You somehow knew it was inevitable that someone would the relatively small pocket camcorder niche would soon replace those tiny screens and basic buttons with full touchscreens. Kodak did it a couple of days ago with the Playtouch, and now JVC drops a couple into the mix with the Picsio GC-FM2 and GC-WP10. While both feature 1080p recording and a relatively large 3-inch screen that takes up the whole area at the back, the WP10 offers a different twist with a waterproof case.
Kodak just unveiled a new pocket camcorder that changes the Flip’s basic video recording device standard by replacing the usual tiny screen with a full 3-inch touchscreen. It’s not the Playtouch’s highlight though; this compact cam also records videos in 1080p HD, shoots 5MP stills, and packs a set of in-cam tech that makes it more like a full-on compact digicam than your average pocket camcorder.
Just about everyone has already come out with a rugged compact digicam that you can take around 10 feet underwater, but this is different. Sanyo’s Xacti VPC-CA102 is a dedicated consumer HD camcorder you can dive in with. It still comes in the Xacti line’s easy one-hand for factor too, so it shouldn’t be that hard to take anywhere.
It’s that time of the year, when everybody starts rolling out new cameras and camcorders before the Photokina show drops in September. Samsung’s new stuff includes the HMX-E10, a new pocket camcorder that’s pretty unique with a lens that pivots around the body, letting you point it outward like every other cam, or point it to yourself to make goofy self-portraits and self-conscious video clips easier to pull-off.
