Polaroid has introduced its first Android powered smartphone with a full point and shoot assembly in the SC1630. While the SC1630 resembles a typical Android smartphone, a closer look reveals that it is actually a rebranded and re-engineered version of the Chinese Aigo A8 sold by China Unicom in that country.
The SC1630 as developed by Polaroid features a 16 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom, LED flash, a 3.2 inch touchscreen display on the back of the device at WVGA resolution and dedicated control buttons on the top for the camera shutter and volume rockers as well as a microSD slot and Bluetooth.
The device also features Android Gingerbread with full Google Apps and Android Market support along with AT&T/international 3G support for cellular data along with Wi-Fi and FM radio. The device does feature a mic for phone calls, suggesting that the device may be sold via as well as unlocked directly by Polaroid depending on interest along with the possibility of an LTE version.
The SC1630 also features built-in dedicated camera apps for photo and video capture with cropping, red-eye removal, resizing and color correction. The device is being touted as a hybrid between a smartphone, media player and digital camera. The actual camera assembly consists of an F3.1 – F5.6 aperture lens assembly, 3X optical zoom, 5X digital zoom, a max shutter speed of 1/1400 and ISO max of 3200 with geotagging, anti-shake support and 720p video capture.
Representatives from Polaroid have also confirmed during CES that the company intends to sell the phone for $299.99 beginning in April and the release window hinges upon completion of final development work before then.
