Worried that Panasonic would kill off Sanyo’s signature pistol-grip camcorders after it bought its rival last year? Fear not — Panny just went and resurrected Sanyo’s ergonomic design with three new models – slapping its own brand on ‘em, of course. And, in a move that would do Sanyo proud, Panasonic brought back the DMX-CA100 / VPC-CA100, a 1080p camcorder Sanyo released last year under the same name. It’s gotten a spec boost, though, with the ability to snap 16 megapixel still photos, up from 14.4. The other two — the HX-DC15 and the HX-DC1 — both shoot 1080p video as well, with the DC15 offering 16GB internal memory and a 16 megapixel sensor, and the DC1 able to take 14.4 megapixel stills. No word on availability outside Japan, but we’re sure those of you with a penchant for flip-out displays and candy-colored plastic will find a way to snag one.

Right on schedule, Panasonic’s gone and made its thinly-veiled Lumix DMC-G3 Micro Four Thirds shooter official. The camera succeeds the G2 with a 16 megapixel sensor, support for 1080p AVCHD video recording with stereo audio, 4fps burst shooting at full resolution, and an articulating, 3-inch touchscreen that supplants some of the dials adorning the last-gen model. In addition to poking around menus, you can touch that display to focus on your subject, and slide your finger to tweak exposure, white balance, and depth of field — all in all, not unlike how you might interact with a smartphone camera. And, at 11.8 ounces, the aluminum-clad body weighs about ten percent less than its predecessor. Look for it in June for $700 in brown, red, and white — in addition to your garden-variety black. In the market for something more compact? Panny also trotted out the Lumix-FH7, a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot with 4x optical zoom and 720p movie recording. Oodles of photos below with a press release after the break.

In case you’re still wondering if Panasonic’s mirrorless Lumix GH2 is worth your $900, we’ve rounded up a handful of reviews to provide a pointer for your next big purchase. While most reviewers agree that this Micro Four Thirds camera appears to be very similar to its predecessor, they universally praise the subtly improved ergonomics, speedy liveview autofocusing, and refined image quality, especially with its 1080p AVCHD video recording (although Digital Camera Resource Page did notice some artifacting in its clips). Noise is also a non-issue up to about ISO 800 or 1600, though it’s apparent that the 16 megapixel stills are comparatively dull and, like those from many other MFTs, aren’t quite on par with DSLRs — expect plenty of manual processing work here, as demoed by the good folks over at Digital Photography Review. All in all, the GH2 is a great kit for high quality video capturing, bundled with a pretty good still performance that requires some extra TLC afterwards — kinda ironic in a way, but hey, this isn’t a problem for lovers of video bokeh. Head over to the links below for some in-depth analysis and walk-through before you leave a small dent on your bank account.

We’re drowning in interchangeable lens options, but that’s far from being a bad thing. For those that finally caved and picked up Panasonic’s Lumix DFC-GF2, we’re interested to see how you’d change things if given that golden opportunity. Are you satisfied with the size, weight and design? How’s the low-light performance? Would you alter anything about the lens selection? Introduce a version that changes colors with the seasons? Go on and get creative in comments below — the GF3 needs some ideas, you know?

It’s not exactly November, but those who pre-ordered early may still end up with a Lumix GH2 beneath their tree. The highly-anticipated GH1 followup — which was introduced back at Photokina — has officially begun to ship to end users in the USA. The official order page shows a one to two week wait, but we’ve confirmed with Panny itself (as well as tipster Nate, the proud owner of the one above) that units are indeed trickling out as we speak. For those in need of a refresher, this Micro Four Thirds shooter packs a 16 megapixel sensor, 1080p movie mode, SDXC support and an ISO range from 160 to 12,800. Feel free to take a peek back at our hands-on from Germany, and make sure you cancel those holiday plans STAT — wouldn’t want this sitting on your doorstep for a solid week, now would you?

After a year of hearing about 3DTVs nonstop we finally got some of the main contenders in house to examine, although we’ll start by pointing out that this isn’t so much of a “3DTV” roundup, since a more apt description of these displays is 3D-capable HDTVs. That’s an important distinction to make, since nothing about the 2D performance of these TVs suffers because of their ability to do 3D, and in many cases they cost the exact same price as their comparable 2D-only models from last year. With that said Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and LG’s finest have had their moment and on the next page we’ve done our best to compare them in a way that makes sense for the average HDTV buyer who might also want to take in a 3D event or movie from time to time. Right now, there’s barely enough 3D content to support more than a couple of hours viewing per week, much less support a full viewing conversion to all-glasses, all the time — but more about that later. Check out our full impressions after the break.

Panasonic’s DMC-GF1 proved itself as a tasty go-between, filling the gap between high-end compact and DSLR. The GF2 will soon arrive and, according to Photography Blog, if anything it slots in a little closer to the compact side of things thanks to a new user interface that ditches many buttons and dials in favor of touchscreen menus. This will drive some users mad, but ultimately the up-rated features here still make this a worthy choice over the GF1, including video recording at 1080i60 and a new body that’s a fifth smaller and seven percent lighter than before despite still containing a pop-up flash, 12.1 megapixel sensor, and image quality that’s about as good as you’re going to get out of a shooter this size.

Panasonic may not be new to cellphones, but it has sat out of the smartphone explosion of recent years — an oversight that it’s now apparently looking to correct. Speaking at a news conference today, the head of Panasonic’s mobile division, Osamu Waki, said flatly that the compmany “misjudged the speed at which smartphones would be taken up in the Japanese market,” and that “with the rapid shift to Android, we want to catch up quickly.” Exact details on how it plans to catch up are expectedly still a bit light, but Panasonic’s phones will indeed be based on Android, and it apparently hopes to differentiate them by emphasizing their networking capabilities with other Panasonic products. As for when the first ones will roll out, Panasonic plans to kick off sales in Japan sometime next year, with overseas markets set to follow in 2012.

If Panasonic can build an exercise horse then surely a robot that washes your hair should come as no surprise. Imagine being lifted from your robotic bed by a plush care-assist robot and placed into a chair for an automatic shampoo and scalp massage. That is the future of care for the elderly and sick in Japan, or the rich and lazy everywhere else. Panasonic’s hair-washing robot scans each human head three-dimensionally to apply just the right amount of pressure during the shampoo, massage, and rinse phases. It recognizes repeat customers and then applies that person’s preferred massage course using its human-like sixteen “fingers.” Each arm contains a trio of motors to power swing, press, and massage motions… or to snap your spinal column should you decide to sass.