Limited edition Olympus Mju 1040 gets crystallized

I thought the Swarovski crystal trend was officially over in the gadget world, but I was wrong. Olympus will be releasing a limited edition camera embellished with 98 Swarovski crystals in Europe and calling it the Olympus Mju 1040 Crystal digicam. The camera looks like it would make a nice holiday gift, but are Swarovski crystals enough to make a it a limited edition product? Apparently so.

The compact camera features a 3x optical zoom, 10-megapixels, face detection, VGA video capture, and a 2.7-inch LCD screen, which are all pretty standard features in most point-and-shoot digital cameras. It does have an Intelligent Auto mode that automatically adjusts your scene settings, and the company's TruePic III image processor, but that's really it. Other than that, you get to pay a little extra for a slide cover decorated with 98 Swarovski crystals you could stick on there yourself for free.

The camera ships with all the usual accessories like a USB cable, rechargeable battery, charger, wrist strap, and software, and will be offered in a yellow, red, silver, and black. Olympus just announced the Stylus 1040, "the thinnest Stylus camera of all time," back in August for $200, but if you're all about exclusivity, then you should wait for the $300 Mju 1040 to debut at the end of the month.

Swarovski-studded Olympus mju 1040: Lipstick on a pig