-FC100 and EX-FS10.

Casio EX-FS100 is the company's slimmest speed demon to date.

(Credit: Casio)

The higher-end FC100 has a 5X zoom lens and sensor-shift optical stabilizer; the much thinner FS10 uses a 3X zoom and no stabilization. Otherwise, the cameras have the same feature set, with novel inclusions like 30fps burst shooting at 6 megapixels; and Lag Correction, a user-determined prerecord interval, which compensates for both slow human reflexes and hardware sluggishness. The cameras both have slow motion preview, which records at a high frame rate and plays back slowly to allow you to pick and save the best frame; and High-Speed Best selection, which automatically chooses the sharpest photo with wide-eyed and smiling people in it from a burst. They also shoot 720p movies for more traditional motion capture.

When they ship in March, the $349.99 EX-FS10 will be available in blue, gray, red, and white, and the $399.99 EX-FC100 will be available in gray and white.

(Credit: Trendnet)

Recording and viewing images from a security camera is nothing new, but being able to do that conveniently from any location within a wireless network is. And this is exactly what Trendnet offers at CES 2009 with its first-to-market 7" Wireless Internet Camera Monitor Kit, the TV-M7110WK.

The security surveillance kit includes one 7" Wireless Internet Camera and Photo Monitor, the TV-M7, and a Wireless Internet Camera, the TV-IP110W. The TV-M7 displays streaming IP Camera video in real time via the wireless network.

The TV-IP110W is capable of providing real-time, high-quality wireless video in the M-JPEG format. The camera can perform motion-detection recording, e-mail alerts, and scheduled recordings. It comes with an easy-to-use mounting kit and can be used on most surfaces.

The 7" TV-M7, on the other hand, can automatically connect to your wireless network, detect the included camera, and stream real-time video wirelessly. Interestingly, it can also act like a photo frame that displays slide shows and plays personal videos and music. It even comes with a little remote control for you to easily change what it displays.

The TV-M7 is the first device of its kind in the market for now and allows for monitoring up to four Trendnet Internet cameras on one screen or scan between cameras one at a time. While you can do the same thing with a computer, the TV-M7 makes it much more convenient and easy to use. And, of course, it works without any computer at all.

The Wireless Internet Camera Monitor Kit TV-M7110WK seems a good investment for a large home or a warehouse. It comes with a two-year limited warranty and an estimated price of $450. It will be available shortly in the U.S.

The DSC-G3 includes an embedded Web browser.

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

Wi-Fi-enabled cameras have been around for several years, but arguably never took off because they never hit on the right combination of performance and capabilities; at various points we've seen powerful Wi-Fi but subpar photo quality, good cameras but with limited Wi-Fi capabilities, or simply middling all around. Now Sony's giving it a shot with the Cyber-Shot DSC-G3, and it looks like the company may at least get the feature side of the equation right.

The 10-megapixel, 4X zoom G3 includes 4GB of storage and a 210ppi 3.5-inch touch-screen display with Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to wirelessly upload photos and video and deliver e-mail notifications. Unlike other implementations, the G3 gives you the tools to navigate and connect to networks, for instance, behind the terms-of-service agreement screens on public and hotel hot spots, via an embedded Web browser. The combination of organization tools and sophisticated and selective upload greatly expands the usefulness of both aspects of the camera. It includes free AT&T Wi-Fi access to Sony's Easy Upload Home Page until January 31, 2012.

Of course, like the others, this model may turn out to have performance or photo-quality flaws. And some may find $499 a bit pricey. But hope springs eternal. We'll find out when we get it in; that should be soon, since it's shipping now.

(Credit: Samsung)

If you'll be shopping for a simple, small digital camera when spring 2009 rolls around, you may be interested in this 10-megapixel model from Samsung.

The SL420 has a 5x optical zoom and dual image stabilization--optical and digital--and a 2.7-inch LCD on back. It's otherwise unremarkable.

However, you will find now-standard features like face, blink, and smile detection and an ISO range up to 1600 at full resolution and up to ISO 3200 at 3 megapixels.

If that's too much camera for you, look into the SL102, which pares everything back to just a 3x zoom, digital image stabilization, a 2.5-inch LCD, and only face detection.

(Credit: Samsung)

The new 10-megapixel HZ10W from Samsung looks wonderful on paper. A compact camera with a 10x megazoom wide-angle 24mm Schneider lens and a whole mess of features.

You get 720p HD video capture at 30fps using H.264 for good-quality compression and the zoom works while shooting. The video mode also allows you to pause and resume capture so you don't end up with a bunch of small files. There's optical image stabilization, too, so your photos aren't a blurry mess when that lens is extended.

And for those that like lots of control, you'll be able to adjust the HZ10W's settings manually for things like shutter speed, aperture, exposure, and focus. I also wouldn't doubt the inclusion of multiple settings for color, sharpness, and contrast.

The HZ10W is available in January 2009 with a sub-$300 price tag.

(Credit: Samsung)

The Samsung TL100 is just a basic ultracompact point-and-shoot with not much going on except its small size. The 12-megapixel camera is just 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.6 inch deep.

Like any decent point-and-shoot camera in its class, the TL100 has a largish LCD at 2.7 inches and a 3x optical zoom. It also has the shooting options currently in vogue: face, smile, and blink detection, auto scene recognition, and full-resolution ISO settings up to 1600.

It's reasonably priced for the specs, too, and will be available for purchase starting in April 2009.