Great things come in small packages. HP obviously understands this concept well, that's why they were able to come up with the compact HP Photosmart R967. Measuring only 3.7inch-wide, the Photosmart R967 is a 10-megapixel shooter with a 3-inch LCD and 3x optical zoom.

It also features HP's Steady Photo anti-shake mode, a rather unusual 24 frame-per-second VGA video shoot format, as well as the Photosmart Express. That last item lets you enter up to 34 destinations such as email addresses, printers, or online photo services, and then after you take a photo, you select its destination right there on the back of the camera.

Available next month, you can have your own Photosmart R967 for $449.

Samsung Electronics has developed the world's first 3-inch VGA LCD screen for digital still cameras which can also be used for portable media players and other small devices that utilize little power and require high resolution screens.

Previously, LCDs could not be made to such tiny specifications. Samsung's ability to create LCD panels that operate at 30hz (instead of the usual 60hz) made it possible for them to create VGA images on the tiny screen without compressing or otherwise manipulating the signal.

Without the advances Samsung discovered, low power, high resolution LCDs of this size wouldn't be possible. According to a Samsung press release, "the three-inch VGA LCD also incorporates a dot inversion scheme that lowers power consumption while substantially reducing the image flickering that has prevented such an approach in the past."

The public will see the new monitor at IMID 2006 (International Meeting on Information Display), in Daegu Korea on August 23. A commercial version of the 3 inch VGA LCD will be made available in the first half of 2007.

The D80 is the latest high-performance interchangeable-lens digital SLR camera from Nikon. It has a handsome black casing that boasts of sleek, ergonomical design and a large new 2.5-inch 230,000-dot high-resolution LCD. It also has an RGB display, which helps in assessing exposures with greater precision. The layout of all buttons and controls ensures efficiency both in handling and operations.

And we're just getting started.

Its i-TTL flash control is incorporated in the system for greater precision in flash exposure evaluation to better attain automatic flash balance. This flash control also has a Repeating flash function, which greatly aids in the assessment of overall lighting and shadow conditions even before the shot is taken.

The versatility of the D80 is made even more captivating by the superb technology nestled within its sophisticated design. One of the primary highlights is the new Multiple Exposure shooting option that creates a single image within the camera from up to three (3) consecutive exposures, producing an effect automatically that resembles multiple exposure techniques used with film.

The camera also guarantees immediate response and fast performance. Its power-up is in a near-instant 0.18 seconds, which allows photographers to not miss any shutter opportunities. And with shutter speeds ranging from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds or bulb setting, full creative control is accorded to the artist behind the lens.

For image editing and effects, the new Retouch menu makes it possible to enhance the picture even without having to connect to a computer. Under this menu, features such as D-Lighting, Red-Eye Correction, Monochrome and Filter Effects can be found to aid the photographer in enhancing details, treating those red-eye effects caused by flash and color modes and balance.

With all these features, the Nikon D80 is bound to hold captive the attention of photographers who are set on capturing those moments.

After its launch on February 2006, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 is poised to mark its place on the world of digital cameras. Although it is not "pocketable" compared to other cameras, TZ1 has its own charms to entice many customers. First, it is considerably less bulky than its 'SLR-like' siblings and their competitors, and although it offers little in the way of truly manual control, it is packed with features like its superb 5.0 million effective pixels, 10x (35-350mm equiv.) Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optical zoom, 2.5-inch(270,000) High Resolution LCD, MEGA OIS image stabilization, Venus III Engine processor,  Fast Linear autofocus system and 18 scene modes which ranges from Portrait, Soft Skin, Scenery, Sports;to Self-Portrait, Fireworks, Beach, Aerial Photo, Snow, High Sensitivity and Night Portrait.

It also available in two color options - silver or black - though this may not be the case for every country and/or every retailer. Its built-in flash has options like Auto with red-eye reduction, Slow synch with red-eye reduction, Forced on/off, and has a range of 0.3 - 3.7m (Auto ISO, wide) to a whopping 1.0 - 2.4m (Auto ISO, wide).

You can store data on its massive 13.4MB internal memory and it is SD / MMC compatible. It runs on a Li-on battery pack that is included in the package and has free optional AC adapter. It has dimensions pf 112 x 58.1 x 40.2 mm (4.41 x 2.29 x 1.58 in) and only weighs 234 g (7.3 oz).

Watch out for Panasonic's release of the very first 3CCD DVD movie camera, VDR-D400. The 3CCD feature of the camera enables it to capture image data by assigning one color to each chip, resulting in more accurate color information as compared to one CCD cams currently available.

The new Panasonic VDR-D400 boasts of 800,000 pixel with its 20x Leica optical zoom. It also has 2.7 inches LCD, which displays crisp and clear pictures, a joystick control for easier navigation and a 16:9 widescreen recording capability. Other features of this new hot gadget is the SD/Sdhc card slot, O.I.S, built-in LED color enhancement light, a video editing software, Hi-speed USB 2, and MPEG-2 recording in XP/SP/LP modes.

The slick design and the eye-catching silver color of the new Panasonic VDR D400 makes it the perfect gadget to show off to your friends on your next vacation or reunion. It weighs 720g (including the batteries) and measures 70x149x90mm. It is poised to take over the market on 1st of September for a hefty price of ¥120,000 (about $1050). But hey, you wouldn't mind spending that much after you see the envious looks from your friends.

If you have a problem keeping your photo's subject in the middle of your frame and you can't keep your hands from shaking too much when taking pictures, then the new Casio Exilim EX-Z700 might just be what you need.

One of the most interesting features of the EX-Z700 is Auto Framing which, as its name implies, helps you center your subjects in the frame. Taking pictures of dynamic subjects like active children will not be problematic at all with Casio's new digicam.

As for those blurry pics, you won't have to worry about them because the EX-Z700 also has Anti-Shake DPS as one of its amazing features.

The EX-Z700 is the newest addition to Casio's Exilim family, and it definitely stands out - its 2.7-inch LCD is big and bright, and mind you, this is a 7.5-megapixel camera. I don't know about you, but that's enough for me to want one.

There's no word yet on its availability and pricing, but rest assured we'll keep you posted

The Pentax Optio S7 camera is the newest addition to Pentax's line of slim and stylish digital cameras called the Pentax Optio S series.

This baby boasts of 7.0 megapixels plus a feature known as the Blur Reduction High ISO mode that reduces camera shake and subject blur due to poor or minimal lighting. Another neat feature is the Face Recognition AF & AE, which guarantees perfectly focused faces devoid of shadows by automatically detecting the position of the subject's face and adjusting the focus and exposure based on the detected position. Also, the camera adjusts shutter speeds automatically to an ISO as high as 1600 to match the brightness of the subject.

Sources add that the Optio S7 captures movies at 30 fps (frames per second) at sizes up to 640 x 480 pixels with image quality rivaling camcorders. Since it employs the DivX® (MPEG-4 compliant) movie format, the Optio S7 can record longer, high-quality movies. Camera shake while filming can also be corrected automatically by switching on the movie anti-shake feature. Smart, eh?

That's not all. The Optio S7 also features 3X optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor,an Auto Picture Mode for a plethora of settings (Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene and Program Modes), 23MB internal memory, and MPEG-4 DivX Movie Mode. It is also the first digital camera by Pentax to accept the new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory cards that have capacities up to 4GB.

The Pentax Optio S7 goes for $300.00 and will be available in the US beginning September 2006 - limited stocks only, though.

Fujifilm has came up with a new contraption being packaged as a digital camera that is blessed with advanced simplicity. Advance and simplicity may be contradictory to you but for some reason, Fujifilm might be able to pull it off. The FinePix S6000fd joins the growing family of FujiFilm Finepix.

The camera is blessed with 6.3MP with 6th generation Super CCD-HR Technology, 10.7x optical zoom with manual control, dual shot mode, movie recording with sound at 30 fps, 2.5 inch LCD, and 10MB internal memory.

If you think that the digicam is pretty simple to be an advanced contraption, well, the features do not end there. The S6000fd has a feature called the Face Detection Technology which is a new technology designed to significantly improve your picture taking by identifying human subjects' faces in the frame (up to 10 faces) and in real time, determining the optimal focus and exposure settings for the absolute best results possible in any shooting conditions.

Also, the digicam's picture stabilization technology is something to talk about. Perfect for taking pictures of moving objects. This easy to access feature (selectable on the mode dial) lets the FinePix S6000fd choose the correct light sensitivity and best-matching shutter speed automatically, for the highest quality digital pictures. It goes with well with its i-Flash Intelligent Flash. It recognizes scene conditions and determines the optimum flash output to ensure superb results.

If you ain't so sure if you want to use the cam's flash or not, then let the S6000fd decide for you with its dual shot mode. Dual shot mode will take two pictures with one press of the S6000fd's shutter button; one with flash to capture a bright, vivid image; and the other without flash, to capture the natural ambiance of the shot's environment.

It will be available this coming September, and the price tag will be divulged in the coming weeks.

VPC-E7	VPC-S7

At first glance you'd think that they are actually the same camera, and Sanyo got all confused themselves and released it with different names. Their similarities in design also transcend to the kind of features that they have. Both only have minor differences, that would be dependent on the buyer to deem them important or not.

The E7 offers a red-eye correction function while the S7 doesn't. It is also lighter than than the S7 by 34 grams, coming in at 132 grams compared to the 166 grams of the S7 with the battery. Aside from those very minute discrepancy, the two cameras offer a 7.1 Megapixel CCD, 3x Optical Zoom, 2.5 inch LCD monitor, VGA-Size (640x480) video clips and compatible with a 4GB SDHC Memory card.

If you're considering buying one of these cameras, think about the features you're looking for or what you're going to use it for. It might be better to have them side by side for better comparison. Both cameras will drop on September and is rumored to be priced at roughly around $353 USD.

Acer is looking to gain momentum in the digital still camera market with the new 8-megapixel CP-8660. As Acer's flagship digital camera, the CP-8660 sports a 2.8" LCD screen and comes with a long-range precision lens with 6x optical and 8.5x digital zoom capability. It has 25MB of internal memory, which can be expanded to 1GB with an SD card. It also features video recording with voice to enable users to make their "voice-captions".

The CP-8660 has the distinction of being the first Acer camera to be equipped with Anti-shake DSP (Digital Signal Processor) technology, which helps get rid of image blur. Its electronic image stabilization feature helps achieve the sharpest image possible.