This one, for example, shows off a new 3D Sony Bloggie camcorder with two lenses, which hints that 3D is going to be just as big at this year’s CES as it was as last year’s. The only thing we know about this new Bloggie is that its cameras use f2.8 lenses with auto focus, and that it’ll be called the Sony Bloggie 3D MHS-FS3.

More Bloggies on the way

The Bloggie 3D isn’t the only new Bloggie in town, though. Other Bloggies include a dual screen version, the Sony Bloggie Duo, which features a screen on the front and back of the device so you can record yourself talking to the camera and still see what you look like (particularly useful for all you narcissists out there!)

Finally, there’s also a budget Bloggie (a Budgie, perhaps?!) with a 5.1 megapixel still cam and 4GB memory.

This is just a teaser of what’s to come at CES though. It all starts in less than 20 hours time, and we’ll cover as much of it as is humanly possible, so stay tuned!

[Source: Pocket-Lint]

There are two models in the 2010 UltraHD range – the UltraHD 1hr and UltraHD 2hr, but there’s more than recording time to differentiate them.

The 1hr model becomes the more basic version of the two, with much the same features of last year’s UltraHD but with reduced recording time and also a reduced price.

It’s still a simple point-and-shoot video camera, ideal for those who want to fire and forget and get it on the web without pain – if that’s what you want, the Flip UltraHD 1hr is still “the simplest way to shoot and share videos online” according to CNET.

The new improved Flip UltraHD 2hr

It’s the 2hr model that gets the new features though, with an improved recording frame rate to 60 frames per second, image stabilisation so the playback isn’t stomach churning plus the new Flip-port – a mini USB-like interface for attaching “made for Flip” devices such as microphones, lights and more (even new lenses!), expanding the Flip’s uses that little bit more, allowing it to grow with your abilities and making it an interesting one to keep an eye on.

The FlipShare software has also had a slight update to it, adding Twitter to the list of Social Media it’ll work with (currently including Facebook, MySpace and YouTube). There’s also the Flip Channel – another way to share videos with you friends, including email alerts.

Flip have also introduced a personalisation process to make your UltraHD even more personal. This is done by simply sending Flip an image and this will be plastered all over your UltraHD making it as individual as you like, or as your imagination will let you! You can also design your cover on their site using the pattern generator if art isn’t your strong point.

Will the Flip UltraHD succeed?

Will the new Flip UltraHD be as big a success as its predecessors? Well, it’s in a tougher field this year, with devices like Sony’s Bloggie Touch coming soon as well as Kodak’s PlayTouch, but the Flip has the advantage of an excellent heritage and great, easy software. CNet were certainly “…once again impressed with the clip quality produced by this little cam”, and with updates like the Flip-port, it should go along way to keeping it near the top of the pocket video camera list.

[Source: CNet]

That’s not the only trick it’s got up its sleeve though, as Sony go all out to provide bloggers with the video cam of their dreams.

The Bloggie Touch is capable of full 1080p MP4 HD video and can also take still images at up to 12.8 megapixels. It comes with either 4GB or 8GB of memory on board, HDMI out and a built in USB ‘arm’.

It also boasts a plethora of aids and features to help you get that video or shot right first time including Steady Shot (yes, it steadies your wobbly hands) and Auto Macro, cleverly switching to a macro focus for objects closer than 4 inches.

A very social Sony Bloggie Touch

Being named Bloggie Touch also means it’s not wanting for social interaction, interfacing with smoothly with Flickr, YouTube, Picasa and Facebook, as well as Sony’s own Personal Space (a sort of free upload profile page from Sony).

Is it the blogger’s perfect video cam? We’ll hold our opinion until we’ve given it a thorough review. It’s got some stiff competition, but it certainly looks to offer all the features a video blogger would need.

The Bloggie Touch release date is scheduled for October 2010 in fetching silver or black, and will be $180 for the 4GB version, $200 for the 8GB (UK prices will be similar, inevitably!).

If you like the look of the Bloggie Touch but you can’t wait that long, check out the original Sony Bloggie with full HD recording a cool swivel lens for self portrait filming. Alternatively there’s also Flip’s cool little Mino camcorder with HD video and Facebook and YouTube uploading.

The Playtouch has full 1080p high definition recording for capturing those “oh my god” moments we all experience on some of life’s more um, lively nights out, and with the Playtouch you don’t need to mess around searching through the night’s footage when you have a hangover to be getting on with.

The Kodak has a blindingly obviously named “Share” button, and while the name isn’t imaginative, its use is – press Share after taking a picture or video and it’ll tag it for upload. So in the haze of next day, plugging the Playtouch into your PC will automatically fire off those pics of your mate doing something he shouldn’t straight to your social networking profiles.

This is what social gadgets are all about. Fire, forget, and share what you created with all your mates, with the absolute minimum of fuss.

While the Playtouch looks great for stitching up friends, it’s also pretty well specified – 1080p recording, 5mp camera for still images, a capacitive 3″ touchscreen LCD display, HDMI out, SD cards up to 32GB – the list goes on, showing Kodak are certainly serious about helping you film your fun!

The Kodak Playtouch release date is set for the autumn in a variety of colours including Smoke Gaze and Cabana (or black and orange to us regular folk), and will retail at $230 (approx £145).

Obviously this is to show off the PlaySport’s waterproof abilities, as it will work happily in depths of 10 feet or less.

Its usual camera features aren’t too shabby, either – 1080p HD video recording, 2″ colour LCD screen and 5 megapixel camera, all for just £130 ($150) make for a great little device that won’t break the bank.

In addition, the PlaySport will also upload videos and pictures to Facebook and YouTube extremely quickly, making it the perfect camcorder to capture and share your treasured, er, underwater moments!

[Source: Pocket Lint]

Rather than connecting your camcorder to your HDTV by wires, if you use one the new Samsung S-Series camcorders on display at CES 2010 you can beam your videos to you TV instantly with just a click of the Samsung AllShare button.

No wires, no mess, no fuss.

This magic happens through the S-Series camcorders (the HMX-S10, HMX-S15 and HMX-S16) being the first in the world to come equipped with both WiFi (apart from the S10) and DLNA.


Obviously this means that the HDTV must also support both WiFi and DLNA for this magic to happen, but even if it doesn’t, you can wirelessly beam your vids to your PC, which does.

Obviously the camcorders also come with an HDMI cable as well, though, in case you want to view the vids on a normal telly.

The S-Series cameras also come with a plethora of other top-end features, including:

• 1080p Full-HD
• 3.5″ touchscreen LCD
• 3D user interface (no idea why!)
• New Victoria Engine video processor that suppresses noise and results in crisper videos
• Internal Solid State Drives (SSD), which are more robust than normal hard drives, yet offer more storage than SD cards. The HMX-S16, for example, offees 64GB of storage
• 10 megapixel camera with flash
• Super-slow modes shoots at up to 600 frames per second, slowing the scene down 20-fold.
• Time-lapse recording feature
• Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan-HD lens with 18x zoom

That’s some pretty cool specs, particularly when WiFi is added to the mix. I can’t help but feel that an opportunity was missed, though, in not offering automatic YouTube uploading via WiFi. It’s great being able to wirelessly connect to your other home entertainment devices, but sharing your videos is what we all want these days.

Oh well, maybe for CES 2011?!

[Source: Engadget]

The Samsung SMX-F40, SMX-F43 and SMX-F44 camcorders do this via Samsung’s Intelli-studio 2.0 software, which lets you edit, play and upload videos from any PC.

The interesting thing about Intelli-studio 2.0, though, is that all of the software is contained and executed within the camcorder itself. In other words, you don’t need to install any software onto the PC. You simply plug the camcorder into a PC via USB, and start editing, viewing or uploading.

The actual software runs on the camcorder itself, so you don’t need to worry about bringing a CD with you to get the editing software onto the PC you’re planning to use.

This is a nice feature. Not quite as easy as automatically uploading videos to YouTube via WiFi, but at least it cuts down on a lot of hassle, and lets you upload your videos from pretty much anywhere – even Internet cafes – with the minimum of fuss.

The cameras themselves aren’t bad, either. They each offer 65x zoom (52x optical), offer a timelapse recording option, 4 hours of continuous shooting, and capture over 6 hours of video per 16GB SD card. You can also use the camcorders as a digital camera, taking 1.9 megapixel images with 1600×1200 resolution.

Annoyingly, they only 720p HD, but this should at least keep the cost down when they’re launched in February(ish!) 2010.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to make YouTube videos and rock the social video world. Together, we’ll look at what makes the best YouTube camera, where to publish your videos, and even a few tips on what to actually record to make you the next YouTube superstar!

Choosing the best YouTube camera

Obviously you’ll be needing a decent camcorder, but what makes for the best YouTube camera?

Well, depending on what you’ll be doing to gather the attention of thousands of loyal fans, you’ll generally need a lightweight camcorder that can take good quality video in different lighting conditions, and which preferably enables video editing and video uploads to your social video site of choice, all in one box.

Why do you need all this functionality? Because you never know when that scoop is going to happen. If you see something big that’s happening in front of your eyes, you not only need to record it, you need to upload it before anyone else in order to guarantee that you’re credited with the scoop.

Trade shows, events, citizen journalism – all these things rely on getting to the news first if you want to make a big impression (and a loyal following). How do you think Perez Hilton managed it? Capturing the video, editing it and uploading it from the same device cuts down the time needed to get it seen, and ensures you get the scoop before the competition.

Here’s a selection of YouTube camaras for you to consider.

Flip MinoHD

This super-small camcorder is about the size of a mobile phone. It was the first camcorder designed specifically for YouTube. As such, the quality isn’t perfect, as the resultant videos are designed to be seen on a Web page, not an HDTV!

However, I was skeptical about the original Flip Mino when I reviewed it, as its quality wasn’t that good at all, but as a concept, it was perfect.

Simply record your videos, plug the Flip Mino into your PC, and upload to YouTube with the press of a button.

Super simple, but that’s exactly what you need if you want to upload your videos as quickly as possible.

Since the success fo the original Flip Mino last year, Pure Digital (the makers of the Flip) have just released the Flip Mino HD, which adds much better quality (720p HD, no less!) in a range of lighting conditions, making this one actually usable.

There’s no on-board image editing software and no uploading to YouTube without first connecting to a PC (which you do via USB). However, once your Flip Mino is connected, uploading to YouTube is a doddle. For size and simplicity, the Flip MinoHD is hard to beat.

Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera

The Kodak Zi6 High Definition Pocket Video Camera
is a direct competitor to the Flip Mino, doing everything the little Flip does, but with more storage space.

Whereas the Flip tops out at 4GB (max. 60 mins of recording time), the Kodak can record up to 32GB of video.

Unlike the Flip, the Kodak also comes with video editing software, which, although limited, at least gives you the option of trimming your video down in size if it’s too large for uploading onto YouTube (which has a1GB per video limit).

The Kodak is arguably the better YouTube camera, simply because it offers video editing features, but how useful they are on a small screen, you’ll have to judge for yourself.

Equally, the Kodak is more expensive – in fact, its price isn’t that far off a dedicated camcorder, like the JVC and Samsung models listed below, which surely defeats the point of such a device?

JVC Everio camcorders

If you’re after something a bit more professional than mini camcorders, you could do a lot worse than the JVC Everio GZ-MS100. I personally have a 2008 model JVC Everio camcorder, and I can’t fault it – supremely easy to use, great picture quality, and exceptional value for money.

The 2009 models go one better, though, with a One Touch Upload function that takes your video and automatically exports it to YouTube or iTunes via your PC, or lets you burn a DVD of the vid, all from one touch of the camcorder (well, more than one touch, but it’s still super-simple!). No wonder the MS100 has been called the JVC YouTube camcorder!

CrunchGear reviewed a 2008 model back in June last year, and concluded that:

“This camera would be great for…drumroll please…people who are somewhat technically inclined, don’t need to edit their videos, and want to get them uploaded as quickly as possible. My fellow technology bloggers come to mind. I can picture myself using this at an event to record a keynote address and then zipping it up to YouTube immediately so that I can get it up on CrunchGear as in short order.”

In other words, exactly the kind of camcorder you need to become a YouTube superstar!

Samsung MX20 YouTube camcorder

Perhaps the best camcorder of all for the budding YouTube superstar, though, is the Samsung VP-MX20/XEU YouTube Camcorder (also called the Samsung SC-MX20 in the US – no idea why!).

As it’s name suggests, this super-lightweight SD-based camcorder has been designed to record video directly in YouTube format. No need to worry about editing the video after you’ve taken it to fit YouTube’s requirements, as it automatically records in the native YouTube resolution (720×480) and frame rate, meaning what you see on the camcorder is exactly what your loyal fans will see on YouTube.

It’ll also record in other formats in case you want better quality than that designed for the Web, and with 32GB of on-board memory, you can store more video on the camcorder than YouTube will let you upload in one go.

There are some great deals on the SC-MX20 now, as it’ll soon be replaced by another Samsung YouTube camcorder, the Samsung SMX-F34, which was announced last week at CES 2009.

These are probably the best camcorders around at the moment for live blogging or other social media rockstar work – they even get the seal of approval from none other than the producer of social media legend Robert Scoble, and you can’t get a better recommendation than that!

You’ve got the gear – now what?

So now you know what YouTube camcorder to go for – but what exactly do you do with it? How do you use your shiny new gadget to become Internet famous and create that social media profile you always dreamed of (well, ok, maybe not always dreamed of, but we all need a bit of fame in our lives!)

In the next few days, I’ll show you where you can publish your videos, and also give you some ideas of what to start recording in order to become a legendary YouTube superstar!

That’s not all though – social media is about much more than just video. Over the coming weeks, I’ve got a bunch of posts to publish that show you how to use image sites, news sites, and even GPS devices to really rock the social media world.

These aren’t small posts, and they take some time to craft, so you might want to subscribe to MediaMentalism to ensure you don’t miss a thing!

Looks can be deceiving, this stylish little number may have the appearance of a remote control but the simple design hides a camcorder with 2GB of memory (enough to record an hour of standard VGA video).

Once upon a time people wanted their camcorder to have all the bells and whistles that money could buy but in recent years there is has been a growing interest in a camcorder which can fit in your pocket and can upload your movies to the sites like YouTube with a simple click of a button.
The Flip Mino is the descendent of the hugely successful Flip Ultra. Weighing only 90g, the Flip Mino is hardly noticeable bouncing around in your pocket. The 4 hour battery life is not bad, so it shouldn’t cut out on you mid shot. Priced at only