How The New Genaration Of Android Phones Are Replacing The Dedicated Compact Camera

When Nokia squeezed a tiny 9.3 megapixel camera in to the 7650 back in 2002 it signalled the beginning of the end of the compact camera, and the start of revolution in photography.

HTC on Camera Revolution

Android phones are at the forefront of this revolution. Last year's model, the samsung Galaxy S II and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, set a new baseline for what you can expect from a premium Android phone's camera, and this year the HTC One series and the Sony Xperia S, have have pushed things even further.

Perhaps surprisingly given most Android manufacturer's urge to chase specs. It isn't in startling technical achievements that the breakthroughs have been made. Yes, the tech is pushed to produce better performance, the fast f2.0 lens in the one series for instance increasing the amount of light reaching the sensor by 40 percent over the lens in the iPhone 4S. But it is in usability where progress is really happening.



Camera in high-end Android phone have now reached the level where they are good enough for most users. Producing images of a quality that is indistinguishable from a compact camera, and it is increasingly the software enhancements that are making them both fun to use and easy to sell.

So in the Xperia S you can hold down the dedicated camera button even when the phone is asleep and locked, and within about a second and a half the phone is awake, the camera app launched, the lens focused and the snap taken, all with a single press. Compare that to the five seconds or more for a typical compact camera to be ready.

Sony Xperia S

The Galaxy Nexus also introduced camera speed as a key feature, emphasising the importance Google puts on photos in Android's future. The HTC One series is equally fast, focusing in 0.7 seconds and having a burst mode that enables you to shoot pretty much as many images as you're likely to need in one go.

By using a dedicated imaging chip HTC has also been able to introduced real innovations into its camera app. the main one involves placing the camera and video buttons side-by-side on screen instead of splitting photos and video into separate functions as on every other phone. It's only a small thing, but like the best innovations it feels so natural that you can't believe why no-one else has done it before. it's major leap forward, and one that every user will love.

So what's next for the android camera phone? It may be that the focus does soon fall once more on the hardware side. There are still a couple of areas that could be improved the quality of the lenses and the flash.

Nokia, currently leading the way on the technical side of camera phone photography, uses Zeiss-branded optics to attain maximum detail in shots, as well as Xenon flash instead of LED for better performance in poor light.

Samsung galaxy S III Android Phone

Beyond thet we're looking to Samsung and Sony in particular for the next big things. First is Samsung's Galaxy S III, which should build on the tremendous performance of the S II's camera. After that Samsung has already said it is looking into the possibility of producing an Android-powered camera. And maybe the now Ericsson-free Sony can draw on its expertise in the field to produce something genuinely new, Sony already makes the best digital camera sensors, such as the one used in the new E5,000 nikon D4, and it created the Nexline of compact interchangeable lens camera partly in response to the decline of the point-and-shoot market. If it can bring some of these innovations to it's phone, then the camera phone revolution will reach unprecedented levels.