But we like our plastic and our purses. And we like shopping online. So here are three of our favorite new geeky ways to pay online without ditching those credit cards.

1. Jumio NetSwipe

Top of the list is NetSwipe: the smartest way to pay we’ve seen in an age. Just put your credit card up to a camera on a smartphones, laptops or desktops PC and it reads the information on the card in seconds. Just as with entering the information by hand, cardholders need to add their three-digit CSV to complete a payment but just the scanning process significantly reduces opportunity for fraud.

Most online fraud is CNP (card-not-present) so there’s huge opportunity to cut out the fraud issues that blighted Paypal in its early years and, so far, the scanning seems sophisticated enough to handle the possibility that fraudsters will attempt to fake cards to pay for free.

“Our scanning technology is very good, it can easily detect the material of the card, it can see if the letters are embossed, or if it’s made from metal, or if it’s a photo,” Daniel Mattes, who founded Jumio, says.

How to Use Jumio NetSwipe and Pay via Webcam [Video]

2. Dwolla

Dwolla recently hit $1 million in daily transactions even though it only launched in December. Dwolla’s simple idea is just to link payments to social networking sites to allow people to pay friends and co-workers more easily than ever.

Users can link up their existing debit and credit cards in a way that CEO and co-founder Ben Milne says is set to be the online equivalent of paying cash.

“When you talk about cash, it’s not represented in the marketplace electronically. If you’re paying with a phone or on a website, what is the cash equivalent? There is more money moving through system through cash than credit. It’s an underserved market and it’s massive,” he said.

3. Card.io

Another credit card scanner, Card.io also uses cameras for quick mobile payments. It will be a race between this and NetSwipe to get consumers engaged and using the scanning technology to pay online.

Currently, iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) developers accepted into card.io’s private beta are working on integrating the technology into their own Apple apps and the company looks set to integrate with a number of events and deals sites rather than becoming a household name in its own right.

“For now, I think our biggest differentiator and value-add is as a technology company, and that’s what we do best,” says Co-founder Mike Mettler. “We haven’t considered moving into the financial services realm directly, but it could be a place we look to partner in the future.”

Guest Author: This is a guest article from Choose, a UK consumer site that covers personal finance including full reviews of deals like Tesco Clubcard and tools to compare specific deals such as cash back credit cards.

You can feel free to refer all the camera magazines and review sites out there but the best-selling DSLR cameras for 2011 are probably the ones that people want and buying right now. We have provided a rundown of the top digital cameras for beginners below.

As you already know, they come at different price ranges based on their features, lens capability and other digital functions. The higher priced models, of course, are for the most part, of much higher quality. You get what you pay for! These models have the capability of “nicer” shots as they come with more features, such as larger lenses and more manual options. But if you’re thinking about purchasing a digital camera, but not sure which one, here is a list of the top 5 bestselling digital SLR cameras on the market today:

Top 5 Best Selling DSLR Cameras In 2011

1. Nikon D7000

This is a superb DSLR camera with excellent performance for its class; great viewfinder; control locations and operations streamlined over previous Nikon DSLRs; double SDXC-compatible card slots. Exposure and metering are solid and consistent, and it reproduces color faithfully when you want it to. Nikon pushes the saturation a bit in its default Standard Picture Control, but it doesn’t display the wholesale color shifts we tend to see on lower-end models. However, when you compare the Neutral setting with all the others, you can tell it pushes the contrast to the point where you actually lose shadow detail.

The D7000 is Nikon’s most advanced camera at any price. The fact that Nikon D7000 sells for $1,200 make it a no-brainer, which is why it’s sold out. The D7000 is Nikon’s best DSLR ever.

2. Canon EOS 50D

The 50D has many similar characteristics to its predecessor, the 40D. This includes various shooting modes, the ability to change ISO and white balance, a pop-up flash unit, and an LCD screen. The LCD screen is the same size (3.0″) as the 40D but has a higher resolution (920k pixels) than any previous model.

The Canon EOS 50D digital SLR retails for $1,399 body-only. A kit version including a 28 – 135mm zoom lens is also available, priced at $1,599, as well as a kit containing the new 18-200mm zoom lens, retailing for $2,099.99. The Canon 50D will accept virtually all EOS 40D accessories, including the battery grip, remote control, optional focusing screens, and battery.

3. Olympus E-30

The Olympus E-30 single-lens reflex digital camera is aimed at what are often referred to as “prosumer” users, who lie somewhere in between the casual consumer and the professional photographer. The E-30 borrows quite a lot of features from its big brother, including the fast 11-point auto-focus system, shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th second, 1/250th sec maximum flash sync speed, 5fps continuous shooting, built-in image stabilizer which stabilizes all lenses, Live View on a multi-angle LCD screen and the Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system.

Priced at $1300 body only, the Olympus E-30 competes well with the likes of the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90 and Sony A700.

4. Canon Rebel XS

For perfect photos, fast and simple, there’s nothing better than Canon’s new EOS Rebel XS. With powerful features including a 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, Canon’s DIGIC III processor, fast shooting and more, it’s a digital powerhouse. With simple, easy-to-use controls, a compact design, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, and Live View Function, it’s a beginner’s dream come true.

And because of the lower megapixelage, the XS is the first of this series able to pull off unlimited consecutive large, fine JPEGs. Canon Rebel XSis an excellent camera for cost conscious entry-level photographers and it is available in a kit version which includes the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens, at a retail price of US$699 or less.

5. Sony Alpha DSLR-A330

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A330 is a solid entry-level DSLR that surely have its fans. The Sony A330 is a 10.2 megapixel DSLR camera featuring a restyled external design and enhanced user interface, both intended to make it easier to use for people new to SLR photography.

In its favor, the Alpha A330 has built-in stabilization which works with any lens you attach, a slightly larger 2.7in screen that can also be vertically tilted for easier composition at high or low angles, an HDMI port, and a quicker, fuss-free Live View system with faster auto-focus. Sony A330 has a street price of around £600 / $650 with the 18-55mm kit lens (exclusivly sold by Jessops in the UK).

If you found our above review useful then also checkout our other review of 3 Top Rated Digital SLR Cameras of 2010. If you are planning to buy a Digital SLR camera, then consider visiting the online department store Very.co.uk and view a fantastic collection of digital cameras online now. They have all of the top brands such as Sony, Fuji, Nikon and Canon.

The most popular camera used in terms of pictures taken that are uploaded to Flickr right now is the Nikon D90. But in about a month or so, it will be Apple’s iPhone 4. What’s intriguing is that D90 is about three years old where as the iPhone 4 is not even a year old. The rise has been spectacular.

“The graphs show the number of Flickr members who have uploaded at least one photo or video with a particular camera on a given day over the last year,” Flickr says on the page where it ranks popular cameras. However, another Flickr graph shows that the percentage of Flickr members using point-and-shoot cameras is declining at a rapid rate.

Obviously most of this data is rather qualitative. The timeline isn’t marked with dates, and there are often problems with detecting the kind of camera used with a photo is uploaded to flickr. Anyway, the iPhone 4 trend is remarkable, as is the complete absence of Android phones.

iPhone 4 doesn’t boast of high megapixel tag like Nokia’s N8 or Satio which have 12 megapixel cameras, but Apple’s post processing and accompanying software is considered industry-leading. And hence, the iPhone 4 camera is considered to be the finest camera phone among all the smartphones with its 5 megapixel shooter. And the iPhone 4 camera is equally awesome when it comes to movie making [Watch “Apple of My Eye” – an iPhone 4 Movie]!

Apart from digital cameras if iPhone 4 is to be compared with other popular smartphones in list of Flickr, HTC Evo 4G & HTC Droid incredible stand far behind in line after iPhone 4. With both HTC products having 8MP camera are not being able to match the excellence of iPhone 4 with just 5MP of camera in comparison to them.

The Flickr data also suggests that more and more folks are using cameras in their phones to click everyday photographs , slowly abandoning the point-and-shoot cameras. At any rate, the flickr data suggests a social and technical trend that, for better or worse, predicts big changes in the consumer camera market, driven, again, by Apple.

Many photographers also prefer DSLRs for their larger sensors compared to most compact digital cameras, now available with image sensors the same size as traditional film formats. These large sensors allow for similar field-of-view values to film formats, as well as their comparable sensitivity.

The evolution of the digital SLR (DSLR) camera continues with impressive features being added at a steady rate. Today in this post, we are going to review three of the best digital cameras of recent times.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II:

I know, what’s running in your head. Is this anyway related to EOS 5D from Canon? And the answer is yes. This is the successor of EOS 5D, one of the most famous models from the brand Canon. This is a compact (comes in two different versions; Body Only and Kit version) and affordable camera with HD video capture facility. The technology-rich hi-fi systems and uber-cool mechanism of this camera allows to shoot up to 3.9 frames per second (fps) for virtually unlimited number of pics (depends on the storage card). This digi cam comes with DIGIC 4 Imaging processor, 21.1 MP 24 X 36 mm CMOS Sensor, Sensitivity ranging from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600, HD movie recording facility with 1920 X 1080 resolution, 15-point Autofocus sensor, 3.0 inch Clear view LCD screen and enhanced 150,000 cycle shutter durability. The video capture can be done up to 4GB per clip with peripheral illumination correction, Auto Lightening Optimizer technology, Creative Full Auto Setting, Silent Shooting in Live View, EOS integrated cleaning system and three Live View AF modes and … Phew! This gadget has a lot of it. The 5D Mark II body alone weighs 1.78 pounds (810g), and dimensions are 6 x 4.5 x 3 inches (152 x 113.5 x 75mm) with a good grip to hands. These measurements are essentially identical to the original Canon 5D. If you are someone with keen interest in photography, then this camera is a must have for you.

Sony Alpha A900 Digital SLR:

The body measures 156 x 117 x 82 mm, slightly larger than Canon EOS 5D MK II. This camera weighs around 928g (including batteries). These sorts of dimensions make A900 a beast which is robust and can be used vigorously. Sony has implemented a real nice flash in this camera; the sideways rotating HVL-F58M flash to be precise. Sony claims to have 1.5x stronger anti-shake system and 1.3x faster operation in this as compared to its predecessors. Lets not forget that “Anti Dust system” is implemented quite cleverly in this; the camera vibrates the sensor when the camera is switched off so as to stay clean from any kind of dust. According to me, this is just another camera in market with some exceptionally well implemented features in it; if I missed, it is a 24MP camera. Can you believe that? 24Mps… Gosh! However, it’s never pretty hard to experience the wow moment with a digital camera of this sort.

Nikon D700:

This camera is quite big with a dimension of 160 x 157 x 88mm and weight of around 1240g. As compared to the previous camera models, it comes with a less mega-pixels for its class; 12.1 Mp to be precise. It comes with a 3 inch LCD TFT with 307,000 pixels display. They have designed the body in Magnesium alloy for solving durability issues. The prism, mirror box and rear body too are surrounded by the same magnesium alloy. It has continuous shooting of five fps speed, Active D-lighting, color enhancement options with noise reduction. In these 3 models of cameras, this particular model comes with the best gripping (With great weight comes great gripping; LOL). The processor is amazingly fast which takes as low as 0.1 seconds to start. Combining all; it has one of the fastest processors, lowest noise even at very high ISOs, Full frame sensors, well designed body and so on. The camera however falls apart in case of its resolution which is very low as compared to it’s competitors.

Out of these 3 high-end digi cams, which one is your top favorite? And why?

You might want to argue that – “if you can’t take it all in at once, what’s the big deal? Wouldn’t Google earth have the largest ‘photo’ since it has an interactive view of the entire globe stitched together? This is not a gigapixel photo, this is a gigapixel collage.” Whatever it may be, I’m still enjoying the phrase “largest gigapixel photograph”. Detail was precisely the point of the image. Further, simply because you have no immediate use for this detail does not mean its pointless and certainly not a desert. Its all still there when you zoom back in. The detail on the facade of a building does not cease to exist just because you get in your car and drive a mile away. This is an attempt to record that. To have the naked eye view and the telescopic view in one set of images. 

I’m not sure how it compares in size to all the regular gigapixel photographs. But no doubt it’s much bigger than the smallest gigapixel photograph. In other news, a ton of bricks actually does weigh more than a ton of feathers.

The combination of Sony’s new single lens 3D system and its 240fps high frame rate technology has realized a single lens 3D camera system, based on universal properties of the human eye, which enables natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence conflict to be recorded.

Technological Features:

1. New single lens optical system

- Captures left and right images simultaneously to deliver natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence conflict.

- Eliminates the need for lens synchronization, ensuring easily accurate control of 3D zoom and focus functions.

- When polarized glasses are not used, viewers with still be able to see natural 2D images, as the disparity of the images for left and right eyes are within the range that human eyes can recognize as a blur.

2. 240fps image capture to realize high quality motion images

- Realizes high quality capture of 3D content including fast-moving subject matter such as sports.

240fps 3D Filming:

Optical tests have shown that a frame rate 240fps represents the limit of human visual perception, and beyond that it becomes difficult to detect differences in terms of blur and “jerkiness” of moving images (where images that were continuous are now seen as a series of distinct snapshots).  By developing a 240fps frame rate CMOS image sensor with properties close to the human eye, which is capable of capture natural images of even fast moving subject matter, Sony has succeeded in further enhancing the quality of 3D video images.

The combination of Sony’s new single lens 3D system and its 240fps high frame rate technology has realized a single lens 3D camera system, based on universal properties of the human eye, which enables natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence*1 conflict to be recorded.

This technology combines a newly developed optical system for single lens 3D camera which captures the left and right images simultaneously, together with existing high frame rate (HFR) recording technology to realize 240fps 3D filming.  Sony will demonstrate a prototype model incorporating this technology at “CEATEC JAPAN 2009”, to be held at Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba city, Japan, from October 6^th 2009, today.

Looks like we are all set to watch some high quality realistic 3D movies soon, thanks to Sony. What do you think? Do you think this is going to revolutionize the current state of 3D movie industry? Or do you think that this is going to be the biggest FAIL in the history of lens making?

As a video camera, the new nano is remarkably good. It’s also extremely simple to operate and takes decent quality MPEG-4 video at VGA resolution (640×480) at a fluid 30 frames per second rate. The total bit rate of its movies is around 2,500 to 3,000, making the output files portable and compact, and well-suited for online use. Missing from its arsenal (for now?) is the ability to shoot stills; the nano’s camera captures video only. Also you don’t get the full range of video-editing features that you have on the iPhone 3GS. However, you still get a lovely range of fun video effects to choose from.

iPod nano Video Strengths:

Exceedingly wide-angle lens when you compare to pocket camcorders.
Cool 16 video effects to choose from.
Breathtakingly awesome Macro mode.
Small video-file sizes; makes it easy on the memory.
The latest nano is much more smaller than any pocket camcorder available in the market.

iPod nano Video Weaknesses:

Not so user-friendly and unconventional lens placement.
Shoots only videos; no still images.
Too bad low-light footage.
Video effects can only be applied before you shoot the video.

The audio recording quality is even better when you record video using the mic integrated into a pair of iPhone-style headphones. Note that the nano only ships with standard headphones lacking an integrated mic, however. Even using the nano’s built-in mic, audio is very decent and very usable for the casual applications one can expect of it.

You probably won’t want to use the iPod Nano’s tiny speaker as a boom box for listening to music, as it isn’t capable of producing very high fidelity music, but it can serve a functional way to share videos with friends without using headphones.

Like any tiny CCD camera, it takes the best shots in good lighting. Inside in dim lighting, shots get noisy and motion blur is a lot more evident. The video-capable Nano isn’t going to put Flip out of business, but it will dramatically expand the number of recording eyes out there in the hands of millions of iPod users. Given that the Nano’s video recording feature doesn’t cost any premium over the previous generation, Apple is effectively dumping millions of free video recorders into the market, something that may badly hit the emerging market for standalone video recorders.