By Jon M. Cohen
As you might be aware of already, the new iPhone is set to launch on June 19th. 2009. With the release of this new hardware device we see a lot of new added features. But what about the little iPod Touch? Yes it does get the great 3.0 software upgrade that allows for many improvements, but does it really matter on the same outdated hardware? The answer is maybe. The real interesting thing to note is that Apple has posted on its website that the new 3.0 software upgrade for the iPod Touch with allow for stereo bluetooth connectivity a feature that has been long asked for by iPhone users. You may say big deal, the iPhone and the iPod Touch now with OS 3.0 have many great new features, but the real big deal is that the current iPod Touch does not have any bluetooth built in and thus a claim of bluetooth connectivity can only suggest that new hardware will be coming out soon.
With this expected hardware upgrade it would be wise of Apple to also include a camera. Only time will tell and if my guess is correct we will not need to wait very long to see this new iPod Touch.
What a nice looking Camera, and it is lightweight, compact and flashy. Sony really loaded this camera up with all the bells and whistles, from the five color options (Green, Pink, White, Black, Blue) that it comes in to its touch screen. The camera features super image stabilizer and smile detection, plus a huge built in 4GB memory. It does in fact have an 8.1MP (Mega Pixel) output, and allows for hookup to any HDTV that has HDMI (newer TV) support. The camera also has a movie mode that will allow 640 x 480 resolution, with 30 FPS (Frames per second). This by far is a great release from the folks at Sony, and will surely be purchased by Sony’s loyal customer base. However, for those of us who care more about the pictures taken then the look of a camera, this camera is not for you. Don’t get me wrong, Sony will sell this overpriced camera to all customers and tout it to be top end. What I found was that for the top dollar (MSRP: $350.00) that Sony is charging, you only get average output. The picture quality and zoom were poor, and the touch screen was very difficult to use and navigate. Sony’s clever marketing states that this is a “FullHD” camera, then in small print lists images only, thus meaning the movie mode can’t do HD at all. Last time I checked no one hooks their camera up to their HDTV to show pictures, most people go and upload it on their computer. Some other points of interest are the following; the DSC-T2 uses a special connector to get the pictures off the camera and this connector is very easy to lose or break. Not quite sure why Sony didn’t just offer a standard USB 2.0 connection option. The lens which is a Zeiss lens provides a poor color representation and the camera produces a lot of lens flares when using the red-eye reduction mode. My final thoughts are that this is a good-looking camera that provides a poor quality picture – don’t be fooled by its high price and the name “Sony”. I would suggest looking into a Canon SD1100 for your next digital camera purchase.