Samsung Galaxy Camera Ships with Android 4.1 and Telephone Service
Believe it or not, it was less than 10 years ago when every major phone maker was trying to get a half way decent camera into a phone. Too bad the results were more often than not poorly exposed photos with enough resolution to create a blurry monster. Fast forward to today, and our phone’s cameras have gotten pretty good. Surprisingly, though, despite all this newfangled technology, most of them still produce piss poor photos in dimly lit scenarios.
Samsung’s newest device, the Galaxy Camera, puts the camera first and the phone second. So you won’t be able to make traditional calls or send text messages from it, but since it will ship with Android’s Jelly Bean, so really anything in Google Play store is up for grabs In fact, it has all the makings of a smartphone thanks to the 4.8-inch touchscreen, 1.4Ghz quad-core processor, and options for 3G or 4G connectivity, in addition to WiFi. The camera itself is a is rather unremarkable, a 16-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, but by all accounts should pull some serious photo punches in just about any scenario, dark or bright. The lens, though, can zoom to 21x optical and at its shortest is a wide-angle 23mm equivalent. That is awe inspiring by itself, but even more amazing since it can instantly post photos to any where your photog heart desire; Instagram, Facebook, etc. Of course the caveat to this latter feature is that you’ll have to pay for a wireless plan month after month.
Samsung hasn’t told us when and how much. But if you can’t wait for their full disclosure, Nikon S800c should hit in September and cost $350.
Christen Costa
