Iain Sinclair Poco Pro Camera Promises The Works: 1080p HD, 14MP In A Tiny Form-Factor

With cellphone cameras improving all the time, point-and-shoots have to aim high if they want to stand out of the crowd. Iain Sinclair's Poco Pro certainly makes plenty of promises; tipped to launch in Q2 2011 for a bargain £200 ($308) or thereabouts, there's a 14.6-megapixel sensor, 1080p HD video capture, a 2.4-inch AMOLED preview display and a microUSB 3.0 port for data and option HDMI output, all in a credit-card sized black-anodized magnesium chassis.

In fact the spec sheet is impressive all round, with only the dual-LED flash – rather than Xenon – being a low point. It'll supposedly record stereo audio and support auto-focus and macro shots, while there's an optional WiFi-enabled microSD card for throwing wireless into the mixture as well. That memory card slot boosts the 4GB of onboard storage.

It's ambitious stuff, and we can't help but suspect that the Poco Pro is trying to do too much at once. A 14-megapixel CMOS sensor of the small size required to fit into a 85.6 x 54 x 5 mm casing is probably not going to be great at dealing with normal lighting, and the £200 price tag seems over-ambitious. Iain Sinclair is taking £100 ($154) deposits on the first units now, but we'll wait until the reviews come through before getting over-excited.

[via Gizmag]