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LAKE SUCCESS, NY — Jan 07, `08 — Canon today announced the VIXIA family – a new lineup of consumer High-Definition camcorders embracing Canon optical and imaging technologies for superior image quality and flexibility – at the CES 2008 in Las Vegas.

VIXIA Core TechnologiesAll VIXIA camcorders feature Canon core technologies to create HD video that possesses the highest level of image quality – a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens; a Canon designed and manufactured HD CMOS Image Sensor for Full HD (1920 x 1080) image capture; the Canon-developed DIGIC DV II Image Processor; Instant AutoFocus, crucial for HD; and SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization.

VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory Camcorders:
The VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder offers the flexibility of recording up to 6 hours of High-Definition video to a 16GB internal Flash drive, as well as the option of recording to an SDHC memory card. The HF100 Flash Memory camcorder features an SDHC memory card slot only. The SDHC slot provides future storage expandability with both models. These camcorders also offer other sophisticated new features, including a newly designed Genuine Canon 12x HD Video Lens, a robust Canon 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor, and Full HD Lens-to-Screen (1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution to capture, record and output).

In addition to 24p Cinema Mode, which allows users to mimic the look of Hollywood-style movies, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders offer a new feature called 30p Progressive Mode. Canon’s 30p Progressive Mode, once exclusive to pro-level camcorders, delivers clarity for fast action events, such as sports or news, and is the perfect frame rate for clips intended to be posted on the Web. A 2.7″ Widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD offers a wide viewing angle, making it visible from any direction.

VIXIA HV30 HD Camcorder:
As the successor to the Canon HV20 HD Camcorder, the VIXIA HV30 HD camcorder provides consumers with the ability to record HD quality video to MiniDV cassettes. Wrapped in a sophisticated black exterior, the VIXIA HV30 camcorder features a Genuine Canon 10X HD Video Lens, Canon 2.96 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor, DIGIC DV II Image Processor, a 30p Progressive Mode (and 24p Cinema Mode), and a 2.7″ Widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD. In addition, the VIXIA HV30 camcorder is compatible with Canon’s high capacity BP-2L24H Lithium-ion battery.

DW-100 DVD Burner:
The Canon DW-100 DVD Burner allows to burn all, part or previously recorded video from a compatible Canon camcorder to a DVD. In addition to burning Standard Definition DVDs, the DW-100 can also burn AVCHD DVDs which can be played in compatible Blu-Ray players. The DW-100 DVD Burner has only three buttons: power, record and eject, making operation fast and easy. Unlike other similar yet daunting devices, the DW-100 DVD Burner is designed for one-touch operation: connect via USB, set and burn.

Available in late April, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory camcorders will have an estimated retail price of $1,099 and $899, respectively. The Canon VIXIA HV30 is scheduled to be available in late February for the estimated retail price of $999. The Canon DW-100 DVD Burner is scheduled to be available in late April for the estimated retail price of $269.More at Canon.

New S3200 specification delivers higher speed than competing technologies - and much sooner - with no changes to connectors or cables.

Dallas — On Dec 12, The 1394 Trade Association announced a new specification to quadruple the speed of FireWire to reach 3.2 gigabits per second.

The new electrical specification, known as S3200, builds upon the IEEE 1394b standard, preserving all the advantages of FireWire while offering a major and unprecedented boost in performance.

The new speed uses the cables and connectors already deployed for FireWire 800 products, making the transition forward easy and convenient for 1394 product vendors and their customers. Because the 1394 arbitration, data, and service protocols were not modified for S3200, silicon and software vendors can deploy the faster speed FireWire quickly and with confidence that it will deliver its full potential performance.

The S3200 specification is expected to be ratified by early February. More at 1394TradeAssociation.org.

SAN JOSE, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Nov 19, ‘07 — Samsung, introduces a powerful new optical disc drive, TruDirect SE-S204S, which allows consumers to create DVDs and burn digital content through a PC without the need for a hard drive. The TruDirect SE-S204S provides easy and fast real-time recording from nearly any digital device.

With camcorder and digital camera sales skyrocketing, predicted to be nearly 100 million units sold in 2008, consumers can now conveniently create DVDs in record time. Similar to VCR recording, users can connect a digital device such as a camcorder, digital camera or Web cam to their PC or notebook, and then connect the Samsung TruDirect SE-S204S to the computer to burn DVD movies directly.

Compared to using a hard disk drive, the TruDirect SE-S204S dramatically cuts down on the time it takes to create DVDs as no pre-mastering, multiplexing or hard-disk buffering is needed, enabling real-time, fast, and simple recording of personal videos, photos or data files onto DVD discs. Creating a DVD of a one-hour video stream only takes one hour and five minutes and to create a DVD from a one-hour hard disk drive camcorder file just takes 30 minutes.

In addition to DVD creation, the TruDirect SE-S204S features some of the fastest speeds of an optical disc drive on the market today. It features 20X DVD+R and DVD-R writing, 16X DVD+R Dual Layer writing, 12X DVD-R Dual Layer writing and 12X DVD-RAM writing.

The TruDirect SE-S204S is shipping nation wide with a street price of $159.99.

And since Samsung have THE WORST PR department on the face of this planet, there’s no picture to go with the story and as of the writing of this story the drive is nowhere to be found including Samsung US/UK, Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, Buy.com or at Frys.com and still Samsung press releases wants us to believe the drive is shipping nationwide. Gosh! I’ve never seen such a LOUSY, almost non-existent PR department of a multinational this big. Press release at BusinessWire.

PARK RIDGE, N.J – Nov. 14, 2007 – Sony Electronics’ latest HDV products include two new camcorders that feature interchangeable lens systems, native progressive recording, increased sensitivity for low-light conditions, hybrid solid-state recording and other features designed for video production professionals and pro-sumers.

The new models are the HVR-Z7U (handheld) and HVR-S270U (shoulder-mount) camcorders. Sony is also introducing the HVR-M35U playback and recording deck. These new products expand Sony’s line-up of HD production technologies, which includes the recently introduced PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX solid-state memory camera and the soon-to-be-available HVR-HD1000U shoulder-mount HDV camcorder.

Each camcorder comes standard with a 12x high-quality, multi-purpose Carl Zeiss lens for HD video, with a Vario-Sonnar T coating to reduce reflections.

The camcorders offer 1080, 24p and 30p native progressive recording. The 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system and EIP technology create true 1080p images, which can then be recorded as progressive signals by the HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U camcorders in the HDV format. The progressive HDV streams can be output from an i.LINK interface and used for progressive editing with compatible NLE software.

The HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U can switch between 1080p, 1080i in the HDV format, DVCAM, and DV recording, and both can down-convert material from HD to SD, and output the video signals through its i.LINK interface and other SD output connectors. The HVR-Z7U has an HDMI output. The HVR-S270U is available with HD-SDI or SD-SDI connectivity, and also supports embedded audio and timecode.

The HVR-M35U record and playback deck is compatible with HDV native progressive recording modes and supports HD/SD-SDI output with embedded audio and timecode data. It has a 60i/50i switchable function, and supports HDV1080i (60i/50i/24p/30p/25p) and DVCAM/DV (60i/50i). The new products are each planned to be available in February, at the following suggested list prices:

HVR-S270U camcorder, $10,500
HVR-Z7U camcorder, $6,850
HVR-M35U deck, $5,540

More at Sony.