Details have leaked of a new Samsung compact digital camera due for official launch at CES 2010, and it's packed with cool features.
The CL80 appears, at first glance, to be nothing more than a traditional - if pretty high specification - compact digital camera, with 7x optical zoom, 14 megapixel CCD sensor, and hardware image stabilisation to keep the images crisp and smart.
The screen adorning the rear is pretty crisp, too: the specifications promise a 3.7" AMOLED touchscreen with haptic feedback, although this rear-filling display comes at the cost of a viewfinder.
With support for ISO sensitivity of up to 4,800 - or 6,400 if you don't mind dropping the sensor down to 3 megapixels - the camera is said to be capable of recording H.264 video at up to 720p, and come with an HDMI port for wowing the family with your holiday snaps on your big screen without needing a computer.
Indeed, it's this ethos - the ability to enjoy all the functions offered by a digital camera without ever needing to hook it up to a computer - that has driven the CL80's most impressive feature: integrated 802.11g wireless connectivity. According to Electronista, which quotes a thread on the DPReview website quoting a hastily removed page on the Samsung website, the CL80 is due to introduce the ability to upload to sites including Flickr, Photobox, Picasa, and Facebook directly from the camera - providing you're within range of a wireless access point, of course.
While wireless cards have existed as add-ons for cameras for a while - the most famous of which is the Eye-Fi SD card - this marks one of the first digital cameras to include the technology on-board. Sadly for those hoping to use the technology for easy sharing of New Year's party photos, Samsung is tight-lipped as to the release date and expected pricing.
Does the idea of a point-and-shoot camera with integral wireless seem like the logical next step, or should Samsung just integrated a smartphone in there and be done with it? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
The CL80 appears, at first glance, to be nothing more than a traditional - if pretty high specification - compact digital camera, with 7x optical zoom, 14 megapixel CCD sensor, and hardware image stabilisation to keep the images crisp and smart.
The screen adorning the rear is pretty crisp, too: the specifications promise a 3.7" AMOLED touchscreen with haptic feedback, although this rear-filling display comes at the cost of a viewfinder.
With support for ISO sensitivity of up to 4,800 - or 6,400 if you don't mind dropping the sensor down to 3 megapixels - the camera is said to be capable of recording H.264 video at up to 720p, and come with an HDMI port for wowing the family with your holiday snaps on your big screen without needing a computer.
Indeed, it's this ethos - the ability to enjoy all the functions offered by a digital camera without ever needing to hook it up to a computer - that has driven the CL80's most impressive feature: integrated 802.11g wireless connectivity. According to Electronista, which quotes a thread on the DPReview website quoting a hastily removed page on the Samsung website, the CL80 is due to introduce the ability to upload to sites including Flickr, Photobox, Picasa, and Facebook directly from the camera - providing you're within range of a wireless access point, of course.
While wireless cards have existed as add-ons for cameras for a while - the most famous of which is the Eye-Fi SD card - this marks one of the first digital cameras to include the technology on-board. Sadly for those hoping to use the technology for easy sharing of New Year's party photos, Samsung is tight-lipped as to the release date and expected pricing.
Does the idea of a point-and-shoot camera with integral wireless seem like the logical next step, or should Samsung just integrated a smartphone in there and be done with it? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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