It looks like this year’s CES is more of a showcase of product updates rather than of new products. Take for example Canon who has introduced several camera and camcorder models many of which are packing Wi-Fi and NFC.

Heading the announcements is the Canon PoowerShot SX350 HS with a 50x optical zoom lens (24-1200mm, 35mm equivalent). It also comes with a 16MP sensor that is capable of capturing Full HD content and delivers high-speed autofocus and zoom framing assist. The SX350 HS will be joined by the PowerShot SX710 HS and SX610 HS that will have a 30x and 18x optical zoom lens respectively.

The SX350 HS will be sold for $430, while the SX710 HS and SX610 HS will sell for $350 and $250 respectively.

On the camcorder side, Canon introduced four new models under its Vixia range – the HF R42, HF R40, HF R400 and HF G20. The HF R42, R40 and R400 all pack a 53x advanced zoom lens, a DIGIC IV image processing engine, a 3.28MP full HD CMOS image sensor and support for capturing HD MP4 videos at up to 35Mbps and AVCHD progressive 60p videos up to 28Mbps.

All three models are also capable of accessing the web through Wi-Fi. The camcorders will be available by March with pricing to start at $300 for the R400, while the R40 and R42 will retail for $400 and $500 respectively.

For a much steeper price tag, the Vixia HF G20 packs more oomph with 32GB of onboard storage compared to the 8GB on the first three models, 10x optical zoom, 12 hours of full HD recording and an enhanced HD CMOS PRO image sensor. It also features a high-resolution 922-dot 3.5-inch touch panel and Canon’s SuperRange Optical Image stabilizer.

The Vixia HF G20 will be available next month with an estimated price of $1099.

Now if you’re wondering why Canon is putting heavy focus on Wi-Fi connectivity in its latest products; that’s because they are also launching a media station called the Canon Connect Station CS100.

Basically, the Connect Station is a networked attached storage for all the videos and photos you’ve captured with your Canon camera. The box sports 1TB of storage, Wi-Fi, NFC and a wireless remote. It also comes with SD and CF card slots as well as a USB and an Ethernet port.

It also sports an HDMI port so you can connect it to your TV and browse all the images and videos in your collection. Moreover, Canon says the station uses a user interface that automatically organizes user content depending on shooting date, camera type and custom albums.

The device is expected to go on sale around June of this year for around $299.

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The Xperia phones are undoubtedly the star of Sony’s keynote at IFA this year, but we shouldn’t forget that the Japanese company also makes other multimedia devices including headsets and cameras.
First, there’s the new Action Cam Mini, which as the name implies is a smaller version of the Action Cam that we saw at CES earlier this year. The new camcorder is now splash-proof making it an alternative to the GoPro. 

Under the hood is a 11.9MP Exmor R BSI CMOS sensor, a 170-degree ultra-wide-angle lens, and a stereo microphone. The Action Cam Mini is capable of recording 120fps high-speed video at 720p resolution and supports XAVC S codec. Sony will start offering the device at $250 next month.
Sony is also updating its Walkman range with the NWZ-WS613 and the NWZ-A17 music player. The WS613 is a wearable player that doubles as a Bluetooth headset. It can connect to a smartphone to make or answer calls, or beam more tracks stored on the handset. It can also connect to fitness apps to record a user’s activities. The WS613 will be available starting in October for around $160.
Now if you’re looking for something similar to Apple’s iPod, then the NWZ-A17 might be the thing for you. The music player supports WAV, AIFF, ALAC and FLAC formats and comes with 64GB of on-board storage that can be expanded using a microSD card slot.

The A17’s battery is able to deliver around 50 hours of regular audio playback and around 30 hours of high-res music. There’s also Bluetooth and NFC. Users can check what track is currently playing on the device’s 2.25-inch QVGA LCD display. 
The NWZ-A17 will be available later this month for $300. 
In case you want the absolute hi-fi portable music system, be sure to check out Sony’s new MDR-1a and MDR-XB950BT. The MDR-1a is the wired version and comes with 40mm audio drivers with a folding design.

On the other hand, the MDR-XB950BT is the Bluetooth version. It bears the same 40mm audio driver as the MDR-1a and connects to your smart device via Bluetooth. It also comes with a mic so you can make and receive calls while using the headset. There’s also NFC for quick pairing and a 20-hour battery life.
The headset will retail for around $200 once it becomes officially available later this month.
Lastly, there’s the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact tablet – an 8-inch slate designed to be a more portable version of last year’s model. It has a Snapdragon 801 chip with a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable on-board storage. 

The tablet’s resolution is 1920 x 1200 pixels and is complimented by a pair of front-facing speakers. There’s also an 8.1MP camera at the back and a 2.2MP snapper up front. Sony has also equipped the device with NFC and an LTE modem, which means the tablet capable of making phone calls when you have a headset connected.
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Panasonic has recently unveiled a new type of camcorder that allows users to strap it in their arm and head and record 4K videos.

With the same target audience as Sony’s ActionCam and GoPro’s camera, the Panasonic HX-A500 is a rugged and weatherproof camcorder that can record 4K video at 25fps (a first in this product category). The camera is also capable of recording Full HD video at 50 fps, 720p videos at 100fps and 480p videos at 200fps.

The HX-A500 features a 1.5-inch display for checking videos captured by the lens, NFC for connecting the camera to a smartphone or tablet, a Crystal Engine Pro+ video processor, EIS Image Stabilization and an IPX8 certification, which means you can dip the camcorder up 10 feet of water for 30 minutes.

The Panasonic HX-A500 will be available in May for around $578.

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