You're looking at the Samsung Galaxy Camera -- a fully fledged 16-megapixel digital snapper that runs Android Jellybean and even has 3G support.
Nope, we're not joking. This is a digital camera that has a more up-to-date version of Android than Samsung's latest smartphones, which still use Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Its 4.8-inch screen has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution and comes close to the Galaxy S III in terms of vibrancy.
The use of Android means the camera can run the same apps as its smartphone equivalent -- from Chrome to Angry Birds and so forth. When we got to test this out on Samsung's stand at IFA we felt it was weirdly satisfying to browse to Wired.co.uk's homepage on the back of a traditional camera, yet there we were, doing just that.
As a camera, we didn't have much chance to test performance, but thanks to the device having Wi-Fi and 3G (or 4G) built in we were able to email one of our cheeky test photos to ourselves (thanks, Samsung!). You can see that in our gallery.
Picture quality
Picture quality is okay, but it's by no means up to Samsung's
usual standards for higher-end cameras. Generally pictures were
decent enough, but there is clearly visible noise in areas with
lower brightness and a hefty amount of chromatic aberration
(coloured artefacts around the edges of objects) when viewing the
photo at full resolution. We're holding out final opinions on this
matter until we get a model to review in a wider range of shooting
conditions.
The Galaxy Camera has a large pop-up flash and a 21x optical zoom (things you'll never get on a regular smartphone camera), which extends the f/2.8 21mm wide-angle lens right up to a 480x limit. ISO ranges from 100 up to 3,200, though based on our testing you won't want to go anywhere near 3,200 -- our test shot was captured at ISO 160 with a 1/90 sec exposure on f/4 and had enough noise as it is.
How good is the
camera?
Samsung Galaxy Camera sample photo
The other bonus of having a large screen, Android and 3G is editing and sharing. Want to download Instagram and make your 16-megapixel photos look like they were shot on a camera that cost a tenner? No problem. Prefer to install Adobe Photoshop and fix that chromatic aberration? Easily done here. The OS is actually very responsive thanks to a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, which should also mean editing 1080p videos on the Galaxy will be a breeze. It takes microSIM cards for its 3G connectivity and microSD for storing photos and videos.
Note that you can't use the Galaxy as a phone. You can, however, connect up a Bluetooth headset and use something like Skype.
It's easy to see why Samsung decided to make a camera that ran Android. What's less clear is who will want to buy it. We'll be very curious to see how this one is marketed. Are you tempted? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
There's currently no UK release date or price known, though we are expecting a launch before the end of the year.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/01/samsung-galaxy-camera-preview
2012 oscar predictions jim jones tony stewart kurt busch kurt busch nba dunk contest 2012 act of valor
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.