TOKYO -- During HUB's travels to Japan, Panasonic unveiled its revamped line of multimedia devices. Formerly grouped under the E-Wear label, they've been rebranded D-Snap, and are headed to Canadian retail shelves this month.

The idea is pretty appealing: take all of the devices you might want to carry with you -- digital still and video cameras, and video and MP3 players -- and cram them into a single gadget.

Panasonic did just that with the E-Wear line, but, although the multimedia devices were capable of many things, they did none of them particularly well. The company appears to have listened to complaints, though, overhauling the line and improving video and photo quality.

The first D-Snap to be launched in Canada is the ultra-slim SV-AS10. This model has a fixed-focus, 2 megapixel (MP) camera with a lens that spins through 180 degrees. It records QuickTime movie files at 10 frames per second, plays back MP3 and Windows Media audio, and functions as a voice recorder. The internal battery is recharged by dropping the D-Snap into its cradle. It comes with an 8 MB SecureDigital memory card and an estimated street price of $449.

Most interesting of the upcoming D-Snap products is the SV-AV100, which captures MPEG2-quality video (the same quality used for DVD video). It comes with a 10X optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD, and 512 MB SD card. Because it records to the memory card, it has no mechanical parts, allowing for its small form and light weight (156 g). At full quality, it can only capture about 10 minutes of video on the included card. Knock the quality down to MPEG4, and it can capture about an hour. It will be available in early November for an estimated street price of $1,499.

The following two D-Snap models are also coming to Canada (release dates and pricing to be announced):

• SV-AV25: A clamshell design with a top photo resolution of 2 MP that captures MPEG4 video at 30 fps.
• SV-AV50: Also a clamshell design, but thinner than the AV10 and AV25. When opened, the lens pops out the opposite side of the camera, and the 2-inch LCD can be spun into place, just like a video camera. It has the same top photo resolution and video capture rate as the AV25.