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Sony's Heavyweight Digicam

Sony's pleasingly plump Cyber-shot DSC-R1--with its fixed Carl Zeiss 24mm-120mm zoom lens and its 10.3-megapixel image sensor--is a cross between a point-and-shoot and an SLR. But unlike current digital SLRs, this $999 unit has a CMOS sensor that provides a real-time preview of the image you're capturing. You can frame shots through the unit's electronic viewfinder or use its fully adjustable 2-inch LCD, which pops up from the top of the camera, right behind the flash. I took a preproduction DSC-R1 for a spin; and despite experiencing occasional frustration at its oversize design, I liked the way the unit handled overall. More important, I was repeatedly impressed by the quality of the images it produced.

Melissa J. Perenson

Share Your Video Online

What's the point of home videos if you can't inflict them on friends and family? MediaMax, a new offering from online backup service Streamload, allows you to easily upload videos (as well as photos, music, and other files) and share them with other broadband users. You merely send Aunt Ethel an e-mail link to the video of Junior eating a bug; she can either download the file or view a streamed version right through a player on the service's site. The cost is $15 a month (or $120 for a full year). Storage space is unlimited, but you and yours must abide by a 25GB-per-month download limit.

Tom Mainelli