Samsung announces Pixon 8MP touch-screen camera phone

Samsung is looking to satisfy consumers who want more than a second string performance from their mobile phone camera with the announcement of a new full-touch screen, 8-megapixel unit dubbed the Pixon. The slimline (13.8mm) design does look more like a camera than a phone and incorporates a number of features usually found only in the stand-alone camera realm such as face detection, shake-reduction and geo-tagging. The unit's 3.2 inch, 240x400 touch screen also enhances its photo browsing capability and with auto-focus, dual power LED Flash, a music player, FM Radio, Bluetooth connectivity and video recording at 30 fps (720 x 480) including slow motion playback, it looks to be another useful example of convergence in the mobile handset market.

One notable downside for snap happy punters is the apparent lack of optical zoom functionality, although there is a 16x digital zoom (and 8 megapixels to work with).

There's no official word on pricing as yet but availability is slated for mid-October in France with most European and Asian countries to follow. As part of the promotion for the Pixon, Professional photographer Nick Turpinwill head into battle with the camera to showcase its attributes from October 2nd. Updates are available here.

Samsung Pixon specs:

• Network: GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Quad Band (850/ 900/1800/1900 MHz) HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (2100 MHz)
• Display: 3.2” 240x400 262K WQVGA TFT LCD
• Camera: 8-megapixel camera with Auto focus, Digital zoom (X16), Dual Power LED Flash, ASR (Advanced Shake Reduction), WDR (Wide Dynamic Range), Face Detection, Smile Shot, Face Link (face tagging), Geo-tagging, Auto Panorama Shot, Photo memo, Photo Browser (Accelerometer Sensor, Tilt and flip, Sorting by Face/Time/Color/Folder).
• Memory: Internal Memory: 200MB External Memory: Micro SD
• Size: 107.9 x 54.6 x 13.8 mm, 121g
• Battery: 1000 mAh, Talk time: 3h 40min, Standby time: 290h
• Video: Video recording & playing (MPEG4, WMV, DivX, XviD), 30 fps D1 (720 x 480) & 120 fps(QGVA) high quality video recording, Slow motion video playing
• Audio: SRS (Surround Sound System) Virtual 5.1CH, Music Player (MP3, AAC, e-AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA), FM Radio with RDS, DNSe™ (Digital Natural Sound engine)
• Other: Online Widget (News, weather, stock, etc), Bluetooth v.2.0 / USB 2.0 HS and TV Out connection

Via Samsung Mobile.