[B][SIZE=4][COLOR=dimgray]Geo-tag your photos, fine, but which way was the camera pointing?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]

I'm currently testing a Sony Cybershot DSC-HX5V compact camera and it's stuffed full of fun gadgets. But I think the one bit of HX5 digital gizmology that has left its mark on me is its, wait for it, digital compass.

[IMG]http://dpnow.com/files/blog/mapview.jpg[/IMG]

[I]The Map View app that forms part of Sony's Picture Motion Browser software lets you see where you took your photos and which way the camera was pointing when you pressed the shutter release.[/I]

Built-in geo-tagging in GPS-enabled camera devices is actually more common than you might think. My three year old smartphone has a 3MP digital camera that is linked to an onboard GPS. GOS and geo-tagging in smartphones is almost becoming standard. It's true, GPS is still rare in conventional digital cameras, but I think you will start to see a lot more featuring it, and [URL="http://dpnow.com/6860.html"]Casio's Hybrid GPS camera[/URL] prototype is a good example of this.

However, it's all very well knowing where on a map you took your snap, but wouldn't it be far better to be able to see in which direction you pointed the camera at the time? That's where the digital compass comes in.

Sony's HX5V camera augments geo-tagging with a digital compass heading and Sony's bundled Picture Motion Browser software can use the data to show on a Google map where one or more pictures were taken and the direction the camera was pointing.