Sony introduced Wednesday, two new unique lens-camera add-ons that can work with most smartphones, including those from rivals Apple and Samsung.
The lens-cameras can either attach to a smartphone or simply be held separately from the phone. Once connected by WiFi, the smartphone’s screen acts as a viewfinder. The phone also remote-controls the camera and stores photos using a Sony app.
The add-on cameras provide the kind of greater optical zoom and better image quality of a standalone high end compact camera, said Sony, reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The new CyberShot add-on lenses include the top end QX100 that comes with the same large image sensor and image processor used in Sony’s CyberShot RX100M II. It will sell for $500. The QX10 has a smaller image sensor but it has a 10X optical zoom (greater than the 3.6X zoom of the QX100). It will sell for $250.
Specialized cameras are sweeping the smartphone market. Samsung recently introduced the Galaxy S4 zoom with a built-in lens type camera and Nokia’s new Lumia 1020 has a built in 41 megapixel camera.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Get the news before your competitors do. CEoutlook is the daily brief read by over 6,500 dealers, reps and manufacturers across the mobile electronics industry. Subscribe free.
