New slimsters unveiled by Sony

Nikon wasn't the only camera maker introducing new products yesterday. Sony pulled the wraps off two new additions to its "T" series of slim point-and-shoot digital cameras.

Its new 10 megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T77 reached new heights of thinness for Sony with a thickness of less than 5/8 inches. The unit has a 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor and a 4x optical zoom. It has a spacious three-inch LCD display with a resolution of 230,000 pixels. Its 15MB of internal memory can be supplemented with Sony media cards.

The other 10 MP P&S snapper announced by the Japanese company, the T700, is a touchscreen camera that, with its 4GB of internal memory, can double as a portable media player for photos and video. It has an enormous 3.5-inch LCD with an impressive resolution of 921,000 pixels. Like its T77 cousin, the T700 has a 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor and 4x optical zoom. And unlike Sony's previous mega internal memory model, this one accepts Memory Stick cards.

Both cameras support an arsenal of Sony DSC technology--optical image stabilization; face, blink and smile recognition; dynamic range fixing; and light sensitivity settings up to ISO 3200.

Moreover, the T700 has a bundle of features designed to exploit its beefy internal memory and Xtra Fine high-resolution display. For example, the camera contains an internal database application that can search through images by event, date, smile or face.

Both cameras will be released late next month. The T77 is expected to sell for about $300 and the T700 for about $400.