Hey, there.
I'm Josh Goldman with CNET, and at IFA 2013, Sony made a big splash with the introduction of this.
It's the Sony Cyber-shot QX10 camera designed as a smartphone accessory.
Now, just to be clear, this is a complete camera tucked into its lens-shaped body, and in no way, uses the camera built into your smartphone.
It has its own sensor, processor, battery storage, and a 10x zoom lens.
It even has a zoom lever and shutter release.
What it doesn't have is a screen and that's where your iOS or Android device comes in.
By creating a direct Wi-Fi connection between the two, you'd get a viewfinder and camera controls on your device.
For Android devices with NFC, you don't even have to turn the camera on to initiate the Wi-Fi connection.
You just touch them together.
Once they're connected, you've got yourself a viewfinder and controls and you can use the included spring clip to attach
the camera to your phone.
Connecting it with an iOS device takes a bit more effort since you have to put in a Wi-Fi password, but regardless of how easy it is to set up, using a camera isn't a great experience.
There always seems to be some lag between the camera and your device.
It eats your phone's battery life since you're constantly using your screen and Wi-Fi all at the same time, and because of the nature of the connection, you can't just shut off the camera or exit the app
without needing to pair the two again.
Also, the camera itself doesn't do nearly as much as one of Sony's regular Wi-Fi enabled Cyber-shots, and although the design certainly inspires creative positioning, again, it's nothing you can't do with Sony's other Wi-Fi cameras.
In the end, it doesn't really solve the problem.
You still end up carrying around the second device.
But if you're looking for something different in a point-and-shoot camera, this is it.
I'm Josh Goldman and that's a look at Sony Cyber-shot QX10.
