Panasonic resurrects Sanyo's pistol-grip camcorders, trots out three new models

Worried that Panasonic would kill off Sanyo's signature pistol-grip camcorders after it bought its rival last year? Fear not -- Panny just went and resurrected Sanyo's ergonomic design with three new models - slapping its own brand on 'em, of course. And, in a move that would do Sanyo proud, Panasonic brought back the DMX-CA100 / VPC-CA100, a 1080p camcorder Sanyo released last year under the same name. It's gotten a spec boost, though, with the ability to snap 16 megapixel still photos, up from 14.4. The other two -- the HX-DC15 and the HX-DC1 -- both shoot 1080p video as well, with the DC15 offering 16GB internal memory and a 16 megapixel sensor, and the DC1 able to take 14.4 megapixel stills. No word on availability outside Japan, but we're sure those of you with a penchant for flip-out displays and candy-colored plastic will find a way to snag one.

Akihabara News

Panasonic (1), (2), (3)

Cisco phasing out FlipShare: 30 days to save your videos

Many Flip fans are already sporting black arm bands with little red spots in honor of the dying brand, and the New York Times reports there's more bad news coming. Starting May 12th, all videos uploaded to FlipShare will expire 30 days after they've been posted. This applies to videos you've already uploaded as well --- so you've got till June 11th to follow the lead of Google Video users and back up your collection of clips before they disappear into the digital ether. The FlipShare service will continue to live on for another two and a half years, if you don't mind the one month limit, but clearly Cisco wants users to move on with their video-sharing lives. Check out the more coverage link for instructions on how to export your videos, and let's have one more moment of silence for the tiny camcorder that could... at least until it couldn't.

New York Times