CES 2010: Camcorders get touch screens, toughen up, slim down and start streaming

Sony has released its pocket camcorder called the Bloggie, which is a progression from the Webbie released last year in the States. Its most notable feature is the swivel lens on top which allows for some interesting angles and lots of filming yourself. There are three models which all shoot in 1080p HD and take 5MP stills, while the CM5 version is a different format with 5x optical zoom.

Meanwhile Kodak has also brought a pocket offering to the show in the shape of the Kodak Playsport. While the Zx1 was merely splashproof and a bit rubbery, the Playsport can film in 1080p HD while take a dunking to a depth of 3m, making it the toughest pocket camcorder on the market.

In the 'proper camcorders' category, Canon has been busy updating its Legria range with the flagship HF S series getting huge 3.5in LCD touch screens, powered optical image stabilisation and dual memory card recording.

In Sanyo's 'Dual Camera' category, there's a new pistol-grip Xacti which is trimmed down to a slender 27mm thick and weighing in a 142g. Despite its size, it still manages to pack in 9x optical zoom full HD recording, 8MP stills and an electronic image stabiliser.

And finally, Samsung has outed a few camcorders of its own. In addition to a couple of oddly-angled ones following its current trend for wrist-relaxing models, the new HMX-S15 and HMX-S16 (pictured) have built-in WiFi and DLNA connectivity. Not only will this allow you to wirelessly download footage to your computer à la Eye-fi, but they're the first to offer live video streaming over WiFi.

We're certainly looking forward to getting our hands on these to give them a thorough testing, and no doubt you'll see one or two pop up in our camcorders top 10. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the rest of our CES coverage:

More CES news:
Hands-on with Lenovo Ideapad U1
Microsoft demoes HP 'slate'
Hands-on with the LG exPo projector phone
eReaders aplenty at CES
Hands-on with the Plastic Logic Que proReader
Video: CES goes 3D crazy