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Polaroid SC1630: The result of duct taping a 16 megapixel camera to a mediocre Android smartphone

Categories: Android, CES 2012
By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 12:52 AM

Polaroid, the company you used to love back when you were a child, is about to enter the smartphone game with a new device called the SC1630. It’s going to pack a 16 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, have a 3.2 inch screen that does 800 x 480 pixels, and it’s going to cost just $300 when it launches in April, though we don’t know if that’s unsubsidized or not. Before you get all excited, note that not everything launched at CES actually makes it to market. The SC1630 looks like the Aigo A8, a device that was launched at CES last year and was supposedly released in China. So is the Polaroid SC1630 going to end up being nothing more than a huge puff of vaporware? If we had to make any bets, we’d say yep, it sure is.

All that being said, if you’re the type of person who takes photography seriously enough to want to buy a smartphone that can replace a point and shoot, then you really only have two choices. First, and most obvious, is the iPhone 4S. Not only is the speed of the camera amazing, but it ties in to all the photo sharing services and social networks that you happen to use, because what’s the point of taking so many photos if you’re not going to share them? Then there’s the Nokia N8, which runs a somewhat difficult to use operating system, but it more than makes up for that by packing a stunning 12 megapixel sensor inside an all aluminum body. Even better is that there’s a Xenon flash, so you can actually take photos at night without them ending up being washed out and grainy.

Who is going to take the imaging lead in 2012? It’s too early to say, but something tells us we’ll find out at Mobile World Congress next month!

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • http://mortenprom.com Morten Prom

    You’re properly right, this is vaporware. But man I hope this catches on, I want a highend device like this. For now I’ve settled on a Canon S100 + Eye-Fi + Samsung Galaxy S2, but man could it be great if those two gadgets could be combined :)