Sony intros Bloggie pocket cameras at CES

At its press conference at CES, Sony introduced new pocket cameras it calls bloggie, which are meant to produce and quickly upload Internet videos for quick sharing. Similar in concept to the Flip Video cameras that arguably pioneered the category, but has features more inline with the company's latest Ultra HD digital camera, Sony's bloggie cameras record 1920x1080 high-definition MP4 format videos and capture 5-megapixel images. The content can then be quickly uploaded to PCs and the Internet thanks to a built-in USB connection that flips out of the body. This USB will also charge the internal battery.

The MHS-CM5 has a pistol-grip form factor and sports a 2.5-inch LCD screen. There is a 5x optical zoom and an HDMI output for quick sharing at home.

The MHS-PM5 is a brick-like camera with a built-in 2.4-inch display and a lens that can swivel over a 270-degree vertical range. It has a 4x digital zoom and Sony's SteadyShot image stabilization feature is integrated, though it cannot be used in HD recording modes. A MHS-PM5K version is also offered, adding a lens that will allow 360-degree video recording. The dark PM5s can be had in purple, blue, pink and white.

Both cameras also feature Face Detection technology to recognize and enhance faces by automatically correcting exposure and while there is no built-in memory, they can save data onto either Memory Stick PRO Duo, SD or SDHC flash memory cards.

Either camera has PMB Portable software pre-installed, which allows for direct uploads to photo and/or video hosting sites such as Shutterfly, Picasa Web Albums, YouTube, Dailymotion and Photobucket. In the spring, Facebook will be added to this list.

Sony is now shipping the MHS-CM5, MHS-PM5K and MHS-PM5, with prices set at $200, $190, and $170, respectively.

MHS-CM5

MHS-PM5

By Electronista Staff