Sony has been challenging GoPro with its Action Cam line for a couple years, and at CES tonight it's unveiling a new one that addresses one of the camera's longstanding issues: a completely indecipherable menu. The new Action Cam is pretty much identical to the old Action Cam Mini except for some rearranged buttons and this new menu. That would make for a dull upgrade if it weren't such an improvement over the old one. Rather than only showing a single option on screen at a time, the new menu displays its options in a grid, allowing you to see many options at once. That gives you a much better idea of what you can do with the camera and where to go when you want to do it. The end result should be letting people get out of the menu and start shooting much quicker.

The new Action Cam is supposed to be available around the end of the month. It's selling for $200, but you can also buy it bundled with a new model of Sony's Live View Remote, which lets you remotely control the Action Cam and see what it's shooting. The Remote has been redesigned to make it look more like a bulky smartwatch; you can wear it, or Sony suggests that you could strap it to something like a bike's handlebars, too. Both models of the Action Cam will also be bundled with an improved underwater housing, which will lets you take the camera to nearly 200 feet underwater. None of that gives Sony an obvious edge over what GoPro is offering, but making its product easier to use could go a long way toward making the Action Cam an alternative that people will consider.

Video by Vjeran Pavic.

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