Zooming in on 3 'Pocket Cams'

Sony Bloggie Touch

Available in silver or black, Sony's new Bloggie Touch camera ($180 for the 4GB model, for two hours of recording; $200 for the 8GB model; SonyStyle.com/bloggie) can capture full HD (1920 x 1080 resolution) video and 12.8-megapixel photos.

As its name suggests, it features a bright 3-inch (diagonal) touchscreen, allowing you to use your fingertips to easily record and playback video or photos — without the need for a PC. A built-in accelerometer switches the orientation of the images based on whether you're holding the camera vertically or horizontally.

By touching the virtual buttons on the screen, you can do things such as record video and snap photos at the same time or tag images to share later on specific websites such as Facebook or YouTube. The upload begins when you connect it to a PC via the flip-out USB connector on the bottom of the camera. Unfortunately, the Sony Bloggie Touch does not work with Macs.

Thanks to its wide-angle lens and a sensitive sensor, the camera shoots crisp video — with autofocus and image stabilization — even in semi-lowlight situations.

While the cable isn't included, an HDMI port lets you connect the camera to a HDTV. 

Another beef: the previous generation Sony Bloggie had a swivel lens; therefore, you could record yourself (say, for a video blog) and see your face on the LCD screen. Too bad this handy feature was taken out of the new Bloggie Touch.