Sony wants to sell you the important half of a digital camera and use your smartphone as the other half

It goes without saying that there is more than one important component in any piece of technology; rarely, for example, does a cellphone work without antennas, or a tablet without a touchscreen.

If the rumours are true, however, Sony wants to sell you one half of a digital camera — the important half, mind you — and let your smartphone act as the other half. Specifically, Sony is expected to debut two products, the DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100, during IFA next month, that appear as little more than a digital camera lens. This is in fact what they are, but what is so intriguing about them is how they work in conjunction with your smartphone.

The lenses wrap around a smartphone — specifically, an Xperia smartphone, but we’re assuming it will be compatible with all Android devices — and use a companion app as a live viewfinder and shutter button. The lens, therefore, exists mainly as a portable extension of your smartphone’s tiny built-in camera, and can presumably be set up to take photos in a number of different orientations.

Sony is essentially transplanting the guts of its NEX camera line — the newly-released RX100M2 with a massive 1-inch 20MP sensor and 20MP, and a WX150 with a 1/2.3-inch 18MP sensor, respectively — onto a lens, without the LCD screen.

Of course, the “lenses” will have WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth and a number of other additions in them to make it possible to quickly communicate over the air with a smartphone.

We’ll know more in the coming weeks, as Sony is expected to debut the QX10 and QX100 during a press conference on September 4th, alongside the i1 “Honami.”

[source]SonyAlphaRumors[/source]