Samsung announces the new platform with high video quality and high performance for camcorders as well as other mobile devices such as personal navigation devices (PNDs), portable multimedia players (PMPs) and portable DVD players.

The new platform is the first to apply H.264 CODEC to SD camcorders. Supporting multi-CODEC from MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 to H.264, the platform improves recording times and video quality by more than doubling the high compression ratio.

Designed and manufactured using 65-nanometer process technology on an ARM11 core, the new platform enhances camcorder’s performance and reliability significantly. By integrating its seven sub-chips including LCD controller and video encoder into one powerful chip, the power consumption level has been exceptionally lowered from 1.1 watts to 0.4 watts so that Samsung camcorders have almost twice the battery life.

Samsung’s MX-20 camcorder with the new platform featuring higher video quality, longer recording times and superb battery life will be available in August.

SANYO announces the DMX-HD800, a new sleek, slim high definition dual camera Xacti that can take both stills and videos. The camera sports a compact and light-weight body, and easily saves data onto SD/SDHC memory cards for convenience. The DMX-HD800 will take stills and videos used on a personal computer or for the Web, houses a new three-dimensional digital noise reduction (3DDNR) filter, and adds the ‘Face Chaser’ for both stills and videos with an active scanner visible on the monitor.

On the new product launch, Hideki Toyoda, General Manager of SANYO’s Digital System Company, DI Company Products Planning Department, said, “The DMX-HD800 has not only has it been designed to be sleek and stylish, but it now offers our unique three-dimensional digital noise reduction (3DDNR) filter, which allows clear, beautiful images with simple operation of a dual camera offering high resolution stills and HD videos in a single unit.”

Main Features
Compact, light-weight camera capable of high definition movies compatible with personal
computers and/or upload video data to the Internet
- Easily drag and drop recorded files on to the hard drive or upload to the Internet
- Ideal for website-use/blog-use videos as well as standard video creation
- Take either high definition videos (1280 x 720, 720p) or 8.0-Megapixel still images with one
unit
- Snap photos anytime, even during video filming, without changing modes or pausing the viedo
- Preview the frame for photos while still recording video with the one-push ‘Photo View’ button
- Uses AVC/H.264 codec format for longer, higher quality recording than traditional codecs

Toshiba announced the addition of a new HD camera to its Camileo Series, the Toshiba  Our new camera records video in 720p, features a 10 Mpix sensor, 5x optical zoom, 2.7″ LCD screen, 64MB of memory, SD/SDHC slot (up to 8GB of memory), motion detection, night mode, and image stabilization.

This new camcorder will be available at the end of this month for 230€.

PENTAX has announced its 10.1M compact digital camera ‘Optio E60′ which will be available in October in North America for under $140.

Newly equipped with an optical 3X zoom lens featuring a wide angle of view (equivalent to 32mm to 96mm in 35mm format), the Optio E60 features a variety of modes including auto picture, face recognition, high-sensitivity digital shake reduction, and a popular green mode that sets exposure, sensitivity and other parameters with just a touch of a button for the newest of digital users.

Ricoh has introduced its high-end 12M compact digital camera ‘GX200′ in Korea market.The new GX200 achieves increased resolution via its 12 megapixel CCD and dramatic noise reduction with the addition of the new image processing engine Smooth Imaging Engine III.

Able to reproduce high quality images from edge-to-edge with low noise and natural gradation, this camera features a 24 to 72 mm(35 mm film equivalent focal length) high-performance wide-angle optical zoom lens on a 25 mm thin pocketable compact body, a wide variety of manual shooting functions, and a removable tilting electronic viewfinder.

With a large wide-viewing angle 2.7-inch 460,000 dots HVGA LCD and an electronic level function, for horizontal and vertical shooting, the GX200 contains extensive shooting functions to enable camera lovers to enjoy and create stunning photographs.

This model comes in two package types with different accessories. The GX200 package contains: rechargeable lithium ion battery, battery charger, AV cable, USB cable, CD-ROM, strap, and lens cap. The GX200 VF KIT package contains all the above accessories plus the electronic viewfinder.