It's not so much the focal length as the multiplication factor. Depending on the size of the IXUS' sensor compared to 35mm film we can work out what that 10.81mm focal length is equivalent to.
A quick googling shows the IXUS v zooms to an equivalent 70mm - not a long telephoto, but still longer than a standard and with some perspective compression.
10.81mm on a regular camera would be a fisheye. Even on an APS-C format sensor it'd be a very wide angle, but compacts have much smaller sensors.