New Sony "ultra-compact" NEX3 and NEX5 revealed!

Looks like I died in my sleep and woke up to camera-heaven! Not only did I finally manage to buy my Leica X1 yesterday (that I tweeted about getting) that I can play with (and soon review) today, but I also found that Sony Japan have officially launched their "ultra compact" cameras that I've been drooling about for a while now. They were shown at PMA a few months back, but despite my heavy googling and digging around for info from the Sony guys, I couldn't really get too many details on the devices. All I got what, "ultra slim" and "interchangeable lenses" including the existing Alpha lenses too!
While Olympus and Panassonic have their micro-four thirds offerings, it was only about time that the rest of the players out there would not want to join this new, lucrative segment as well. While Canon and Nikon are expected to launch something in Photokina later this year, I find they'll have a tough act to follow with this latest Sony offering. Let me explain why- while the Pana GF1 and Olympus PEN cameras have good image quality, the Sony one is sleeker, has touchscreen on a screen that flips out, has the awesome Sony sweep panorama mode, fits full sized Alpha lenses too and full HD recording!! Here are some more visual treats for you to drool at, followed by the specs for my fellow-geeks:

Specs:

• Image Sensor: 14.2 million effective pixels.
• Metering: Multi pattern, centre-weighted and spot.
• Sensor Size: APS-C-sized CMOS (23.4×15.6mm).
• Lens: Sony E Series mount.
• Shutter Speed: 30 to 1/4000 second. Flash sync: 1/160 sec.
• Continuous Shooting: seven fps.
• Memory: Memory Stick PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, SD, SDHC, SDXC cards.
• Image Sizes (pixels): 4592×3056, 4592×2576, 3344×2224, 3344×1872, 2288×1520, 2288×1280.
• Movies: 1280×720, 848×480, 640×480 at 30 fps.
• Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
• LCD Screen: 7.5cm LCD (921,600 pixels).
• File Formats: JPEG, RAW, JPEG+RAW, MPEG4.
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 200 to 12,800.
• Interface: USB 2.0, HDMNI, AV.
• Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
• Dimensions: 117.2×62.6×33.4mm WHDmm.
• Weight: 297 g (inc battery and card).

Digital Photo School had their hands on the device for a couple of days, and have pronounced, "the quality of images in terms of resolution, colour fidelity and low noise is little short of superb." That's what we like to hear!

To check out their entire review, go here. I have no details available on launch date in the UAE, but will keep you posted.