Of the many manufacturers announcing Android products at CES, you wouldn’t expect one of them to be Polaroid. But the company surprised us all with its latest device, the SC1630 Smart Camera. The device doesn’t only pack 16 megapixels with optical zoom; it has an unknown version of Android under the hood.
At first glance of the front of the SC1630, you may think you were looking at a new smartphone or portable media player. Once you flip the beefy device over, however, the huge lens makes it obvious that this gizmo was tailored to take pictures. Think of this as more of a camera that happens to run Android than an Android device that takes phenomenal photos.
The camera sports a 3.2-inch multitouch display, a 3X optical zoom, and WiFi capabilities. The WiFi is intended to let you instantly upload your pics (sticking with Polaroid’s reputation as the king of instant photography). But in many cases you’ll be on the go, needing to either tether from your smartphone or find a hotspot in order to share your shots on Facebook or Flickr; suddenly it isn’t so instant.
Polaroid, famous for its classic instant cameras, has been struggling in recent years, and has been trying to catch up with the times by hiring Lady Gaga as creative director (her OLED sunglasses look pretty cool). Most of us assume that smartphone cameras will soon evolve to the point where other cameras are unneccessary — for many of us, they already have. But few people have wondered if cameras would, in turn, begin to morph into smartphones.
The SC1630 implements an interesting idea. It will allow for some instant post-processing and filtering effects. The Android Market is even supported. Smartphone owners are accustomed to being able to edit images on the go (albeit in a basic way), but never before has it been done on a 16MP camera.
But as much as we appreciate Polaroid’s creativity, it may be missing the point. Smartphone cameras are popular because they are integrated into devices that we use for a thousand other things. But with Polaroid’s smart camera you’re left carrying an extra device, just as if you were toting a DSLR. Once this bad boy is rooted, however, many more doors could be opened.
There isn’t any pricing info available for the SC1630 yet. The only info Polaroid has provided on a release date is that it will launch sometime this year.
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