Sony Unveils Compact, GPS-Enabled HD Camcorder

Earlier this year, Sony unveiled three hard-drive-based high-definition camcorders that also offered built-in GPS tagging and sorting of clips. Today, the company announced the Sony HDR-TG5V Handycam, a more compact high-definition camcorder that offers those mapping capabilities in a very slim, all-titanium frame.

Billed as a travel-friendly camcorder due to its GPS capabilities, durability, and compact size, the HDR-TG5V uses Navteq mapping software to sort and display recorded footage on a digital map interface.

Slightly beefier than a pocket camcorder, the titanium-framed HDR-TG5V Handycam offers 16GB of flash storage (plus a MemoryStick Duo slot) and records full HD video (1920 by 1080 resolution) to AVCHD format.

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Earlier this year, Sony unveiled three hard-drive-based high-definition camcorders that also offered built-in GPS tagging and sorting of clips. Today, the company announced the Sony HDR-TG5V Handycam, a more compact high-definition camcorder that offers those mapping capabilities in a very slim, all-titanium frame.

Billed as a travel-friendly camcorder due to its GPS capabilities, durability, and compact size, the HDR-TG5V uses Navteq mapping software to sort and display recorded footage on a digital map interface.

Slightly beefier than a pocket camcorder, the titanium-framed HDR-TG5V Handycam offers 16GB of flash storage (plus a MemoryStick Duo slot) and records full HD video (1920 by 1080 resolution) to AVCHD format.

According to a press release, Sony says the 16GB drive holds up to two hours of full HD footage at the highest-quality setting and more than six hours at the lowest-quality video setting.

The HDR-TG5V also offers Sony's latest Bionz image processor and Exmor CMOS sensor, a 10x optical Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar zoom lens with optical image stabilization, the ability to shoot four-megapixel stills, and a built-in flash. A flip-out, 2.7-inch-diagonal touchscreen LCD is used to access most of the camcorder's features, which include a smile-triggered shutter for still images and face detection for both video and stills.

Due out in May, the Sony HDR-TG5V Handycam will sell for around US$1000.

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