You may have seen a recent review of the Kodak Zi8 by the Boston Globe where it received high praise for everything... except it's name. "When Kodak needed a name for its new pocket video camera, its marketing geniuses came up with something dreadful: the Zi8."

Woah. Ok. With our next pocket video camera in development we started thinking about the name. A few were run past our discerning CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett who said "Are you serious?" Back to the drawing board. Or is it?

Maybe we don't have the answer. Maybe YOU do! We are asking people on Twitter and on this blog to tell us... what do you think the next Kodak pocket video camera should be called? What would you call a video camera that is rugged, simple and ready for action and adventure? (Hint - we like the letter "Z"!)

So give it some thought, talk it up and kick it around. Here is how you can share your name ideas with us...

• Leave a comment on this blog post

OR

• Twitter your name suggestion including the #NameAKodak hashtag in the tweet

You have until Monday, August 24, 2009 at 6am ET to post and tweet your proposed names. We are bummed to say that we can only consider entries from the US. As much as we would love worldwide participation we couldn't get the legal rules and regulations aligned around the planet in such a short time frame.

After Monday we will randomly choose 100 people who have offered up name suggestions and those 100 people will receive a "not so cleverly" named but awesomely perfoming Kodak Zi8! Now does THAT get the creative juices flowing?

If you are the name-generating-genius whose product name we choose, we will send you to Las Vegas for the 2010 CES show for the unveiling of the new pocket video camera named by you! The story of your name concept will also be included in the video camera's packaging materials!

Please read all the terms and conditions below before you start brainstorming.

Terms and Conditions: No purchase necessary.  Void where prohibited.  Entrance deadline is August 24, 2009 at 6:00 am EDT.  To be eligible, you must be a legal resident of the United States, 18 years or older and submit an eligible entry.  To enter, submit a proposed name for the KODAK Pocket Video Camera to either http://www.twitter.com using #NameAKodak hashtag or http://jennycisney.1000words.kodak.com/default.asp?item=2411446.  The entrant with the selected name for the KODAK Pocket Video Camera will win a trip to 2010 International Consumer Electronics Association tradeshow in Las Vegas, NV and a KODAK Pocket Video Camera valued at $3929.95.  There will also be a random drawing among eligible entrants to win 1 of 100 KODAK Pocket Video Cameras (valued at $179.95 each).  Odds of winning depend upon total number of eligible entries received.  Sponsor is Eastman Kodak Company, 343 State Street, Rochester, New York  14650.  You can download a complete copy of the Official Rules here - PDF. 

UPDATE Monday August 24 - Thank you to everyone that submitted a name suggestion! The contest ended this morning at 6am.

Want to see some magical sunsets, beach, and river photos of Australia? Check out the incredible pictures taken on the Z980 by the Kodak team in Australia and posted by Shawn Dowling from the team.

flickr.com/photos/kodakz980

We all love this camera and want to show off what it can do. Most of these photos have been taken using Kodak Smart Capture, with no enhancement whatsoever.

Here is one photo that was taken by Leigh Ramsden from Queensland.

Caloundra Sunset



Here is one of my photos.

Cardiff Sunset



This is from my back porch. Not a bad view? I have done nothing to enhance this picture. I simply put the Z980 on sunset mode.

Have a look at the Flickr site to see what can easily be created with this camera.

Finally, it is the 29th of July and I can talk about the new Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera! If you saw this blog post last week, you know I have been looking forward to posting about this latest product. Here are those same videos now without the BEEPS and blurrrs.





Now you know why I was so excited about this pocket video camera! It has so many features people have been asking for!

The Kodak Zi8 still has...
a swing out USB arm, but now it's flexible
removable batteries, now a lithium-ion battery that can be charged in or out of the camera
an SD card slot - so you can bring extra cards and keep on shooting
large 2.5" color LCD

but throw in...
EXTERNAL MICROPHONE JACK!!!
full HD 1080p video capture
built in electronic image stabilization
5MP still capture
improved low light performance
smart face tracking technology

The Kodak Zi8 will be available September 2009 for $179.95.

So how does the Kodak Zi8 compare to the Zx1? Check out whatZareyou.kodak.com to see which one would work best for you.

Check out Plugged In Blog throughout the day for more updates on product announcements from NYC.