Polaroid is trying to stay relevant in the digital age with a camera that’s an Android mashup with a 3x optical zoom, 720p video, a 16MB sensor and, well, a lot of head scratch.
The Android OS that powers the phone does have interesting capabilities — you’ll be able to edit photos on the fly, for example. And while it’s got Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, there’s no always-on Internet connection, which makes it a little puzzling to me, as it’s not meant to replace your phone, and I’m not sure a 3x optical zoom is worth carrying two devices for, given how fantastic some of today’s phone cam capabilities are.
But there was one really interesting thing about this camera that I’d love to see. Polaroid is in talks with carriers to add data capabilities. It doesn’t have any yet, so this was really vague. But it’s likely going to have some sort of 3G capabilities at launch. I’d love to see that happen, and I’d love to see it get a speaker (right now while it has a microphone, it does not have a speaker). Combine data, a great camera and Android, and you’ve got a pretty great little go-anywhere VOIP phone that won’t force you to lock in a monthly minutes plan.
In any case, this thing will be out later this year, maybe with a data plan. No pricing. Could be interesting. Could be very much not so.