Camera innovations heat up August

11.08.2009
Heading off our monthly round-up of the hottest gadgets from Asia is Sony's Party-shot, which attempts to make the cameraman obsolete -- or at least a little less necessary. The device is coming with a couple of new digital still cameras that also bring improvements on previous models. But Nikon takes the prize for the most innovative camera of the month with its projector-equipped Coolpix.

Many of Japan's gadget makers are taking mid-year holidays but that hasn't stopped some from unveiling a few innovative products this month. Read on for more.

Have you ever been to a party only to spend half your time taking pictures of other people? If so, Sony has something for you. Party-shot is a dome-shaped device that is designed to be used with a couple of new cameras (see below), and includes motors and runs on a pair of AA batteries. The camera's facial recognition software monitors its surroundings for faces and instructs the Party-shot base that it's mounted on to move around so it can aim and frame before automatically taking a snap. The idea is that you leave the camera and Party-shot running during a party and at the end have a card full of pictures. During a demo, results were mixed. The pictures were a mixture of good, funny and bad, but not too bad considering that no effort was involved. The Party-shot will go on sale in Japan on Sept. 4 and costs ¥14,910 (US$157).

To coincide with the launch of the Party-shot, Sony is releasing two new cameras both of which use Sony's 10-megapixel "Exmor R" image sensor that has better sensitivity than previous sensors, so it works better in low-light conditions. The Cyber-shot TX1 is a stylish and slim model at 14 millimeters thick and comes with 4X optical zoom and a 3-inch touchpanel screen. The second camera, the Cyber-shot WX1, has a conventional 2.7-inch display and 5X optical zoom. They also have Sony's "Sweep Panorama" feature that allows for super-wide panorama shots. The TX1 will launch on Sept. 4 in Japan and cost around ¥43,000 and the WX1 will go on sale on Sept. 18 and cost ¥40,000. In the U.S. the TX1 will be available in September for $380 and the WX1 in October for $350.