San Diego –
introduced Wednesday the latest in its Bloggie
line of pocket video cameras featuring a touchscreen display.
The BloggieTouch
will ship in October two versions determined by internal memory capacity. The
MHS-TS20 will carry a $200 suggested retail, includes 8GB of built-in memory
and is available in black or silver.
The MHS-TS10 ($180
suggested retail) offers 4GB of memory.
Both models have a
3-inch capacitive touchscreen display and were developed around the concept of
integrating the perfect combination of hardware, software and services, Sony
said.
The user
experience is said to be seamless, simple and casual, with minimal buttons and
settings.
The hardware
features a thin premium body design — just over 15mm thick — rounded edges,
and a body size that fits comfortably in a shirt pocket. Sony also minimized
the buttons to three: power, record and photo.
Most of the
functionality is activated through the touchscreen display, which offers a
capturing screen and playback screen as its two main interfaces. Interfaces
auto-rotate to conform to horizontal or vertical use.
The lens allows
macro autofocus up to 4 inches from the subject and features a 32mm f/2.8 wide
angle with a 4x digital zoom, which users activate through the touchscreen.
Sony employs a
high-sensitivity Exmor sensor enabling the camera to capture up to 12.8-megapixel
stills in addition to up to FullHD 1080 videos. Digital image stabilization is
also included in both models.
The camera offers
three photo modes: 12.8 megapixels, 8 megapixels and 2 megapixels. Video models
include 1080/30p, 720/60p and 30p.
A built-in USB arm
is integrated in the unit for charging the battery and transferring files, along
with an HDMI mini connection for viewing video and picture images on a
connected HDTV.
The software is
preloaded on the device for quick installation on a connected PC. The new
Bloggie Software replaces the former Picture Motion Browser, with a program
designed for simple organization, easy drag-and-drop sharing on social-networking
sites and easy video trimming. The experience is said to be intuitive.
The services
include drag-and-drop access to YouTube, Picasa, Facebook and Flicker, as well
as Sony’s new Personal Space service that allows private sharing groups.
It was said to
fill a void left by the more public FaceBook and YouTube, which were designed
to share images and messages with the world. Personal Space, on the other hand,
allows limiting the audience for the images to those selected and approved by
the user.
