It's time once again for our annual CamcorderInfo select awards. Every year, we honor those camcorders that stood out above the dozens that go through our labs. Each of these camcorders has survived a battery of tests and has been carefully compared to the competition; our awards reflect the camcorders that our review process has shown to be the best.

October 20, 2009 – Sony announced today the release of two new models to their XDCAM EX line of professional camcorders—the PMW-350 and the PMW-EX1R. The PMW-350 is an entirely new camcorder from Sony and it is the company's first memory-based camcorder to include a 2/3-inch CMOS chip. The PMW-EX1R, on the other hand, is an upgrade to the company's previous XDCAM model, the PMW-EX1.

October 13, 2009 – Sanyo announced that it will release the VPC-HD2000A and VPC-FH1A in North America. These two high definition camcorders have been available since early this year, but have yet to see a wide release on this side of the globe. The HD2000A and FH1A will have the same exact specs as their previously released cousins, but with one extra feature: compatibility with iFrame, a "next-generation" video format developed by Apple to make video files smaller and easier to edit.

October 13, 2009 – Today, JVC confirmed that the previously announced Picsio GC-FM1 would see a North American release, for $199. CamcorderInfo got an exclusive first look at the Picsio and were able to put it through our labs in the usual battery of tests. To see how JVC's first enry into the ultracompact budget camcorder market fared, read our full scientific review here.

September 1, 2009 – Creative Labs unveiled its second generation of high definition Vado camcorders, an upgrade to their ultracompact Flip competitors released last year. These models sport new color schemes and a new 4GB option, but seem to be otherwise identical to their predecessors. The bigger news from Creative is the announcement of a more Mac-friendly Vado Central—the video software built into the Vado for making simple edits and uploading to YouTube.

September 1, 2009 – Pioneer announced today a new ultracompact budget camcorder, borrowing a page out of the Flip book to emphasize portability, design, and ease of use over high performance and manual controls. Very little is known about the new camcorder, except that it has a pivoting lens and touchscreen.

Retailers such as Amazon have begun taking pre-orders on a US version of the JVC GZ-HM400 (earlier than they were supposed to, reportedly) for US$999. Not that the details of the camcorder were any great mystery; its Japanese equivalent was announced a month ago. The exciting news, readers, is that Camcorderinfo.com has a shiny new GZ-HM400 in-house and ready to review.

August 24, 2009 – Today, Sanyo announced an addition to its high defiition lineup: the Xacti DMX-CG11. As an upgrade to the CG10 released earlier this year, the DMX-CG11 has an HDMI output, compatibility with wireless "Eye-Fi" file transfer, and an English language menu option. The CG11 will hit Japanese stores this September.

Camcorderinfo.com is proud to announce the launch of Camcorderinfo.co.uk for our readers in United Kingdom. The new site offers the best content of the American version, but with PAL camcorder test results and UK-targeted material.

The U.S. is finally getting its own Canon HF S11, more than a month after its release in Japan. The new flagship camcorder will be an addition to, not a replacement for, the HF S10. With 64GB internal flash, it doubles the capacity of its predecessor, and adds a few new tricks, as well.