Unlike the Cyber-shot T100, the G1′s lens cover cannot be slid open with a light push of the thumb. Instead, the semi-automatic sliding mechanism has to be released with a clasp located on the camera top. Open it and a lot more than just the lens is revealed, including a speaker (located on the bottom) and a slide-out panel of physical buttons for camera controls (zoom, playback, flash, macro) on the right.

Most of the buttons on the back are a trifle small; in fact, the designer obviously had to spill some of the buttons over to the right edge of the G1, such as the five-way joystick and the buttons for menu, home and display. Of course, that’s because of the generous 3.5-inch screen which is quite possibly the largest we’ve seen for a compact camera.

It’s a good thing the physical controls are not too much of a maze. We found it easy to make sense of, especially since this is also the first Sony camera to base its menu interface on both the PSP and the PS3′s. The mammoth display helped a lot, too, and came in real handy for framing shots as well as viewing our pictures in gallery mode.

The Sony G1 digital compact camera is a curious mix of exciting and rather more humdrum features. It offers a very large 3.5 inch LCD screen with an amazing 921,000 pixels, providing much higher resolution than most cameras. On the other hand, the DSC-G1 “only” has a 6 megapixel sensor, losing it marks at least from a marketing point of view, and the zoom is just the standard 3x optical model, equivalent to 38-114mm on a 35mm camera. Back to the plus points, the Sony G1 has 2GB of built-in memory – yes, you read that correctly, 2Gb of memory – enough for 600 images at the highest resolution available. The DSC-G1 offers Wi-Fi connectivity to any DNLA certified device and can cleverly connect to other G1 cameras without requiring an existing Wi-Fi hotspot. In addition the DSC-G1 features what Sony call “Double Anti-Blur”, which is actually optical stabilisation via Super SteadyShot, and electronic stabilisation via the ISO 1000 High Sensitivity mode.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2 is an upgrade of the existing DSC-N1 model. The Sony N2 derives its higher ten megapixel resolution from a 1/1.7″ CCD imager, rather than the eight megapixel 1/1.8″ imager used in the previous camera. This is coupled with the same popup Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens, which offers a 3x optical zoom range equivalent to 38-114mm on a 35mm camera. Also retained for the Sony DSC-N2 is is the N1′s whopping 3.0″ LCD display – ideal for showing off photos immediately that they’re captured, or using the camera itself as a portable photo album. Given the size of the display, there’s little room for buttons on the rear of the Sony N-series cameras, so the company opted for a touch screen on the display, useable either with a fingertip, or with an included stylus.

Like many digital cameras these days, Sony has built memory into the DSC-N2 instead of bundling a memory card. The N2 has 25MB of internal memory, which holds just five photos at the highest image quality setting. There’s also a separate memory bank that contains the Photo Album that I’ll describe later. Anyhow, you’ll want to pick up a memory card for the N2 right away. It uses Memory Stick Duo cards, and I suggest a 1GB card as a good place to start. While the MS Duo card won’t work in any card readers by itself, Sony includes an adapter that allows you to use them in regular Memory Stick slots.

Besides the 3-inch touch screen and the 10-megapixel sensor, the DSC-N2′s features are rather mundane. While hardly ugly, it’s a great deal chunkier and less streamlined than Sony’s style-minded Cyber-shot T-series cameras. The inch-thick, 6.4-ounce camera is a nondescript, rounded metal rectangle that seems designed more for simplicity than fashion. It feels comfortable enough to use, but the tiny zoom rocker and edge-mounted mode switch makes one-handed use feel awkward and off-balance.

It uses a fairly standard 38m-to-114mm-equivalent lens with no image stabilization or any other low-light/high-speed features besides its ISO 1,600 sensitivity boost. While the DSC-N2 has a few manual focus settings, you have to select a specific focal length such as 7 meters or half a meter in the menu, rather than tweaking the focus while framing your shot. Like all Sony snapshot cameras, the N2 uses Sony’s Memory Stick Duo card format. The camera includes 25MB of internal memory, but that’ll get you just 10 or so 10-megapixel shots.

Beyond this, and support for Sony’s optional GPS unit, the N2 is pretty much the same as its predecessor. The key selling point is its huge 3in screen with touch-sensitive controls – that’s right, there’s few physical buttons or switches on the N2, and instead almost all menu navigation and adjustment of settings are performed by tapping on the screen. Like the N1, there’s also a built-in album which lets you carry around up to 500 of your favourite photos and even play them back with a music track of your choice.