Gizmodo Australia » cameraphone

Ruggedised Casio Exilim Rotating Flip Phone Packs 5.1MP Camera

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Casio’s Exilim phone (vaguely NSFW ad here) looks to cram in just about every feature you can get on a Verizon dumbphone, with a few higher-end bonuses: It’s military-grade ruggedised and features an impressive 5.1MP camera.

Exilim is Casio’s digital camera line, so when they’ve branded a phone with the name, you know the lens is going to get some attention. Who knows if the pictures look good (the camera line is not particularly well-reviewed) but it’s got autofocus, an image stabiliser, and video recording, so it’s likely one of the better phone cameras out there. Otherwise, you’ve got the standard Verizon features (VZ Navigator, visual voicemail, V Cast Music) in a rotating flip phone package that just happens to meet military standards for durability.

It’s available today online, though at the very steep price of $US279, and that’s after a mail-in rebate and with a 2-year contract. That’s more expensive than every one of Verizon’s BlackBerry offerings and, in fact, the third-most-expensive phone in Big Red’s lineup. Press release below. [Verizon]

RUGGEDIZED CASIO EXILIM WITH 5.1 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA NOW AVAILABLE FROM VERIZON WIRELESS

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and NEW YORK – Verizon Wireless and Casio introduce the Casio® EXILIM, a picture perfect blend of digital camera functionality and entertainment features for the adventure seeker. The Casio EXILIM boasts a 180-degree rotating display, professional 5.1 megapixel camera and access to instant messaging, Visual Voice Mail and V CAST Music with Rhapsody.

Available color: Black and champagne

Key features:

· Meets military specifications 810F standards for: water (immersion and rain), humidity, salt-fog, shock, vibration, dust, solar radiation, altitude, and low and high temperature storage

· Camera and video capabilities –

o 5.1 megapixel auto focus camera with flash and optical 3x zoom

o Resolution adjustment: 2560 x 1920, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 160 x 120

o Dedicated camera/video key

o Video capture and playback

o Best shot mode: off, person, scenery, night view, person and scenery, twilight, food, character, sports, party, monotone, sepia, reverse, high sharpness, high contrast and vivid

o Image stabilizer

o Auto focus: off, single point AF or 9 point AF

o Perspective adjustment

o Self timer: off, three, five or 10 seconds

o White balance: auto, sunny, shade, tungsten and fluorescent

· Supports up to 8 GB of optional removable memory (microSD™ card sold separately)

· Bluetooth® profiles supported: headset, hands-free, dial up networking, stereo, phonebook access and object push (for vCard/vCal)

Lifestyle features:

· VZ NavigatorSM-capable – customers can get audible turn-by-turn directions to more than 15 million points of interest and share the directions with others

· Visual Voice Mail – customers can delete, reply and forward voice mail messages without having to listen to prior messages or voice instructions

· V CAST Music with Rhapsody – customers can choose from more than 4 million songs to download over the air; get the master copy of the songs on their PCs; and sync favourite tracks, albums and playlists from their PCs to their phones using a USB cable

Price and availability:

· The Casio EXILIM is available for $US279.99 after a $US50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

· VZ Navigator is available for $US2.99 daily access, and Visual Voice Mail is available for $US2.99 monthly access. Other charges may apply when downloading or using applications.

· Customers can purchase the Casio EXILIM beginning today online at www.verizonwireless.com or in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores. For additional information on any Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go online to www.verizonwireless.com.

Beauty and Drunkenness Captured with Cameraphones

Adam Frucci — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:20:00 +0000

If you remember correctly, last week I asked people to send in cameraphone pictures of their summer adventures, both of the beautiful and funny varieties. We received both! So don’t worry; while you might be stuck at a desk under harsh fluorescent lighting now, we’ll help you pretend you’re still outside, beer in one hand, hot dog in the other, enjoying summer as you should.

Sony Ericsson C902, C702 Bring High-End Photography to Your Pocket

Haroon Malik — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Sony has just announced a slew of new mobiles, and here is a closer look at the hot Cybershot offerings. The C902, which will boast a 5MP camera with auto focus, HSDPA, 160MB internal memory, M2 card slot, 2-inch TFT (240 x 320) display with 260K colours and a choice of either black or red paintjobs. As can be expected from the Cybershot range, there is also a bunch of photo orientated software in-built, including BestPic, Face Detection and image stabilisation. Checkout the gallery below, then jump through for the run down on the C702.

STMicroelectronics Camera Sensor is 1/5 Inch, Smallest Available

Adrian Covert — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:30:00 +0000

STMicroelectronics new VD6725 single-chip camera sensor is so small, it could theoretically fit in a cameraphone module as small as .5 x 5mm. The sensor is two megapixels and is capable of shooting VGA video at 30 fps or UXGA video at 15 fps. Kodak’s new CMOS sensor may be small for a 5-megapixel array, but STMicroelectronics’ is just small. [PR Newswire via MobileWhack]

Mobile Phone Flasher Gets Small Fine, Large Public Humiliation

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:51:58 +0000

Wondering what actually would happen if you took a picture of your junk with your cameraphone and texted it to some unsuspecting lady? You’d get fined for “distributing pornographic material,” at least if you do it in Germany, where one such exposure case closed just yesterday. The actual cost was around $240. But the humiliation—especially when the judge said of the 21-year-old perp’s unit shot, “We all had a bit of a laugh when we saw the thing”—that was priceless. Let this be a lesson to all you would-be porno distributors out there. [Reuters]

Kodak’s 5MP Camphone Sensor Actually Fits in Slim Phones

Brian Lam — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:48:38 +0000

What this means: 5MP iPhones without any extra girth. Most of the high end camera phones like the Nokia N95 and the Sony Ericsson Cybershots have a major drawback of being pretty thick. Kodak’s 5MP sensor is built on an incredible 1.4 micron technology and reworking of regular CMOS design, so it fits inside the same case that a 1.75MP CMOS does. Is this just a meaningless stat push? That’s not what the rumours are saying.

The Motorola Z12, an important phone for the flagging company, is rumoured to have this technology inside. Chances are, that won’t be the last, and so I find myself excited to see the light at the end of the grainy-phone-photo tunnel. (And the end of ridiculously sized mobile like the n93 above.) [Reuters]

Casio Phone is Waterproof, Rocks 5 Megapixel Camera, 4 Colors and All Sorts of Sexy Extras

Addy Dugdale — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:22:25 +0000

One of the big Oh Noes about working for Giz is getting to see sexy new phones, enjoying a quickening of the pulse and then thinking, “Buggerama,” as you realise that said sodding handset is only available in Japan. Casio’s W61CA uses Exilim technology to give you a five-megapixel camera that will survive rainstorms and being dunked in the bath. No surprise then, that it’s being marketed as a sports phone, and comes in that sizzling yellow shade so beloved of Akio Morita. Full specs are below.

5.1 megapixel camera with self-timer button
35mm wide-angle lens
8x digital zoom
Auto-focus
18.9 mm thick
2.7 inches wide QVGA high resolution LCD
Mobile English dictionary
Voice commands
Micro SD card slot
DMB TV
132 grams
320 hours standby
220 mins talk time
Speaker
Earthquake warning system
Nabi disaster evacuation function
Calorie counter
Adelie Penguin anime story
Timer
Distance measurement

The W61CA comes in four colours: gold; white, green and yellow and I wish it was available in the West. [Casio via i4U]

Samsung G600 Coming to Australia

Nick Broughall — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:37:24 +0000

After months of being told “probably not” from Samsung, they announced last night that they’ll be releasing the G600 5 megapixel cameraphone in Australia in March. It will be available through Optus stores “on an affordable plan”. I’ll be getting my hands on one in a couple of weeks – you guys will be the first to know what I think.

iPhone’s Telescopic Zoom Lens Comes With a Case

Jason Chen — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:50:41 +0000

Now that manufacturers are creating add-on lenses for mobile phone cameras—similar to the one we saw at CES—they need to step up their game to attract your attention. This iPhone telescopic lens from Brando does just that, adding a nifty protective case to go along with the lens. The good news is that it does seem to zoom in a crapload (see photo after jump), but unless that lens unscrews from the body, there’s no way you can call the iPhone “pocketable”. [Brando]

Nokia Patent Describes Mobile Phone With Virtual Keyboard

Haroon Malik — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:28:00 +0000

Virtual keyboards aren’t exactly a new concept, but Nokia’s patent describes a mobile phone with integrated equipment, which allows a virtual keyboard to be set up more rapidly. The patent, titled, “Mobile device with virtual keyboard,” does away with the need for a separate projector entirely, by instead using the onboard camera and optical sensors that are already present in typical mobiles. There is a drawback, however.

As projectors are not included in your standard handset, there is no way to project a keyboard on an external surface. Nokia plans to use the phone’s display to show the QWERTY keyboard, while the camera and sensors pick up finger position and relay that information back to the screen in real time. Inputs of sounds, or vibrations from fingers tapping, will also be translated into certain on-screen gestures. We have to give Nokia the good effort award, but it sounds awfully far-fetched. Hey, technology didn’t get to where it was today by not challenging the status quo. We just think Nokia is challenging it in the wrong way. (Yes, there is a wrong way.) [Unwired View]