CES 2012: Digital photo and video

LAS VEGAS--Envisioning 2012 as the year of Web-connected TVs, Panasonic has announced its smart TV system has exclusive deals with Flixster and Disney.

In addition, MySpace is partnering with the company for MySpace TV, a social TV service that will allow users to share the latest shows, TV, and music with their friends. None other than Justin Timberlake showed up on stage to tout the service.

The company also announced a partnership today with NBC to broadcast the 2012 London Olympics in 3D. Panasonic shared the news at its press conference at CES. Opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympics … Read more

Who needs mirrors?

Not Fujifilm. As expected, at CES today, the digital camera maker unveiled its X-Pro1 mirrorless camera. The X-Pro1, which Fujifilm is aiming at pros like wedding and portrait photographers, features the X-Mount, a Fujinon-XF Lens, an X-Trans CMOS, and a new hybrid viewfinder, explained Kayce Baker, Fujifilm North America's director of marketing. The camera will be shipped in late February.

Fujifilm wouldn't say precisely at CES what the price will be, but Manny Almeida, vice president and general manager for Fujifilm North America, estimated that the body will run around $1,700 and lenses about $650 each.

The camera uses all glass, aspherical, and extra-low dispersion components, as well as a new aperture blade shape. It also has three new lenses: an 18mm f2, a 35mm f1.4, and a 60mm f2.4 macro.… Read more

Lexar announced a gaggle of new SD memory cards at CES today, with 400X and 600X data-transfer speeds to keep up with professionals' needs higher resolution videos and photos.

The SDHC and SDXC cards use the UHS-I interface for faster transfer speeds (SDXC is a newer version of the SD standard that extends to higher memory capacities.) Most of them will arrive in February, but Lexar is particularly chuffed about a 400X 128GB SDXC card due in April that the company boasts will be the first at that capacity using UHS-I.

For those who prefer absolutes, 400X translates to 60MBps … Read more

Though it's not the first as its press release claims, the Xerox Mobile Scanner is a nifty little battery-powered model that uses a 4GB Eye-Fi SD card to connect to Wi-Fi networks for uploading scanned images to mobile devices.

LAS VEGAS--In a bit of a bizarre move, Xerox announced its Xerox Mobile Scanner as the first battery-operated, Wi-Fi-connected scanner. Except Xerox owns Visioneer, which announced the first battery-operated, Wi-Fi connected scanner back in October. They both operate via a bundled Eye-Fi card for the wireless connection, though the hardware looks different. The Visioneer Mobility Air is also cheaper, $199 … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Windows multimedia mainstay Corel today introduces AfterShot Pro, a powerful photography workflow program tailor-made for professionals and high-level enthusiasts.

Positioned as a competitor to the popular Adobe Photoshop Lightroom program and the less popular ACDSee Pro, AfterShot Pro offers a full raw workflow and nondestructive editing environment based on the core technology of Bibble Labs, Corel's latest acquisition.

One unique aspect of AfterShot is its flexible asset management. While many other programs ask you to import files in order to open them up, AfterShot Pro lets you view, edit, and process images without having to worry about cataloging. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--The Flip may be dead but Toshiba's Camileo line isn't.

The company introduced two new mini digital camcorders at CES, one--the Z100--offers stereoscopic 3D recording, and the other--the Air10--has built-in WiFi that allows you to post videos on the fly to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The Camileo Z100 3D camcorder is a barrel-style camcorder that will hit stores in April for $219. It records in both 2D as well as the 3D format and has a flip-out 2.8-inch, glasses-free 3D LCD touch-screen display that shifts to 2D when you want. … Read more

Corel, a longtime maker of image-editing software, has acquired Bibble Labs and will introduce new software at CES based on Bibble's technology for processing raw photos from higher-end cameras.

Bibble President Jeff Stephens announced the acquisition and new software plan in a blog post Friday. Bibble Labs' latest product, Bibble 5.2.3, will be the last, and Stephens now is leading development of the new photo "workflow" software at Corel, he added.

Further details of the software aren't yet clear, but it sounds an awful lot like Adobe Systems' Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. Both … Read more

Sure, the idea of augmented reality has some appeal.

Overlaid on your view of the real world, your Net-connected glasses show navigation instructions, prompt you with the name of the person you're talking to, and run an ad-blocker app to turn billboards into wallpaper with soothing nature photos. And with one display for each eye, you see in 3D, so you can turn the outisde world into an immersive videogame.

The only problem is that you look like a total dork walking around with bulky electronic devices stuck to your face.

Vuzix, which sells such products, says it's … Read more