Tech
Japan gives the Pope a Sony HD camcorder
If you thought it was weird when President Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod this past April, check this out: the Pope now has a Sony HD camcorder. While in Italy for the G8 summit, Japanese prime minister Taro Aso stopped by the Vatican and gave Pope Benedict what Sony Insider speculates is the HDR-XR500V.
![rachel-king-640x465.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/95bce264abe9f08543002fcbeef4cdafae2c850c/2013/01/05/839f42c4-1175-11e4-9732-00505685119a/rachel-king-640x465.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
If you thought it was weird when President Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod this past April, check this out: the Pope now has a Sony HD camcorder. While in Italy for the G8 summit, Japanese prime minister Taro Aso stopped by the Vatican and gave Pope Benedict what Sony Insider speculates is the HDR-XR500V.
Is this just shameless promotion of products? Are they actually innovative gifts, reflective of a country's culture? Or should the Japanese prime minister have given the Pope a different camcorder?