Here they cam!

So here we are, at the second annual Samsung regional forum in the humongous exhibition hall of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, taking pictures of the assorted mind-blowing gadgets/appliances that promise to take Southeast Asia (including the Philippines) by storm. Everybody seems to be clicking away. I focus my trusty old digicam on Samsung’s still-to-be-launched, nifty new line of consumer-inspired digital cameras.

With a long sigh, I look pitifully at my age-old digicam and marvel at Samsung’s new big shots that seem to be calling out to me: Buy me, buy me!

Certainly, gone are the days when cameras did nothing but take pictures. Today, you can do a whole lot of things with your camera you never imagined you could do.

Earlier, over a lunch of Yankee burger, salmon wrapped in prosciutto, and schnitzel, among other sumptuous offerings at the celebrity chef resto Daniel Boulud, I remember having an engrossing conversation with the head honchos of CameraHaus.

“I’ve been using the same Samsung digicam for years now and I’ve had no complaints,” says Robenson Ong Lo, CameraHaus vice president-operations, with a matching bright smile. “We carry all sorts of cameras in our stores, but I can personally vouch for Samsung.”

To which foodie and techie lawyer Paul Santos, president of Picture City, could only say, “Touché!”

What about the retail price point?

“There’s a Samsung camera for every thousand (pesos),” comes Ong Lo’s instant reply.

That got me sold on Samsung — with a song in my heart.

But now, in this vast bustling hall filled with people and the next-generation electronic gadgets and appliances, I can’t make up my mind as to what digicam to buy as soon as it’s rolled out on the Philippine market.

Let’s meet Samsung’s new big shots that will soon be arriving on Philippine shores.

SH100: Ultimate Connectivity In A Snap

MSnap till you drop: Samsung’s new 14.2-megapixel SH100 is a Wi-Fi-enabled camera that makes connectivity on the move quite a snap.

First, there’s Samsung’s new 14.2-megapixel SH100, a Wi-Fi-enabled camera that makes connectivity on the move quite a snap. Aim, shoot, and share the memories with family and friends. With its built-in Wi-Fi, you can e-mail photos or upload directly with Facebook, Picasa, YouTube or Samsung.com so that your loved ones can enjoy your experience wherever you might be. You can automatically back up your shots to your PC by simply pushing two buttons or, using the DLNA technology, you can hook up to your HD TV and enjoy your photos and videos right away. No sweat! Now, how cool is that?

There’s more to Samsung’s SH100 than meets the eye — or makes the heart go pit-a-pat. Its Wi-Fi capability allows you to use your Samsung Galaxy smartphone as a remote control and viewing device for your camera.

Now, if you’re shooting over a crowd, say at a concert, you can enable the Remote Viewfinder function, hold the camera high over your head while you see a preview of the picture in real time on your phone screen.

And if you want to shoot yourself — I mean, take self shots — you can zoom in and zoom out using the 5x optical zoom and access basic menu functions like parameters and shooting modes.

This you gotta see: SH100 is also equipped with Samsung’s new touch-based Smart Touch 3.0, which enables users to drag, click and control app-style icons, easily flip through photos, and control a range of the camera’s features quickly. The latest LCD technology displays crisp, vividly colorful images so you can shoot in virtually any light.

And this you gotta hear: With the SH100, you can make your own movies! The SH100 artfully mixes a still camera with a compact HD video camera; you get 720p HD quality video at 30 frames per second and recording time four times longer than MPEG video. SoundAlive, with special zoom noise reduction technology, gives crystal-clear, vibrant sound recordings.

Cam one, cam all: The ST700 with 1.8” front LCD screen is the ultimate in dual screen innovation from Samsung.

NX11: The Perfect Picture At Your Fingertips

And what’s the latest to join Samsung’s highly successful NX family of cameras? The NX11, that’s what!

Coming on the heels of the NX10, the user-friendly NX11’s got a new grip design that makes shooting a breeze and much more comfortable.

Its panorama mode allows you to take great landscape scenes or pictures of large groups (like when you’re having a class reunion or maybe taking pictures of these delegates from all over Southeast Asia attending the Samsung forum).

This latest NX System camera comes complete with an 18-55mm i-Function lens as well as two new i-Function lenses, a 20mm pancake (sounds delicious!), and a 20-50mm zoom silver color lens. Ready to train your lens?

Wait! Listen to this: Since you usually wrap your hand around the lens of the camera when holding it, NX11’s new i-Function system allows you to use your left hand to change settings without having to take the camera off the target.

ST700: Picture-Pretty Self Shots

Showing soon is the ST700 with a 1.8” front LCD screen. The ultimate in dual screen innovation from Samsung, ST700 gives more opportunities for great self-shot portraits — now, don’t we love to shoot ourselves!

This lovely cam includes more innovative features, such as Samsung’s impressive Smart Touch 3.0 on the back of the camera, and boasts seamless usability and a clear, crisp display. Image quality isn’t lacking, too, what with its 16.1-megapixel (MP) image sensor and 26mm 5x optical lens, making it the most advanced 2 View camera to date.

Another spellbinding feature is the newly added Magic Frame that allows you to instantly create formatted postcards or posters to share with family and friends.

HMX-Q10 Camcorder: Lights, Camera, Shoot!

Wonder camcorder: HMX-Q10 brings together all of Samsung’s full HD camcorder technologies, with high-quality BSI CMOS sensor and advanced video functions.

And now comes the HMX-Q10, which brings together all of Samsung’s full HD camcorder technologies, with high-quality BSI CMOS sensor and advanced video functions that make recording movies the simplest thing in the world.

C’mon, get a grip on yourself! This camcorder wonder delivers the world’s first Switch Grip function, featuring a smart LCD screen that can flip images, however the camcorder is held — the G-magnetic sensor inside the HMX-Q10 recognizes the angle and turns the LCD display accordingly.

What’s more (or should I say, less), this camcorder is slim, compact, and light enough to carry anywhere, and can also double as a 4.9-megapixel still photo camera.

Other mega features of the HMX-Q10: Its Optical Image Stabilization Duo System helps you capture stable and clear video in whatever situation you find yourself.

Surely, HMX-Q10 raises the bar for affordable and easy-to-use camcorders employing the latest cutting-edge technology and years and years of thoughtful customer insight research.

Now, how smart is all that? But Samsung is not settling for “smart.” It hopes to bring a “Smarter life: Smart design, smart experiences, smart connections” to its faithful legion of consumers. Stanley Goh, Samsung regional director of trade marketing, elaborates on the four pillars of the smarter life:

• Smart design — to create intuitive designs that increase functionality for consumers.

• Smart experiences — to provide a wide variety of applications, games, and programming delivered on a broad range of platforms through bright and dynamic screens.

• Smart connections — to allow Samsung devices to automatically connect to each other, sharing content and enhancing user experiences.

Now, you know what makes Samsung click!