Expanding Diversity In The Digital Camera Market.

This article highlights the launch of several models of digital camera in the U.S. in September 2004. Canon expanded its lineup of consumer and pro digital cameras along with a new photo printer designed to connect to a television for computer-free digital photo viewing and printing. Among the new introductions is the new 5-megapixel SD20. It will ship in four new colors and it features an all-glass, fixed focal length lens, a 6.5x digital zoom and stainless steel and aluminum alloys exteriors. Concord demonstrated a new wireless image transfer technology for digital cameras called Wireless Image Transfer (WIT) at the Photokina photo trade show in Cologne, Germany in September 2004. The demo involves a prototype 2-inch by 2-inch WIT-enabled WiFi USB device that connects to a digital camera's USB port to wirelessly transmit images. The technology is being evaluated for use as a stand-alone accessory to a camera, as well as an integrated technology to produce a WiFi enabled camera. Olympus threw its hat into the consumer digital SLR ring with the announcement of the Evolt E-300, a model based off the Four Thirds System and employing the company's Zuiko Digital Specific family of interchangeable lenses. The E-300 will ship in December 2004. The 8-megapixel E-300 includes a compact, Zuiko Digital 14-45mm lens for a 3.2x optical zoom. It features five scene program modes and 15 select scene program modes with descriptions on the liquid crystal display to guide a user through using the various modes. Oregon Scientific landed the rights to the Barbie brand from Mattel Inc. and will introduce a new Barbie digital camera in November 2004. The VGA camera will sell for a suggested $34.99 and be initially available in Target. It offers 8MB of internal memory capable of storing 20 VGA images or 104 lower-resolution images.