Yesterday, Sony unveiled their newest HDR-TG5V Handycam camcorder. Its design is similar to many “Flip” camcorders that have hit the market these days like the Kodak Zi6 and the many models from DXG.

This camcorder can capture 1920×1080 high-definition video and four-megapixel photos. It has 16GB worth of flash memory which is about 6 hours worth of video recording. Footage can also be added to the Memory Stick PRO Duo media (sold separately) for additional recording time. The camcorder has a 2.7 wide LCD touch panel, and very instinctive controls.

What really makes this camcorder device unique is that it has a GPS antenna and NAVTEQ digital maps to geo-tag videos and photos, and it even can document destinations on a map. This content is marked by a push pin at each shot location and can be played back on the camcorder’s screen, or on the user’s PC with the included Picture Motion Browser software.

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One of the troubles with filming documentaries or reality shows is that people tend to act differently when they are on camera. I suppose that is what makes reality TV entertaining, but it is hardly a realistic portrayal of life. A Canadian filmmaker named Rob Spence has figured out a way to remove that “I’m-on-camera” factor in his documentaries, as his prosthetic eye has a concealed camera.

Spence plans to film many people, and the eye will transmit the footage wirelessly to a storage device nearby. Of course, he is required by law to tell his interviewees that they are on camera. Oddly enough, the subject of his documentary is about whether people are “sleepwalking into an Orwellian society”. I’m sure he realizes that his film could be one step into a surveillance society.

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The latest fad for taking pictures on vacation, especially a hike, is geotagging, a way of cataloguing your pictures with GPS coordinates in case you want to find the place where you visited again.

Unfortunately, some people don’t have a geotagging feature on their present model of digital camera, but you can compensate for it with the i-gotU GT-120.

The i-gotU is a GPS tagger that the user puts on his or her person somewhere. Once it is switched on, it will record not only where you were, but when. If the clock on your camera is synced with the clock on the i-gotU, then you will have an accurate record of where you have been.

Of course, you will have to match the time of the picture with the time on the i-gotU later, but you basically have a poor-man’s (or woman’s) geotagging system. All you need to do is plug in the i-gotU into your USB slot on your PC (i-gotU is not Mac compatible), and you can upload the coordinates of your trip into Google Maps/Earth, Flickr, or any other social networking site.

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We have reported on the Unibind’s Photobook Creator before, and I seem to recall saying in that review that I would probably report on Unibind again. Sure enough, I have just heard of a brand-new development that Unibind is working on.

Unibind’s Photos N Sounds is “the first photo book that allows anyone to record a personalized voice message”. The recording apparatus is on the cover, and it works by hitting a record button and saying the message or music. If the user is satisfied with the message, then he or she rips off a tab to make the audio file permanent.

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FujiFilm has recently announced the unveiling of several point-and-shoot cameras, including the FinePix Z33WP. These 10 Megapixel cameras promise that they are “Life-Proof”.

So what does “Life-Proof” mean? For starters, the Z33WP is waterproof up to ten feet. Sadly, I am getting reports that it is not shock-proof. Sadly, I don’t think this is as “Life-Proof” as it claims, but if you live a life without extreme sports, the Z33WP is probably more than what you need.

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Jobo (finally) launched the PhotoGPS at Photonika last year, nearly a year after it’s initial announcement and we’ve been putting one though it’s paces for the past month or so. The production model is certainly slimmed down from the early design but how well does it work?

The answer to that question can be found, as always, on our sister site coolest reviews.

When I was on the road to Vegas for CES, I wished I had some sort of video recorder so I could just speak my mind and write about it later. It would have definitely saved me some time and would have made the trip a lot less boring. On a somewhat related note, Nikkai has created the In Car Journey Recorder, which is the inverse of my idea.

Yes, the In-Car Journey Recorder is designed to affix to the windshield to record the road ahead, not the driver. It uses a 1.3M CMOS image sensor, which can record video footage for your insurance or lawyer in case of an accident. Now you have proof that it really wasn’t your fault in a collision case, when it’s your word against someone else.

The In-Car Journey Recorder records to an SD card for up to 2GB capacity, which is good for up to 18 hours worth of video footage. It can capture intervals between 2-3 seconds and 3 minutes.

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It has been about a year since we covered a product from VuPoint Solutions. For those who aren’t familiar with VuPoint Solutions, they are a company that makes digital cameras as well as devices that can convert prints and slides into digital formats.

I got a chance to see their latest model of their print photo-to-digital file converter at CES. The PC-C520-VP is a definite step up from the PS-C500-VP, as the C520 has a 2.4 inch TFT LCD color display so you can see what the photos look like before they are scanned.

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