When I take my pictures, they come out so blurry, why? What can I do to fix this?

You're probably dealing with shutter lag. It's the delay which happens between triggering the shutter and when the photograph is actually recorded. It's a common problem with point and shoot cameras. But there are ways to combat it.

1. Prefocus. Hold down the shutter half way to get a prefocus of the image you're shooting. When it changes, prefocus again. This will speed up your camera's performance during picture taking since it won't have to autofocus before it shoots the shot.

2. Use faster SD cards. Yes, there are faster cards and it does make a difference in writing the image file to the card. This is especially key if you're taking multiple or burst images.

3. Fresher batteries. Use alkalines at least. But I recommend using high energy batteries designed for digital photography. Varta is a good brand. They are usually sold in camera shops, are long lasting (because they are sold in small quantities) put out alot of energy.

4. Pan with the action. You can create some pretty cool shots by panning with your shot, focusing on your subject. This will create the effect of your subject in sharp contrast to the blurry background.

6. Stick with 100-400 ISO. Going higher will cause more noise/grain in your shots, particularly in darker settings.

Doing these, particularly prefocusing and panning with the action will cut your shutter lag by as much as 80%.

Also.. this camera is 5 years old, its capabilities of taking crisp shots are not even close to as good as the recent cameras. James' techniques are great, and work well for anyone using it. But people can only control the shots to a certain extent, at some point you'll need a good camera. I'd recommend upgrading if you want nice crisp shots. The new Canon G10 just came out, which takes amazing photos, and you can also take a look at the Sony H50, and even the older Canon G9.

But, again, Aditya, you're recommending cameras with megapixels far more than they will need. And as we have discussed ad nauseum, buying a 14MP camera for snapshots is just tossing your money away since you'll never see the mp above 6 in the picture below 11x14. It's like encouraging someone to buy a Ferrari for driving around town. Sure, you can do it, but a good Saturn will get you there just as fast for far less money.

I still believe the G10 is overkill for the money you pay.

Well, you're not just paying for the upgrade in megapixels. With the G10 there's tons of upgraded options, much of them even being automatic so the average person doesn't even have to know anything about the features to get good photos. As far as your metaphor... I think the Ferrari - Saturn example more readily applies to the upgrade from this camera to a full framed dSLR. Part of the reason in investing in a more expensive camera, that yes has more megapixels, but also has more features, is that it will stay 'current' longer, so you won't need to buy a camera for another 5 years. Whereas, if you buy a $200 camera, good luck in the camera working in 2 years, let alone still competing in picture quality. Take the G9 for example, its older than a lot of cameras out there, but still takes phenomenal pictures, comparatively.

But, again, there's little point in all that MP if they don't make an impact on the image itself. Sure, you can make the argument that for longevity the camera, but with Moore's Law saying that technology advances exponentially every 18 months, getting a new point and shoot every 2 years isn't outside the norm.

The real advantage of the G9/G10 isn't so much the amount of MP, it's the size of the chip. That gives the MP some wiggle room. Sure the whistles and bells are nice, but I think we've reached a point in the technology where "fins" are all you can offer to get people to upgrade.

I have the same camera and using Flash make it take pictures REALLY quick but is that thing... i hate flash... i like natural light....
so... i think if you(and me) want something better... we must get a better camera right?!
sd cards.... i bought 2 different ones... and one is for fast shooting... pretty much for use with continuous shooting....
but for me seems to be the same...
with flash... u cant press it... straigh away and it wont be blury!
sweet as...
so... it's nice getting out door pictures.... flash pictures...
even the slow shooting.... but out door...
the macro is excellent but... the shoot is SOOOOOOOOOO slow bro...
so... i'd recomend u to use it only out side or with flash inside...
by the way... 3.2 mp is pretty nice for nom profesional!
So that's amazing camera u can attach a lot of diferent lens on it i absolutly love this camera!!!
Sorry about my English!