Olympus is set to launch a new super tough camera this month, which is shockproof, waterproof AND freezeproof, making it ideal for holidays, extreme sports lovers and of course, clumsy people.

The TG-320 is waterproof up to 3 metres, freezeproof down to -10°C and shockproof to a height of 1.5 metres, so we won't be throwing it out of a plane anytime soon, but it's pretty much guaranteed to withstand a lot of bumps and falls. It's so tough because it's got a double seal protecting the inner casing and a double lock mechanism too, which ensures none of the components get damaged if it happens to fall in any water.

However, it's not just tough, it can take 720p HD movies and still photos in 14MP quality and can handle wide-angle group shots and lots of zooming. It's Eye-Fi car compatible as well, meaning you can automatically upload photos wirelessly to a computer or website. There are some cool extras too, like 3D underwater shooting mode, a selection of filters, Beauty Mode (to smooth away imperfections) and face detection.

At £139.99 it won't be the cheapest camera on the market, but it's good value for the specs it's packing and just how durable it is.

The Olympus TOUGH TG-320 is available in blue or red from the middle of February and will be priced at £139.99.

A range of new, colourful and shiny cameras from Sony are reportedly heading our way in March. Part of the brand's CyberShot offering, the WX70 and WX50 models are slim, pocketable cameras and friendly for beginners who are a little intimidated by getting into photography.

Both models share many measures, they measure 92.2 x 52.0 x 19.1mm and have a 16.2-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor. Sony's Bionz processor is onboard with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens and a 5x optical zoom is backed by a 10x digital Clear Image Zoom, with ISO up to 12800.

HD video can be shot with both cameras in AVCHD 1920 x 1080 / 50i format and MP4 formats are also an option.

The battery will last 120 minutes of continuous still shooting with the LCD on, while Sony's Optical SteadyShot Active Mode keeps your shots clear for even the shakiest of hands.

The only important difference between both models comes with their screen specifications. The WX70 comes complete with a 3-inch Xtra Fine LCD touchscreen, with a 921k dot resolution, while the WX50 has a non-touch 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD screen, with a 460k dot resolution.

We don't have any pricing details quite yet, but we do know that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX50 will be available in silver, black, pink, gold and blue and the WX70 is said to come in less colours (just black, silver and white). However, an image attached to the press release also shows the camera in pink and purple shades too, so we *think* these colours may only be set for other territories outside of Europe.

[Via Tech Digest]

There are so many different cameras on the market at the moment that it can be hard to find one which is compact, affordable, easy-to-use and produces great results too, after all if you're just getting into photography you don't want to drag around a huge device and loads of kit from the start if you're not sure what to do with it.

So if you're buying for a wannabe photographer this year then let us introduce you to three of our favourite cameras the Olympus PEN E-PM1, the Fujifilm 600 and the Samsung MV800.

British teenagers know their Apples
But not the ones you eat! A survey has found that 13- to 18-year-olds don't really know how much staple food items like eggs and a loaf of bread cost, but are bang on when it comes to knowing the cost of Apple gadgets. 80% of those survey knew the exact price of the iPhone4 in 8GB and 16GB writes theguardian.

Britain's cheapest tablets revealed
When it comes to tablets you usually get what you pay for but if you like many others can't justify spending £399 on an Apple iPad you'll be happy to learn there are good devices out there that won't cost you half a month's rent (if you live in London!). ShinyShiny's editor Becca has done the legwork for you and collected five tablets that are available NOW for under £100. Check out the complete list here.

iPhone 5 to be released on 15 October?
From an Orange to an Apple, it could be that the iPhone 5 is to be revealed in about a month's time after Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orange's parent company France Telecom, let it slip that October might be it. Cue Apple's iPhone 5 PRs looking for ways to put a gagging order out.

Microsoft shows off Windows 8
Like a proud parent, Microsoft has been showing off the latest build of their Windows 8 operating system this week. If you weren't one of the lucky developers who got a glimpse of the OS's new tricks and features fret not, TechDigest can give you some insight on how to try Windows 8 before its official launch date. Or alternatively visit The Telegraph for some pretty images.

Pentax launches Optio RZ18 18x compact ultra-zoom camera
We love cameras here at ShinyShiny, so are understandably excited each time a new one hits the shelves. This week Pentax has launched a digital camera boasting an 18x optical zoom that fits in your pocket! It is available in black, pearl and orange and will be in-store from mid-October just shy of £200. Click here to find out more about the features.

Google brings voice command to British phones
Here's one for the lazy; British mobile phone users can now speak instructions to their phones with a little help from Google. The search giant has launched 'Voice Commands' that will allow you and I to dictate entire messages or issue instructions such as 'Navigate to' so that phones can show driving directions and behave like satnavs, writes The Telegraph. We only wonder how quickly the novelty will wear off and be taken over by annoyance of people wandering around shouting commands to their phones...

Home phones are losing out to mobile phones
A new study by TalkTalk has found that using the landline has been overtaken by mobiles, but that users still prefer voice calls to social networking. While those aged 25-34 have the most frequent contact with friends and family online, with 40% of the overall population saying the mobile phone was their communication tool of choice.

ASUS U46 laptop sports world's thinnest screen
There's always talk about fashion models being too thin, but can gadgets be too thin? At just 5.5mm thick, the 14-inch screen panel can tilt over the keys at different angles to widen the viewing angle. The notebook has a Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. Too techie for you? Yes, I snoozed off when I started talking about processors and RAMs... What would be its competitor in Supersized vs. Superskinny: The Tech Special?

HTC brings out Sensation XE
Looks like HTC is churning out handsets faster than we can type... well handsets. Sensation XE is scheduled to hit shops later this September and boasts a 8MP camera and a front-facing camera for video calls. And to add to the splendour comes with a pair of lush Beats Audio in-ear earphones for listening to those tunes.

Another HTC - this time the leaked images of HTC Rhyme or the HTC Bliss
Aimed at female gadget geeks the Rhyme handset will arrive in a shade of silver and as the name suggests has changed to be a little bit less patronising. The launch event is planned for 20th September so expect more on this next week.

Should mobile phones be banned on public transport?
We've all been there. It doesn't matter what time of day it is or where you are, there is always someone around ready to annoy his or her fellow London commuters with mobile phone. Many of these will be inconsiderate people playing their favourite (non-)music on the speaker - what ever happened to investing in a good pair of headphones? - but then there are those who decide to answer a phone call on the bus, overground and sometimes tube only to continue to talk LOUDLY until you or they get off. If just the mere thought of this makes the anger build up inside, know that you're not alone. A recent study found that more than 22% of commuters would welcome an outright ban on mobile phones on public transport. If this is the right way forward we don't know, but let's get the discussion going.

We wrote about Samsung's MV800 compact camera the other day highlighting its very cool flip out screen. This enables your photo's subjects are able to quickly fix their hair in the front-facing screen before each shot, while you can then flip it back into a more traditional position for scrolling through menus and adding after-effects.

Expect to see the MV800 in shops later this month, priced around the £250 mark.

Along with its new mobile phone and tablet offerings, Samsung has just unveiled the new MV800 Multiview camera at IFA 2011 in Berlin.

The MV800 has been designed to capture the perfect image. I know what you're thinking, EVERY camera wants you to capture the perfect image, right?

But, the MV800 is tailored to make sure you get shots from all kinds of angles with its unique 3 inch flip out display, a good quality image with 16.1 megapixels, detailed close ups with its 5x optical zoom and wide angle shots with its 26mm lens.

Its USP is the flip-out screen, which is apparently a first for a compact camera, but there are plenty of other features to shout about including advanced touchscreen in the screen and a range of panorama settings.

Samsung also seems to be ticking all of the boxes when it comes to photo editing, with a funny face setting (which doesn't really seem necessary), as well as a range of filters and a comprehensive photo editor.

There's also interestingly a Beauty Shot feature which promises to blur out imperfections on your face, which I'm pretty undecided about at the moment...

There's no official word about when the MV800 will be available, but Tech Radar has guessed it'll be around mid-September at retail at around £249.

The Snakescope from ThumbsUp is a camera with a light on the end of a bendy stick. And that is exactly as much fun as it sounds ie - LOTS of fun.

It's powered by USB and shows up the footage from its camera on your computer screen. You can record it, take pictures or just watch it live on-screen as you poke Snakescope into a hole somewhere.

Yes - it does look like those endoscope cameras that doctors in science programmes stick into the orifices of people with intestine problems. But though it says it is "perfect for peering into those hard to reach places" it is NOT for internal use. We certainly didn't put it in our mouths and look at our molar.

Practical things you can use it for include:
- examining car engines
- blocked drains
- putting it in the garden pond

They also suggest using it to periscope around walls, or over walls. Though we're not responsible for any social issues that arise from you doing that.

Our Thoughts
The camera resolution on the Snakescope is surprisingly great (640x450 VGA)- though you need to hold the head quite still, which can be difficult. The light works very well and it's tough enough to poke it around.

The USB connection means that you don't need batteries and the footage just pops up on the screen: nice and simple with no bits to lose.

The downside of course is that you can only be at furthest 2m away from a computer - the length of the USB cable. The bendy neck is then 60cm long, fully extended.

It comes with a installation CD - unfortunately in mini-CD format - a format we don't like. However, it's pretty straightforward to set-up. Oh and you can take stills, which is nice.

Conclusion:
If you need to poke a bendy camera into stuff, this Snake Scope is a nice choice.
While it is more expensive than other models out there - the image quality plus the waterproofing

NB: Only works with PC, not Mac.

The Snakescope from ThumbsUp is £39.99 from Find-Me-A-Gift

Packing a lot of pro-level features in a slim body, the Canon Legria HF G10 is top of Canon's amateur range. And at around £1200, it would stretch the budgets of even the keenest amateur cinematographer. However it is a really solid piece of kit and has a few pleasant surprises...

LOOK AND FEEL

Design - stylish and slim, with the body being the same thickness as the lens, it looks a bit like an eye on the end of a tube. I like it for that.

Plasticy - it is of course made out of plastic. But arguably it feels a little too plasticy for £1200 pounds worth of high-end camera.

USABILITY

Buttons - my camera expert friend suggested that some of the button-arrangement was counter intuitive. There certainly are a lot of them - this packs manual controls as well as a lot of automatic software, but I was fine with them.

Manual options - switch to auto and you don't need these - but there are a lot of options for playing around with: zoom, optical zoom, focus.

Touchscreen - nice and clear and big. Seemed to be resistive rather than capacitive so it wasn't always the most responsive, but that was only a minor quibble.

FEATURES

Audio - this really stands out. There's a nice microphone packed into the camera and the sound recording quality is really good. An external mic port would let you do professional grade sound if you wanted.

Focus, zoom & light sensitivity - excellent auto-focus adjusted in milliseconds and the the CMOS sensor was good at picking up decent images in low light. The optical zoom worked a treat, though with that much movement it can look a little rubbish filming a zoom in like that.

Images - the wide lens (30.4mm wide-angle lens) means the frame of vision is nice and big it shoots stills too, which can be handy. It's HD quality film of course and it really picks up everything down to individual hairs on a close-up shot. The on-board stabilisation makes a big difference in keeping tremors from the handheld down.

Flip-out touch-screen viewfinder - the 3.5-inch screen makes for great visual experience and means the device is fun to watch stuff back on. And top marks for being able to flip it round so that the person in front of the lens can also see the viewing screen.

Viewfinder - nice to have a camera which actually lets you hold the thing up to your eye. This viewfinder pulls out from the body of the camera and lets you manage the filming by sight. Though I found the camera a little fiddly to operate from this position.

Memory - a built-in memory of 32gb is significant and really useful. You can just pick this up and it works. Otherwise there are two SD card ports, which could take the memory up to wherever you want it.

Connectivity - with a mini-HDMI port, two mini-USB ports, a headphone jack, it has most of what you need. The camera comes with a bunch of wires as well. And even a remote control for remote operation of the camera.

Artistic filters - Choose from 8 different filter effects from misty Nostalgic to dramatic black and white. A nice Hipstamatic touch for those of us addicted to those photo-filter iPhone apps. Real cinematographers may scoff, but I found this fun and quite gratifying. It's nice to see the results immediately on the viewing screen too.

Playback options - the watching options are easy to navigate and the whole thing was pretty fun - shows Canon learning from the iPhone again, with very pleasant on-device viewing.

GOOD FOR
Video Bloggers
- would be excellent quality for web video. Also light and compact with no need for external mics or SD cards so you could just grab the camera and pick up great off-the-cuff moments very quickly. Features like the reversible viewing screen - letting the person being filmed see what's getting recorded are ideal for one person pieces to camera.
It's also very easy to see what you are shooting and review it quickly afterwards: useful if you don't intend to spend ages in the editing suite.

Quality home video
- that remote control is just made for those set up cutting the birthday cake shots. It's very immediate and easy to use. Also the mini HDMI means you could plug it into a TV and play which would be great for watching family moments immediately.

CONCLUSION
Sexy and fun with enough oo-factor to justify the price tag. However, only those with a big commitment to video will splash out this much on one device.

Features:
Canon HD Video Lens
Canon HD CMOS Pro sensor 160% more light than a normal CMOS sensor
Professional audio
AVCHD video to 32GB memory; 2x SDXC slots
Full manual control
8.8cm Touch-screen LCD
Instant AF; Face Detection
Dynamic Optical Image Stabiliser
Creative Cinematic Features
HD-SD conversion

More on the LEGRIA HF G10 on the Canon product page

£1157 from LambdaTek

Sounds like a wacky idea but there could be something in this concept camera by Seattle design company Artefact.

With 5 and 8 megapixel cameras arriving in smartphones it's hard for camera-makers to carve themselves a niche particularly in the low and mid-range reaches of the camera market. Sure professionals will always want to shell out for the top products.. but the guts of the market are getting eaten out by mobile phones.

That's why Artefact have brainstormed a phone camera with a smart touch screen interface, apps and wifi connectivity but also the power of a great camera. See the cute video of it above. Click the lens off and it looks just like a large iPhone.

Making the camera

Thinking about it - it just makes loads of sense. The lack of internet and photo editing software is, after all, why I always use my iPhone for pictures these days...

Concept Camera: The WVIL from Artefact on Vimeo.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

If you want a high-specced digital camera that comes in a compact, glossy package, then this Z900 EXR from Fuji's FinePix range could be the one for you.

At £219 it's pricey though, so you'd have to be committed to the idea of a digital camera
Out this May, the Z900EXR sports effortless good looks, feature-packed specification and brilliant picture-taking performance, retailing for £219.

Specs and pictures below:

- brand new 16 mega-pixel EXR-CMOS sensor
- 5x wide-angle zoom lens
- 3.5 inch LCD touch-screen
- auto mode letting the camera auto adjust to your surroundings, or three manual - modes: high resolution; Dynamic Range for contrasting light situations, or Signal to Noise for low-light conditions.
- available in four high-shine colours including Gloss Red, Hot Pink, Royal Blue and Brilliant Black.

Camera-makers FlipCam have made a brave foray into the world of apps, by releasing an iPhone app that will let you share your Flip content to your friends' smartphones.

It's a brave move - in many ways, iPhones are rivals to Flips because they also pack medium quality digital cameras. But this could help Flip get a toe-hold in the market and lets face it - people are probably more likely to watch videos on iPhone/Android than to take them. It's a big video consumption device.

The new Flip apps will let you share video to anyone you like with an iPhone, iPad or an Android phone. A groups function will let you share with particular people. For example your mum will be able to watch the video you shot on your Flip cam on her iPhone without having to go via Facebook or Youtube.

It's a cut-throat market for digital cameras with phones soaking up much of the traditional market for cheap-end digital cameras. So this is interesting way to differentiate their device.

According to research by camera companies, most videos and photos are still only watched or looked at on the device they were taken on, but, as we move to a more cloud based internet, we'll expect our content to come with us whatever device we're looking at it on. Flip are keeping ahead of the curve here.

Flip gave out some more information on their app:

Features for Mobile Apps:
x Available for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android - with or without owning a Flip video camera
x Share up to five mobile videos and/or photos at once to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter - or send directly to friends and family
x Post a comment, share, or "favourite" a video with the click of a button
x Built-in filters let users quickly navigate and organise their video library
· Compatible with iPhone 3G or higher, iPod touch 2nd generation or higher, iPad

More on the new apps on Flipshare.com
+ on iTunes
+ on Android Market

I was at an interesting dinner with Kodak last week and among general conversations about flashes and external mics and light sensitivity, the megapixel myth came up.

This is not a new story - it's an old old tale - and it goes like this: the more megapixels your camera has, the better the pictures you take.

It's true up to a point. That point is 8 megapixels, the Head of Products for Kodak pocket cameras told us. After that, the pixels become so small that they bunch together, can distort the image and your pictures can actually get worse.

Add in the fact that the huge amount of memory needed to store these pictures will blow out your memory cards and be a nightmare to transfer back and forth, and cameras this sensitive are more hassle than cheaper ones.

For professional use - with images that are likely to be extensively retouched - it's useful to have more pixels to have more space to play with in the picture edit. But for consumer use that is not an issue.

If you intend your pictures to be printed out on paper, then slightly higher resolution is needed - 300 dots per inch (dpi) - but a 4 megapixel camera will allow you to print out an A4-sized photo that looks flawless. More info on this useful site.

The problem is that while it's easy to sell customers a "more is better" story with a tech product it's much harder to sell the *up to a point* idea. People want more megapixels and they will pay for them.

It's impossible for one manufacturer to stop playing the megapixel game - because then they'll lose out to competitors who could step in and sweep the market. And Sony just released a 16 megapixel consumer camera range.

Steve Jobs made a stab at it with the iPhone 4 - announcing that the camera would only be 5 megapixels and boasting about the perceptiveness of the sensor.. But while that's fine for a camera phone and a brand with the clout of Apple, it's hard for a camera brand to back out of the megapixel arms race... Stuff like image stabilisation and low-light sensitivity is much more useful in creating great pictures with digital cameras.

Powered by the Sun and controlled by your iPhone, the RC Eagle from Thumbs-Up is an inspirational and yet geeky way to roam the skies and investigate your neighbourhood from a birds-eye view.

With solar panels on its wings, a camera embedded in its right eye and a GPS tracker in its left, the RC Eagle from Thumbs-Up live-streams video content straight to your iPhone or PC.

Thumbs-Up, the makers of all sorts of weird gadgets, think they're onto a winner here:

"As for controlling the RC Eagle i, it'll work with your PC, Apple iPad or iPhone - simply download the free "Bird's i" App and transform your device into an all-seeing remote control roving eye! In terms of remote control range, the RC Eagle i is designed to be fully compatible with National Wi-Fi networks, allowing you to pilot your precarious bird of prey hundreds of miles away, virtually anywhere in the UK".

Launch the eagle out of your bedroom window, control it from your armchair and keep up to date with what's going on around the city. An iPhone accessory that's much more exciting than a set of speakers. Perhaps not quite as great as strapping a live camera onto a real eagle, but you don't need to feed this bird of prey or take it to the vet - it just needs to be plugged into the mains every so often.

The RC Eagle on Thumbs-Up

How does the Panasonic HMTA1 Pocket Camera fare in comparison to main rival, the Flip?

Offering full high definition recording at 1080p, it packs a lot of punch for its small size. What differentiates it from its rivals and is case just a bit too plasticy?

Panasonic HMTA 1 £80 on Amazon

Aspiring to take great pictures but unwilling to shell out for professional grade kit? Check out Canon's new EOS 600D which bumps up the top end of their entry-level range.

Sitting at the top of the EOS amateur range, the 600D can shoot full HD video and has an 18 megapixel sensor. The features:
- 18 Megapixel (MP) APS-C CMOS sensor for amazing picture detail
- 14-bit DIGIC 4 processing to provide exceptionally smooth gradients between colours
- full HD video capture at 3.7 frames per second (fps)
- 7.7cm Vari-Angle Clear View LCD screen
- 9-point Auto Focus system also ensures that subjects are in-focus, no matter where it is in the frame
- low light shooting capability enabling you to achieve clear, natural images in darker conditions, with an ISO range of 100-6400 that can be further expanded to 12800.

Also announced today is another entry-level EOS camera - the EOS 1100D described as the "ideal beginner's EOS combining a high-performance specification with exceptional ease-of-use."
Features:
- 12.2 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor means EOS 1100D owners can shoot photos up to A3 size
- HD video capture at 3.2 fps

The Canon EOS 600D is available from early April 2011 at £679.00 for just the body or £769+ with a lens

The Canon EOS 1100D is available from March 2011 at £499 including a kit lens

Olympus have launched the new VG-130 compact. The 14 Megapixel camera benefits from a 5x wide optical zoom great for both close-ups and wide-angle shots with its 26-130mm lens.
The camera has a full-metal body and is just 19.3cm deep. It also features an instant movie record button, that allows you to 720p High Definition movies, which can be framed and played back on is three-inch 230, 400-dot LCD screen.

Like most Olympus cameras it including Advanced Face Detection and Shadow Adjustment.
It also features the Intelligent Auto mode (i-Auto), which automatically identifies the most commonly shot scenes and adjusts the settings accordingly. A very useful feature for any novice photographer.

Th camera will be available this month and is available in silver, black, red and pink for £99.99

This camera lens mug overwhelms me with geek joy. It comes in both a Canon" and "Nikon" model, and looks just like the real thing, but more caffeinated.

The mugs are equipped with an easy to clean, heat preserving, stainless steel lining, a lens-cap lid (omg), rubber-grip focus and zoom rings, and an auto-focus switch that actually switches. To top it off, the "Nikon" mug zooms when you twist its grip.

The mugs are available from Photojojo for $24 (Canon) and $30 (Nikon).

Have any top secret spy missions coming up? Then check out this crazy small DSLR.
It only weighs 12g, with the actual size only 2.5cm x 2.5cm x 2.6cm. So for $120 you can have a mini camera that shoots video at 640 x 480 resolution, take photos at 1600 x 1200 res, plus there's even a mono speaker.
I wonder if they will make telephoto lens for it?

Via JTT

Olympus announces the ultra slim compact VR-310.
It is the latest camera to be added to Olympus's range of cameras for 2011.
The new super slim and lightweight camera will be available this month for £129.99.

Despite being only 19.3mm deep, the VR-310 has an incredible 10x super wide powerful optical zoom or 35mm equivalent of 24-240mm. This allows users to capture group shots or distant objects in great detail. The 14 Megapixel camera also comes with the standard Olympus filters and 720p HD Movie Capabilities.

In addition it has dual Image Stabilization which counteracts camera shake to virtually eliminate blur, while AF Tracking keeps moving subjects in focus. Other clever features such as Face Detection, i-Auto, Scene Mode and Shadow Adjustment Technology automatically adapt settings to different conditions or subjects to make sure your pictures turn out perfectly.

The camera is available in silver, black, red and purple.

As well as the budget-end Bloggie, Sony have released another camera capable of taking 3D films, but the HDR-TD10 is at the luxe end of the range. Check out that double lens. Gerald has a hands-on..

related: #CES: Toshiba will unveil the 3D TV that won't require glasses, it just might not be that good..