January 7, 2010 – This morning, JVC announced the GZ-HM550: a new high definition Everio camcorder with Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The Bluetooth capability may not offer any standalone benefits, but users that already own Bluetooth-enabled devices will be able to use them in conjunction with the HM550.

January 7, 2010 – This morning, JVC announced its 2010 lineup, including a new flagship camcorder: the Everio GZ-HM1. The HM1 borrows many features from last year's excellent GZ-HM400, while upgrading the sensor and stabilization system.

January, 6 2010 – Sanyo announced two new members of the Xacti camcorder line today at CES in Las Vegas. The first is a slim, upright HD camcorder called the VPC-CS1, which Sanyo bills as the smallest Full HD camcorder to offer an optical zoom lens (10x zoom). The second is the VPC-SH1, which has more of a traditional design and is meant to be held horizontally. The VPC-SH1 has a 30x optical zoom lens and features 10-megapixel still image capability.

January 6, 2010 – Today, Sony unveiled a new high-end standard definition camcorder, proving that at least one manufacturer still believes that consumers want quality standard definition video. The HDR-SX83 Handycam features 16GB of internal flash memory and a larger sensor than the rest of Sony's 2010 standard definition lineup.

January 6, 2010 – Sony has upgraded its 2009 Webbie HD camcorders with a new series: the Bloggie. The MHS-PM5 and MHS-CM5 represent Sony's second foray into the ultracompact camcorder market, with some improvements that the company hopes will bring it one step closer to challenging the dominant Flip series of camcorders.

January 6, 2010 – This year's Consumer Electronics Show saw three new entry-level HD camcorders announced by Sony: the HDR-XR150, HDR-CX150, and HDR-CX110. These three new Handycam models will replace last year's XR100 and CX100 camcorders, offering HD video with a compact form factor and low price.

January 6, 2010 – Sony has expanded its Handycam lineup to include three new mid-range models: the HDR-XR350V, HDR-CX350V, and HDR-CX300. All three camcorders are designed to bring consumers high quality video at a more affordable price.

January 6, 2010 – Today, Sony announced a slew of new standard definition camcorders with similar processing and optics, but varying media types and capacities. The hard disc drive DCR-SR68 and DCR-SR88 offer 80GB and 120GB capacities, the DCR-SX44 and DCR-SX63 have 4GB and 16GB of internal flash memory, and the DCR-SX43 records solely to removable memory cards. These five models were announced in conjunction with the high-end DCR-SX83, also unveiled today.

January 6, 2010 –  Today, Sony announced its 2010 flagship Handycams: the flash memory HDR-CX550V and its hard drive sister model, the HDR-XR550V. These two camcorders offer many of the new features that Sony introduced in 2009: a new 6-blade G lens, refurbished menu system, back-illuminated Exmor R sensor, and active stabilization mode. These 2010 models also have some brand new features, including an exciting new card slot that is compatible with both Memory Stick PRO Duo and traditional SD/SDHC memory cards.

January 6, 2010 – Today Panasonic announced the release of three new mid-range HD models: The HDC-HS60, HDC-TM55, and HDC-SD65. All of the camcorders are loaded with 1/4.1-inch CMOS sensors, as well as 25x optical zoom lenses. The total pixel count for each camcorder is 3.32 megapixels, with the effective pixel count coming in at 2.11 megapixels for recording video.

Panasonic revealed a new lineup of standard definition camcorders today with the announcement of the SDR-H85, SDR-T50, and SDR-S50. These new standard definition models have similar internal specs to last year's models, but Panasonic did add a few enticing new features.

January 6, 2010 – Today at CES, Samsung announced its 2010 line, including three new Wi-Fi enabled flagship camcorders: the HMX-S10, HMX-S15, and HMX-S16. This makes Samsung the first of the major manufacturer to release a camcorder that allows you to upload videos remotely. All three camcorders also have DLNA capability so you can wirelessly transmit video files to your home computer.

January 5, 2010 – Today Canon announced new versions of its high-end HD camcorder line—the HF S series. The new camcorders each include huge, 3.5-inch LCDs that use touchscreen technology and have 922,000-pixel resolutions. This is a major shift for Canon, which had previously relied on navigation joysticks for scrolling through menus and adjusting controls.

January 5, 2010 – With the HF R11, HF R10, and HF R100, Canon has created an entirely new, entry-level line of HD camcorders. The models would best be described as HD versions of Canon's standard definition line—the FS series—as the two sets of camcorders have similar shapes, sizes, form factors, and LCDs. The HF R series, however, range in price from $499 to $699, and each includes a 1/5.5-inch CMOS sensor with a total pixel count of 2.39 megapixels.

January 5, 2010 – Canon's three new mid-range HD camcorders—the HF M31, HF M30, and HF M300—represent upgrades over Canon's previous mid-range lineup, which included the HF20, HF200, and the Japanese-only HF21. While Canon didn't change much about the internal specs with these new camcorders, it did make some significant alterations with the way these models are controlled.

January 5, 2010 – Canon announced three new entry-level standard definition camcorders today. Two of them—the FS31 and FS300—will be available in the US, while the FS30 will be released in Japan only. All three camcorders have the capability to record to SD/SDHC memory cards, but the top-line FS31 comes with 16GB of internal flash memory and the FS30 is packed with 8GB of internal memory.

For first-time camcorder users that are shopping the standard definition market, the Sony DCR-SX60 (MSRP $369.99) may seem like a compelling choice. It has easy touchscreen navigation, a great auto mode, and just a couple options in case you want to try out more advanced videography. Unfortunately, there are several more compelling options on the market that can give you ease of use and superior video performance.