Micro Four Thirds
So I'd actually thought of this before the announcement but didn't post anything about it.
This should let Olympus/Panasonic/Leica make a digital camera that looks sort of like an M-series, but with more modern conveniences than the M8 has. It'll have all of the advantages of a serious compact camera like the G7 or G9 including video recording (note the 16:9 aspect ratio) but with much improved image quality.
Plus, it allows Olympus to recover their investment in cooking up the four thirds system, much like the four thirds system let Olympus recover some of their investment in the OM system.
This should let Olympus/Panasonic/Leica make a digital camera that looks sort of like an M-series, but with more modern conveniences than the M8 has. It'll have all of the advantages of a serious compact camera like the G7 or G9 including video recording (note the 16:9 aspect ratio) but with much improved image quality.
Plus, it allows Olympus to recover their investment in cooking up the four thirds system, much like the four thirds system let Olympus recover some of their investment in the OM system.