Over the years, Canon and Nikon have established themselves as industry-leaders when it comes to professional photography. While both companies offer a variety of consumer-friendly products as well, it looks like Nikon is the first to unveil a "social imaging device".
Dubbed the Coolpix S800c, the Japan-based company's latest point-and-shoot camera comes with a fully functional Android operating system.
With the oncoming floods of smartphones each year, along with their increasingly powerful cameras, it's no surprise that compact camera demand has dwindled.
"It is often very difficult or even impossible to capture decisive moments or telephoto shots with a smartphone," says Nikon. "The S800c, however, is always ready for those once-in-a-lifetime images with a level of performance that ensures sharp, blur-free photos. It allows users to easily express themselves in a wide variety of ways as photos with superior image quality and definition can be uploaded directly from the camera to a SNS.
The benefits are obvious: users will be able to quickly and easily upload high-quality photos and videos that aren't restricted by a smartphone's camera. In addition, the camera functions just like any other Android smartphone-minus the calling part. This means users will be able to play games, check emails, or run any number of different Android applications on the camera's 3.5-inch touchscreen.
Though no specifics were given on the hardware powering the Android system, we'd assume it's sufficient enough to flood Instagram with some high quality shots. The camera will be available sometime in September, with a manufacturer suggested retail price of $350. For more information on the device, check out the full release on Nikon's webpage.
