Polaroid has bucked the CES 2012 trend by showing something genuinely new and innovative: the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera, which could be the connected device the compact camera market needs to survive.
Since mobile phones have been locked in battle for the last ten years to outdo one another on the camera front, we’ve gotten to a point where the best in class, such as the iPhone 4S, can genuinely rival decent dedicated cams.
Polaroid’s taken a step in the other direction: it’s launched a camera with smartphone features. The Smart Camera runs on a bespoke version of Android and boasts WiFi and 3G connectivity for Geo-location, web browsing, emailing and photo uploading on the move, thanks to a 3.2-inch touchscreen.
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The camera part should suitably outstrip anything found in today’s phones; the 16-Megapixel sensor is a nice touch, but the real winner is a 3x optical zoom and some serious software: 18 different scene modes and image stabilising. Stuff that’s currently not offered by your mobile.
With smartphones encroaching on compact camera sales by stealing camera features, it’s about time someone from the opposing camp decided to do the same: offer top camera capabilities with some current-gen mobile connectivity goodness thrown in.
Compact camera operating systems are genuinely far more complex than Android, which costs nothing to implement. The Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera will launch in April for $299 (around £190).
