Incentive - November 2009 - (Page 46)

AWARDS Cameras: Companıons The social networking era yields slick camera innovations By William Ng ocial networking wouldn’t be what it is today without the digital camera. Yet digital cameras wouldn’t be today’s pocket-size technological feats without Facebook, YouTube, and other social media sites pushing the envelope of their uses. As advanced as today’s cell phones are, their built-in cameras still do not capture life quite like digital cameras do. That’s why the devices remain an integral part of consumers’ web-connected lives, as they snap away and post their pictures online. “Most products have a lifecycle, but there’ll always be a need for cameras,” notes Eric Anderson, director of sales for Elkhorn, WIbased PMC, an electronics distributor to some of the largest incentive houses in the industry. He says the incentive channel for cameras remains strong, with program participants graduating to their second or third units. “This year, the lower price points, the pocket-size models, are redeeming well. But even the low-end cameras now have 10- and 12-megapixel resolution.” The prerequisite advance of megapixel resolution notwithstanding, camera makers have come up with ways to speed the process of getting images on the Internet—or on HDTVs—and making those pictures look as good as possible before they are shared with the world. Anderson says with Bluetooth technology Canon’s PowerShot SD980 IS, part of the brand’s Digital Elph line, is one of an army of new cameras with touch screens and tools that enhance the sharing of images and videos Life’s Must-Have S now, consumers don’t even have to wire cameras to computers to transfer files anymore. Instead, they can wirelessly send images and videos to web-connected mobile devices. “It used to be about more megapixels, but now it’s features— especially for social networking—that differentiate cameras,” says Wendy Whyte, senior buyer for Chicago-based Hinda Incentives. “When there are new features, people want the latest and greatest. Camera market lifespans are now four to six months, compared to nine months in the past.” While cameras at the lower price points always move, innovative features, including touch screens, are getting award redeemers to look at higher-end models, notes Mary Kusen, marketing coordinator for Rymax Marketing Services, in Pine Brook, NJ. “They’re looking for something exciting and unseen before,” she says. Social networking is all the rage with Sony’s new pocket camcorders/cameras designed to simplify capturing and uploading videos and photos directly to the Internet. The MHS-CM1 and MHS-PM1 Webbie HD units, marketed as “your perfect companion, ready to record antics at a moment’s notice,” capture daily events in high-definition video at 1080p resolution, as well as 5-megapixel photos. It records in the MPEG4 video format that is friendly for YouTube and shrinks media files to manageable sizes for transfer via USB. Both Webbie HD models give award recipients whimsical color 46 | Incentive | November 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - November 2009

Incentive - November 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Incentive Excellence Exchange
Headlines
Amway’s Over-the-Top 50th Anniversary Incentive Trip
Cover Story: Growing Globally, Software Developer Symantec Seeks Centralized Recognition
Strategies: Motivating the Six Workplace Personality Types
Primer: Five Tools CEOs Can Use To Improve Engagement
Travel News: Where to Go and How to Get There
Switzerland’s Incentive Offerings Are Legendary
Potentials: Here and Now
Digital Cameras for the Social Networking Era
Incentive Gift Card Directory

Incentive - November 2009