Samsung whips out Galaxy Note II, cam-phone with proper zoom lens
YES! I AM TAKING A PICTURE!
IFA 2012 After Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy Note II at IFA this week, attentions turned to its all-new camera phone, a digital snapper with built-in 3G connectivity.
The South Korean firm's latest push into the photography domain introduces the Galaxy Camera with its 16.3Mp sensor, 21x optical zoom and practically every type of connectivity under the sun.
Two models are available - a 3G and Wi-Fi, or a 4G and Wi-Fi - both with 1.4GHz processors, 8GB of internal storage and an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS.
The Galaxy Camera's various edit and share settings are navigated through a 4.8in 308ppi touchscreen, which covers the entire back panel, mimicking the appearance of a smartphone or miniature tablet device.
Of course, from the front, it looks like your average point-and-shoot - albeit slightly on the large side - with a pop-out flash and f/2.8 lens.
We've seen a new wave of cameraphones lately, with both Polaroid and Nikon's Android-based snappers, but this appears to be the first model to sport 3G connectivity. While there's no support for GSM voice communication, users can upload images, access the web and make VoIP calls.
How convenient the Galaxy Camera is for such use remains to be seen, but with the size of our connected devices ever increasing, the Galaxy Camera's dimensions shouldn't be an issue.
After all, the Galaxy Note II - officially revealed by Samsung earlier - boasts a whopping 5.5in 720p display. The handset is actually thinner than the company's Galaxy S III, but with the dedicated S-Pen and a body that bridges the gap between tablets and phones, it's clear Sammy sees bigger blowers as something consumers crave.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II runs on a quad-core 1.6GHz processor with 2GB of Ram, powers Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions. There's also 8Mp rear-facing and 1.9Mp front-facing cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC capabilities and a large 3100mAh battery.
Prices for either device have yet to be set, but the Galaxy Note II will launch in Europe this October, while the Samsung Galaxy Camera is expected later this year. Snappy days. ®
COMMENTS
Re: WTF?
You missed the point, this is a camera, with phone bits added. No matter how good the sensors on a phone camera, the lack of an optical zoom makes them useless for anything other party photos and the odd landscape shot. A 21x optical zoom sounds good to me.
Re: WTF?
The camera is not very big for a camera. Don't see a problem.
Good article, except for the fact it's not a phone.
Due to the minor point that the camera phone you have written about is not actually a phone at all, it seems that your article, heading and sub-heading may need a bit of a re-write!
It's a camea running Android with wifi and 3G. It's not got any phone functionality.
Court case has been booked....
...that is a blatant rip-off of the Apple iCam, which was the first ever camera with a zoom on one side and a screen on the other.
Oh wait, it's not 2014 yet, the iCam hasn't been released.
Re: WTF?
It's a small camera. It just happens to have a full blown OS running on it. It's obviously not supposed to be your everyday phone..
