Sony has launched for Japanese markets, the HDR-GW77V , a rugged handycam that can be submerged in water up to five meters (16 feet) for up to an hour. The phone can also be dropped from a height of 1.5 meters (five feet), and is pitched as an outdoor camera for all environments. Sounds good, but be prepared to dig deep into your pocket if you want to own one.

The waterproof handycam can also repel dust, and can shoot in 1080p at 60 frames-per-second and take 20.4-megapixel stills with 10x optical zoom. The device also has 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via SDHC or Memory Stick Micro, along with other features such as GPS for geotagging and assigning photos and video to locations. It can also take panoramic photos, through the Sweep Panorama feature, which supports face detection.

The lens uses water-repellent fluorine for "good drainage," and supports shooting in the dark. For shooting in water, a water mode can be selected for automatic white balance, brightness and distortion correction. The lens is 29.8mm wide, and features an "Extended Zoom" feature that can magnify up to 17 times. An optical image stabilizer is used to compensate for camera shake and blurring, so users can shoot while walking. A feature called the "Smile Shutter" can be taken with the camera's automatic shooting stills while shooting video, which shows a picture of a smile.

As far as dimensions go, the camera is 1.2x4.15 inches. It has a three-inch touch screen. A picture from Sony shows the camera being held with one hand as the touch screen comes out on the left.

The camera will be available in Japan, and will release on May 25 at a "suggested price" of 70,000 yen (US$870). There's no word on an international release, though Sony has released another waterproof camera - the Sony Bloggie Sport - which retails in the U.S. for $180. Sony also released the Sony Handycam HDR-TGH for $1,000.

There is also a video (see below) from Japanese gadget blog AV Watch that demonstrates a drop test on the GW77V.

The HDR-GW77V will be available in blue, black and white.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)