A dozen of our USA readers sent us the same message received via Sonystore US. Thanks! Here is the original text sent by Sony:

“We would like to update you that Sony has restarted production of NEX7 in our Chonburi Thailand factory which was not impacted by the flooding.
Since we are just beginning to ramp up production in these new lines, we have just begun restart of production at this early stage; however this is positive news that Sony is getting back on track and recovering from flood impact. Although there are no details to share on production schedule today, we expect within the next 2 weeks to have a clearer idea for you.
Again, thank you very much for your continued patience.
Sincerely,
Sony Customer Care“

Phottix (Click here) announced the Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Flash Trigger for Sony. Here is the press release:

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Quick Overview

Making a classic trigger better! The Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Trigger System gives photographers incredible control over their flashes and studio lights. Four channels and four groups provide unparalleled control in the studio or on location.

Product Description

Making a classic trigger better! The Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Trigger System gives
photographers incredible control over their flashes and studio lights. Four channels and four groups
provide unparalleled control in the studio or on location. The Strato II Multi can be used as a wired or
wireless shutter release. The 2.4 GHz. transmitter and receivers offer ranges of more than 150 meters
and sync at speeds of 1/250 second .*
Transmitters feature an innovative TTL pass-through hot shoe – allowing full TTL mode to be used with a
camera mounted flash. Receivers offer flash wake-up functions.*
It’s fast, sexy, and powerful – perfect for your studio or location work.

Features:

– 4 groups: A,B,C,D
– 4 Channels
– 150+ m range
– 1/250 sec. sync speed*
– Flash wake-up functions*
– Hot shoe / PC Flash triggering
– Studio strobe triggering
– Wired and wireless shutter release functions
– Pass-through hot shoe on transmitter allows on camera flash to use TTL functions
– 2.4 GHz. frequency
– uses AAA batteries
– Compatible with Phottix Strato 4-in-1 Wireless Triggers

Sony Version includes shutter cables for:
S6: α900/ α700/ α580/ α560/ α550/ α500/ α450/ α350/ α300/ α200/ α100/ α55/ α35

* On compatible flashes and cameras

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I don’t know yet when the product (and where) will be available. Some Phottix first generation remote controllers for Sony are avaialble on [shoplink 10160 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Foggy And Hazy – Sony a77 Extreme Low Light from Heikki Kivijärvi on Vimeo.

There is a new A77 review at DC.watch (google translated), at Slashcam.de (google translated) and at Colorfoto.de (google translated).
Sony A700 versus Sony A77 at jimmartinphotoblog (Click here)
Sony Alpha 77, test complet #2 : bruit numérique et erreurs de protocole (Alpha Numerique).
A new A77 Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/alpha77/pool/with/6223530148/
My new A77 with my old Minolta 75-300mm lens (dpreview forum)
Popular Photography magazine wrote a full A77 review (you can buy it here).
Sony A77 RAW samples thoughts (SonyAlphaLab).
One more A65 test at Colorfoto (german).

USA:
A77 body with 18-55mm lens and 29 accessories at [shoplink 2097 ebay]Arphotovideo (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 18-55mm and 75-300mm and 36 accessories at [shoplink 2098 ebay]Arphotovideo (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with Secret Handshake Minolta 28-135mm [shoplink 2099 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 16-105mm lens at [shoplink 2100 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with Carl Zeiss 16-80mm[shoplink 2101 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 8 lenses(!) for $5999 at [shoplink 2102 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]

Europe:
A77 body at [shoplink 2103 ebay]fotoheibel (Click here)[/shoplink] – Germany
A77 body at [shoplink 2104 ebay]qf-foto (Click here)[/shoplink] – Germany
A77 body at [shoplink 2105 ebay]cameracentre1315 (Click here)[/shoplink] – UK
A77 body at [shoplink 2106 ebay]0123aggiudicato (Click here)[/shoplink] – Italy
A77 body at [shoplink 2106 ebay]0123aggiudicato (Click here)[/shoplink] – Italy
A77 body with 18-55mm lens at [shoplink 2107 ebay]badblock_group (Click here)[/shoplink] – Estland

Sony Japan confirmed that there will be a new NEX-5/3/C3/VG10 firmware in mid-december. It will bring the support for the new LA-EA2 adapter. But I do hope there will be also other major new features and improvements coming along the update.

And now also the A65 is out of Stock in most stores. At least there is an useful news posted by Amazon (Click here). It says that the camera will be back in stock on December 31 only. But this date may be important for the availability of the A77 and NEX-7 too. Let’s take a note of it!
Only a few cameras are still in Stock at Adorama and B&H. Availability is a bit higher in Europe at Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Sony.it, Jessops, Amazon.co.uk and Warehouseexpress.

P.S.: The Sony VG-C77AM Vertical Grip for the A77 is in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

There are a couple of interesting news about the Sony sensor and camera relocation. First, the flooded factory in Ayutthaya (Thailand) will be closed until January 2012.  (Source: AP).
To solve the production problem Sony moved the sensor production to its Japanese semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, Kyushu island. Another factory in Chonburi (Thailand) will than assemble the Sony NEX-5/C3/7 and A77/A65. Sony should soon release a press information to communicate the new NEX-7 A77 availability info (Via Photoscala). I hope there will be Stocks of cameras ready for the Christmas sales!

One more news: Image Sensor World reports that “Sony will boost its image sensor production capacity by 50 percent within two to three years starting next spring.“