Finally, Zoom Comes To Cameraphones

Cameraphone photography always reminds me of that Arrested
Development episode where they find “proof” of WMDs, only to discover that it’s
actually just a close up of Tobias’ junk taken from George Senior’s mobile. I mean,
so many photos come out looking nothing like what you see in the frame – and
that’s on the higher-end, 5-megapixel models.

So what kind of photos can we expect now that Samsung’s
dropping their G800 phone – which comes with 5-megapixels, 3x optical zoom
(yeah, we said optical), xenon flash,
face detection, digital image stabiliser, red-eye reduction, panorama, mosaic
and macro shot modes, and a lens cover? Hopefully not scrotum shots that look
like scrotums – that’s probably just too much detail.

Aside from photography, the G800 offers quad-band HSDPA
(7.2Mbps), a large 2.4-inch QVGA screen , plus easy connection to social
networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr for uploading your pics and
video (it also does  MPEG4,
H.263 video). There’s even a mobile blogging client on board for potential Giz
writers to practice with, and you get a bonus 2GB MicroSD card in the box.

It’s available through Optus, Vodafone and 3 for $799.

[Samsung]