Leaked: Pictures Of Nikon’s Android-Powered Digicam

Phone camera, or camerphone?

This, apparently, is a new Android-powered phone from Nikon. As budget compact cameras become lass and less relevant thanks to camera-packing smartphones, manufacturers are essentially turning their cameras into phones.

This one is the S800c, and will reportedly run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, sport a 10x or 12x zoom (there will be either two versions, or one badly-reported version) and a 3.5-inch OLED display.

Wi-Fi and GPS complete the picture.

The launch date for the cameras could be as early as tomorrow, so I’ll save the technical discussion for then. For now, what do you think about this new breed of “smart camera?” I love the idea of installing apps on a camera and getting access to pictures taken with a proper lens and maybe a decent-sized sensor. But I don’t like the idea of Android sucking the battery life from a camera the way it does from my phone (I am temporarily a user of a Samsung Galaxy Y – don’t ask).

And then there’s the question of connectivity. GPS is great, and putting Instagram on your camera even better, but if you have to wait to find a Wi-Fi hotspot before posting or Tweeting that photo, a major part of mobile photography is lost.

These are just musings. What do you think? Stoked by the idea of connected cameras? Or happy with your iPhone?

• Source PetaPixel

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