14 DAY TRIAL // Olympus may not have flooded the market with a trove of new cameras like Fujifilm did, but it does have one camera that the press is taking note of, though it isn't solely due to its own capabilities.
Olympus has launched the Stylus XZ-10, whose sensor and other specs don't really make it stand out any more than other half-decent digital cameras.
The 12-megapixel sensor has nothing on the 16-megapixel chips, and the 5x optical zoom (f/1.8-2.7 iris) is, again, more or less common.
Nevertheless, the Olympus Stylus XZ-10 is noteworthy because it has the unusual ability of communicating with smartphones.
It isn't exactly the same level of wireless connectivity as on other, higher-end cameras, since there is more than one DSLR that can share photos on social networking sites independently.
On the other hand, it will work even when there is no Wi-Fi connection nearby, since it only needs a smartphone.
Basically, the Stylus XZ-10 can send images to an iOS or Android device, so long as said phone or tablet has the OI.Share app installed.
The camera itself will need a Toshiba FlashAir card in order to make the uplink.
For those unfamiliar with the memory card, it was the first SD card equipped with Wireless LAN. It was introduced at last year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012).
As for the rest, Olympus has figured that the camera would be a decent enough £349 gadget if it got a 3-inch 920k dot TFT LCD (liquid crystal display), touch-screen focus selection, and control ring exposure adjustment.
Furthermore, the 4-1. Touch AF Shutter allows for user selection of the area meant to be focused on just by touching a point on the screen.
Availability is set for no sooner than March. The price for the US hasn't been released yet, but the UK tag converts into $550 according to current exchange rates. On that same vein, the price in Continental Europe would be of 406-550 Euro, give or take.