Samsung’s Galaxy Camera surfaced a couple of months ago during IFA 2012. At the time, it was unclear if the device would ever rival Nikon’s Android-powered Coolpix S800c on US soil but we’ve now learned that at least one carrier will soon be adding the camera to their wireless catalog.
AT&T will be the first wireless provider to offer the Galaxy Camera with a 4G (non-LTE, unfortunately) data plan. We still don’t know how much Samsung plans to charge for the Galaxy Camera nor do we have any idea what sort of subsidy the wireless carrier will provide customers. AT&T’s press release indicates they will address pricing when the camera is released in the coming weeks.
If you aren’t up to speed, the 10.7-ounce Galaxy Camera marries a point-and-shoot camera with what’s essentially a modern smartphone – sans voice communication. Specifications include a 21x optical zoom with F/2.8 maximum aperture and a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor featuring an ISO range from 100 to 3,200.
The 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD touch screen operates at 1,280 x 720. Powering the camera is a quad-core 1GHz processor (initially thought to be clocked at 1.4GHz) and 8GB of internal storage (expandable via SD card slot) – all running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. 3G/4G and Wi-Fi radios will allow users to share photos on social networks and other online destinations on the go.
I think this is one of the more fascinating devices to launch this year although I’ll have to reserve final judgment until after pricing is released. Also, one has to assume that the camera would resize photos before sharing them online. Otherwise, you could eat through a data plan in no time flat. Depending on the complexity of the image, a single file could be up to 8MB or larger in size.
