Digital cameras adding floppies

Sony introduced its new Digital Mavica digital camera line, which again includes an easy-to-use floppy disk storage system.

Sales of the Mavica line have been boosted by the floppy storage system, which allows users to copy images onto a floppy disk before downloading onto a PC or Mac. Downloading images from digital cameras to the computer can otherwise be a long and unwieldy process.

The new Mavica line's floppy storage system is two times faster than the older version, according to Sony.

"They have addressed the speed issues, because of quicker writing to the floppy," said digital imaging analyst Carl Holec of ARS. "However, the Mavica will face significantly more competition, as its VGA resolution is much lower than comparably priced models."

Consumers can purchase standalone Mavica floppy recorders for $399 and $599. The Mavica line, which comes with floppy recorder, includes the high-end MVC-FD71 for $799 and the entry-level MVC-FD51 for $599.

All Mavica models come with PhotoStudio imaging software.