LAS VEGAS — Sony has invented the webcam. Or at least, it has put the web into a cam. At CES 2009, the company debuted Cybershot DSC-G3, the first camera to have built in 802.11 (b,g) Wi-Fi along with a web browser.
As a camera, it’s no slouch. Ten megapixels, a 10x zoom, a hi-res 921,600-dot 3.5 inch touchscreen and smile detection. There is a decent 4GB memory built in, but if you want more you will of course have to buy a Sony Memory Stick.
Of course, the Wi-Fi is the interesting point here. You can hook up to any Wi-Fi point and using the browser you can also sign in to hotspots. From there, you can upload directly to Photobucket, YouTube, DailyMotion, Picasa and Shutterfly but, oddly, not Flickr.
The real gimmick, though, is the browser, and it is terrible. Buttons disappear half off the screen in forms, html links are tiny and hard to click (hence the plastic stylus on the end of the strap) and if you think you’ll be browsing your online photo collection you’re dead wrong. This is strictly html only, Web 1.0. No Flash, no Javascript.
You’re never going to have an iPhone-like experience here (except for the parity in the lack of Flash). In fact, its hard to see why Sony bother putting it in. In fact, if you need the uploading functions, just grab an Eye-Fi card instead.
Priced at $500, you can buy it now only at SonyStyle, coming to stores soon.
Product page [SonyStyle]
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