Digital Camera News, 12/29/07

ATP provides details about new photo geotagger

For those interested in the possibilities offered by geotagging – where coordinate data specifying where a photo was taken is embedded into the image file – a universally compatible solution appears to be close at hand.

Memory maker ATP announced on Friday that its GPS Photo Finder, a portable photo accessory that allows for convenient geotagging of digital photos taken by any camera, is nearing mass production. A stand-alone device that works with images from basically any digicam, the Photo Finder has a built in card reader and USB port: simply insert a supported memory card containing the JPEGs you wish to tag and the unit adds location information automatically.

Some image management and editing software, including Google's Picasa, already support geotagging, allowing users to store and sort photos by location. "With new applications such as photo-enabled GPS navigation around the corner," said Michael Plaksin, ATP VP of Sales, "this technology will see significant growth in the next few years."

We'll see if that prediction holds, but it's an interesting idea either way. No information was provided on pricing, but the Photo Finder should be available for purchase in the next few months.

Nikon D40x to see replacement in 2008?

The latest hearsay, courtesy of a source translation obtained by Photography Bay, is that Nikon intends to replace the step-up D40x digital SLR with an all-new D60 in early 2008.

Apparently, the rumor is based on credible reports that D40x manufacturing is being closed down. From all indications, the original 6 megapixel D40 will remain in production for the foreseeable future.

If the information proves well sourced, earlier rumors of a D80x/D90 replacement for the D80 may not pan out after all. Whether this means that the aging D70/D80 line gets dropped altogether is not clear.

See the link to the full story here.