Nokia N8 successor; to camera bump or not to camera bump…

Camera bump or not to camera bump? Yesterday another Android was announced, some 16MP Polaroid, WITH Xenon and WITH Optical Zoom (3X) F3.1 – F5.6,.

Er what? The Polaroid (previously the 14MP Altek Leo?) is a camera with a phone pretty much. How did it manage that whilst not looking that thick? Well it is thick at 18.5mm by today’s (and last year’s) standards. And it gets thicker as the camera extends outwards.

I’m not a fan of the small 3.2″ screen, starving 1080mAh battery nor the obese 18.5mm profile. It’s still pocketable, it’s point and shoot size, but not really for a phone. It’s a camera with smartphone features. For some they’ll find that appealing.

Rumours are that the Nokia N8 successor is rocking optical zoom too. ‘True Zoom’. How should Nokia do optical zoom?

1. Extends out?
2. Large bump
3. Be thick all over like this phone?
4. Mirrors. Use the width of the Nokia to house the optical zoom mechanism and a final mirror so that the camera faces outwards? Ha, rather convoluted.
5. Internal zoom? (Some old point and shoots had a body that was static in size and the zoom mechanism worked within those confines, though they are thick by today’s standards now).

Will it ever be possible to have a thin phone AND have xenon? How slim can Nokia phones go whilst still having point and shoot beating photo quality?

How big a sensor are we expecting this time? What about the controversial megapixel count? That’s really only done right by Nokia where they have made sure each pixel does something and it’s not just there for marketing.

The competition seems to be catching up, some would say they already have. Whilst still being relatively slim. Once, HTC and iPhone cameras were so bad, you were better off sketching the scene with a burnt potato chip. HTC has now managed to rival the 800 in the original Titan (though that’s more because the 800 is no where near as good as the N8). In tests, the iPhone 4S seems to be topping the charts now (well, if you leave out the N8 as it’s a 2010 product).

Something the N8 successor will most likely trump all other camera phones on is design (based on the current ones looking ugly). But can’t we have nice slim designs AND a good camera too?

What features should be prioritised in the N8 successor?

Polaroid Images from engadget

Cheers Johnny for the tip!

Category: Nokia