Sony announced a quartet of 7.2 megapixel, ISO 1000 Cyber-shot compact digital cameras in Europe today ahead of their launch next month. Top of the list are the DSC-W35 and DSC-W55 - the former available in silver, the W55 in a range of pastel shades - all sporting 56MB of on-board memory, a 2.5in LCD (2in on the W35), and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 3x optical and 6-14x digital zoom. The battery life's quoted at 380 shots.

The S650 and S700 have 2in and 2.4in LCDs, respectively, and the same zoom ranges as the W35 and W55, but with a Sony-brand lens rather than the Zeiss. That said, they offer better battery life, squeezing 460 shots out of the two bundled AA disposable batteries bundled with them. The S650 and S700 contain 24MB of internal memory.

All four cameras have a 16:9 widescreen mode to suit playing back piccies on a modern TV.

They'll all ship mid to late February, Sony said. Prices were not disclosed. ®

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