A couple of months ago Olympus officially said that they are working on the release of a new premium compact camera. They may hurry because one company after another is announcing such a compact camera and Olympus may be late to the party. After the new Fuji X100s (in stock soon) and the Pentax MX-1 today Nikon announced the very compact Nikon Coolpix A (specs here). These are three different cameras, the Fuji X100s has a superb sensor and hybrid viewfinder (and is priced at $1299). The Pentax MX-1 is the cheapest camera ($499) and the Nikon is the smallest of the three.
So the question now, how should the Olympus premium compact be to gain some considerable interest over the three? My guess is that it will be very compact with a MFT sensor and fixed fast Zuiko lens. But I admit that the Fuji hybrid viewfinder looks very nice and as we know, Olympus officially denied they would sue that kind of tech :(
Premium compact camera price and specs check:
Fuji X100s at [shopcountry 37160].
Pentax MX-1 at [shopcountry 37161].
Nikon A at [shopcountry 37162].