August 7,2008 - Today Sony announced two new 10.1-megapixel cameras, the DSC-T700 and DSC-T77. Both feature Carl Zeiss lenses and touch-screen LCDs. Sony has added improved “Smile Shutter” functionality and blink detection. The new blink detection implementation, shared by both cameras, will warn if your subject’s eyes were closed when you pressed the shutter and, in scene recognition mode, will automatically take a second photo immediately after the first to catch the blinker with open eyes. Both the DSC-T700 and the DSC-T77 are scheduled to ship in late September.
The DSC-T700, with a 4x optical zoom lens (35-140mm equivalent) is designed to serve as both camera and digital photo album. It boasts a 3.5-inch LCD screen with an unusually high 921,000-dot resolution (210ppi). With 4GB of internal memory, the T700 can store up to 40,000 photos on the camera. When coupled with Sony’s Picture Motion Browser synching application, photos are transferred from the camera to a Windows computer, which then sends a downsized version back to the camera for on-screen display. The photos can be sorted by date, event, folder, favorite or face type. Face recognition sorting allows filtering for children, infants or smiles to quickly find the exact picture you’re looking for. The T700 will come in five colors (black, silver, gold, pink and red) and sell for $400.
The DSC-T77 is Sony’s thinnest camera, less than 5/8” (15mm) thick, and will be available in five colors: black, silver, green, pink and brown. This new model has a 3-inch, 230,000 pixel 16:9 LCD screen and a 4x optical zoom 35-140mm (35mm eq.) lens. The updated “Smile Shutter” function employed here is activated with a single tap on the LCD. The camera will then automatically take photos when detected faces are smiling, and will continue to take them as long as the Smile Shutter mode is enabled. The slim T77 will sell for $300.
