New Sony Cybershot TX1 with Exmor-R sensor and touch-screen (bijou P&S)

SonyInsider had the leak 30 days ago, now the new Sony Exmor-R based digital cameras are officially announced!

The first one we look at is the "bijou" Sony Cybershot TX1, which follows up on the long-line of the Sony T-series models.

The camera uses a megapixel-restrained 10mp 1/2.4" CMOS Exmor-R sensor, with a 4X optical-zoom lens that bears the Carl-Zeiss Vario-Tessar name and ranges from 35-140mm (equivalent). It has image stabilization. In keeping with the T-series tradition, it has a 3-inch touch-screen LCD display, and records 720p movies (MPEG4, up to 29 minutes or 2gb (whichever comes first)).

Just like the first "X" camera, the HX1, it carries the sweeping panorama feature that some people love. The battery life estimate is given as nearly three hours, but we did not find the standard CIPA measurement.

Price and availability
The Sony Cybershot TX1 is available in five del.icio.us colors and can be pre-ordered at the starting price of $380. It is expected to be released sometime in September, which is just one month away by the way ;-)

In Japan, the starting price is 43,000 yen.

Name collisions
There is an older Canon camera that Canon would rather forget it ever made, the Powershot TX1, an attempt at a fun-zoom hybrid operating on camcorder-priority.

Further Reading
+ Brief hands-on preview at Cnet Asia
+ Videos of the cameras at Insider
+ Photo Club Alpha
+ Engadget
+ Sony Insider
+ digitalcamera.jp
+ Sony Europe (corrected url)
+ Imaging Resource