Kodak Expands Digital Camera's Reach

Kodak Expands Digital Camera's Reach

The 2000's were tough on Kodak. But you have to give them points for perseverance. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Kodak has come out swinging...

... and one new product really caught my eye.

The Kodak Slice is a digital camera. But the Slice takes advantage of the way many people actually use their digital cameras. And does it with style.

First, this pocket-sized (4.1" x 2.4" x .7") digital camera packs 14 MP resolution and a 5x internal optical zoom lens. It also features a 3.5" (diagonal) touch screen LCD. So, other than a couple of small buttons on the top, the camera is all smooth, flat surfaces.

Kodak also includes 2 GB of internal memory in the Slice. They claim the camera holds up to 5,000 HD images in memory - along with recording all your shots on Micro SD cards.

The purpose of all that internal memory becomes clear when you consider that virtually the entire back of the Slice is a high-resolution display. This digital camera doubles as a portable photo album.

What's brilliant here is that you can shoot to your heart's content, while having a completely different set of pictures in the Slice's built-in memory.

Of course, the Slice comes with all the features you'd expect from a nice point-and-shoot digital camera: image stabilization, 720p HD video, one-button upload to Kodak Gallery, Facebook and other websites, face recognition and more.

Part of that more is a different kind of face recognition. The Slice can identify up to 20 faces in your photos (a familiar feature for iPhoto users). This is great for organizing - and locating - pictures in memory.

At $349.95, the Slice is a bit pricy for a point-and-shoot digital camera. But I'm betting the feature set will convince more than a few buyers that it's worth the money.

If you're interested, the Slice will be available in April. Meanwhile, you can catch a glimpse on Kodak's website.