At CES yesterday Samsung introduced five new digital cameras. The most interesting
is the new Digimax i6, which is an ultra-slim camera and portable media player
in one. Here's more:
Digimax i6 [specs]
- 6.0 effective Megapixel CCD
- F3.5-4.5, 3X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 37 - 117 mm
- Ultra-thin body (0.7" thick) comes in silver and black
- 2.5" LCD display
- 64MB onboard memory + SD/MMC card slot
- Point-and-shoot operation
- Electronic image stabilization system (called Advanced Shake Reduction)
- Can play videos (MPEG, AVI, QuickTime, WMV, and ASF) and music (MP3, WAV)
that you transfer from your computer
- Records movies at 640 x 480 (30 fps) using the MPEG-4 codec
- Uses NP-40N lithium-ion battery
- PictBridge-enabled
- Ships next month for $299
Digimax i6 Personal Media Player Features 6 Mega-Pixels and Samsung Technology
for Entertainment On-The-Go
Las Vegas, NV (January 5, 2006) Samsung Camera today announces the introduction
of the Digimax i6, a revolutionary 6 mega-pixel digital still camera that features
Samsung's exclusive Digimax Converter software to play movies and MP3 files.
The ground-breaking i6 allows users to enjoy movies, music videos, television
shows and even their favorite music with the added convenience of a state-of-the-art
digital still camera.
"Consumers today demand revolutionary technology while on-the-go," says
Stewart Henderson, National Marketing Manager at Samsung Opto-Electronics. "At
Samsung we strive to develop cutting-edge technology to provide innovative
products that the sophisticated marketplace desires."
Using the included Digimax Converter software users can easily listen to their
favorite MP3 files or watch their favorite video content on the large, 2.5-inch
color display. The user-friendly software can seamlessly convert MPEG, AVI,
MOV, WMV and ASF files for viewing on the i6. For music on-the-go, the software
can also convert MP3 and WAV audio files in several simple steps. The innovative
software also allows users to view subtitles, adjust the screen size and crop
and stretch the image to fit the screen as desired.
At the heart of the i6 is a 6 mega-pixel digital still camera measuring a
mere 3.7" x 2.4" x 0.7" with a 2.5-inch, high resolution LCD
display. For outstanding image quality, the i6 integrates a 3x optical zoom
(equivalent to 39-117 mm in 35 mm format) capability with Samsung's exclusive
SHD lens technology.
The Digimax i6 is equipped with Samsung's state-of-the-art Advanced Shake
Reduction (ASR) technology to combat hand shake. The ASR function provides
enhanced image clarity by electronically compensating for excess hand shake
and improving color in environments lacking sufficient lighting where the use
of the flash is not desirable. With the touch of a button, the unique technology
uses proprietary algorithms to interpret sharpness and color information to
deliver an image that looks like it has been taken with the flash. As the flash
is disabled, side effects, such as red eye are prevented.
In addition to playing video, the i6 can also make movies using MPEG-4, the
high-compression, high-quality video format. The i6 can record in VGA (640
x 480) at 30fps, for smoother video and a bigger view of the movie on LCD and
TV screens. For steady videos, the i6 includes a movie stabilizer function
that automatically detects and corrects minor lateral and vertical camera movement.
For additional control the continuous video recording function allows the user
to pause and resume video recording at any time, while the built-in movie editing
function allows users to edit video in-camera.
The i6 features several special effects functions for creative control in-camera,
such as Color Effect, Highlight, Photo Frame, Negative and Composite Shot.
Color effects include B/W, sepia, blue, green and red.
For crystal-clear images, under various shooting conditions, the Digimax i6
features 11 scene modes including Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Close-up,
Sunset, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow and Text Recognition. Text Recognition,
a feature unique to Samsung digital still cameras, allows users to shoot documents
such as books, papers and magazines and then extract text from the image taken
using the bundled "Digimax Reader" text recognition software.
To ensure the clarity of images regardless of shooting range, the Auto Macro
function automatically adjusts shooting distance and focus. By using the macro
button, users can set the camera to automatically adjust distance and focus
from between 5cm to infinity. The i6 also includes a super macro mode that
enables subjects to be photographed up to as close as 1 cm.
All Samsung digital still cameras feature a built-in image editing function
allowing users to edit a variety of images without the use of a PC. The Trimming
function can be used to cut an undesired part of an image and save only the
required part. When short of memory, shooters can use the Resizing function
to recover some of the memory space, by resizing and saving images in a smaller
size.
The Rotating function allows users to rotate an image in the desired direction
and save it.
The i6 comes equipped with 45MB of internal memory and comes bundled with
ear buds for MP3 listening, a convenient cradle charging system and a powerful
lithium ion battery.
The Samsung Digimax i6 has an MSRP of $299.99 and will be available in February
2006.