Social Android Imaging: Samsung's Galaxy Camera

Sharing photos with one's friends and family is a common, everyday occurrence. Instagram has gained over 100 million photo sharing users in just two years, and this is just one of many outlets people use to share photos with the people they love. While sharing pictures taken with your smartphone is easy and convenient since you can upload and share while on the go, the picture quality you get from a smartphone isn't quite on the same level as a standalone digital camera, with a larger sensor and better optics.

Connected cameras such as the Samsung Galaxy Camera promise the best of both worlds for users who want to share their photos right away but who also want the image quality that only comes from a standalone digital camera. In this review, we'll take a hands-on look at the Samsung Galaxy Camera that is tied to Verizon Wireless' network. Samsung also offers a similarly equipped camera that is tied to AT&T's network.  A Wi-Fi only variant of the Galaxy Camera has been announced internationally though details for a US variant haven't been released.

While there are other cameras on the market that have built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, one of the features that sets the Galaxy Camera apart is its cellular and LTE connectivity capabilities that tie the camera to a wireless carrier. Another key differentiating point is the fact that the Galaxy Camera runs on Android. Because the Galaxy Camera runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, you can access all of your favorite Android photo editing applications (including Instagram and Photoshop Touch) on the camera. You can also email photos; upload them directly to Facebook, Dropbox, or another cloud service; surf the Internet, and more, directly from the camera.

The Galaxy Camera features a large 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD and a 21x zoom lens. The camera has a 16 megapixel sensor, supports voice commands, and features various photo capture modes including full manual shooting capabilities.

We'll take a closer look at what this camera can do in the coming pages but first, let's dive into the specifications of this camera:

Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC120 from Verizon Wireless Specifications & Features