Nikon makes Coolpix S800c Android camera official, is it worth the $349 price Tag?

We have been following along with the rumors of the new Nikon S800c digital camera that sports Android as its main OS for a little while now. Finally Nikon has announed the device and all the little tid bits of information to go along with it. Seems all the talks of Android, a 3.5-inch touch screen, GPS, WiFi and the goodness of Google. It does offer something more than your current devices camera does and that is 16 mega pixels.

The S800c establishes a new line in the COOLPIX S series powered by Android with built-in Wi-Fi® compatibility for operation similar to that of a smartphone and wireless Internet connection. With its backside illumination CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of 16.0-million pixels and 10x optical zoom NIKKOR lens, however, the S800c enables capture of sharp, blur-free and beautiful images that can be extremely difficult to capture with smartphones. What’s more, users can take full advantage of the camera’s other features, including support for recording of full-HD movies, to upload their stunning photos and movies to social networking sites. The S800c fulfills Nikon’s latest proposal for new ways to use digital cameras–Capture, View, Connect, Enjoy–all in a single, compact body.

1. The Android 2.3 and Wi-Fi® support for operation that feels like a smartphone and wireless Internet connection

   

   In addition to superior basic camera performance, the S800c offers the natural operation and communications functions of a smartphone (except the phone function), making it a single product for shooting, viewing, connecting, and enjoying. Nikon proposes new ways of enjoying digital photography with the S800c and the fun it offers with network connections.

   Primary functions

   • Simple setup and connectionSetup and text input for Internet connection using operations that are similar to those used by Android smartphones is possible.
   • Browse and post to social networking sites (SNS)The beautiful still photos and movies recorded with this digital camera, as well as comments, can be posted to social networking sites such as Google+â„¢, Facebook, and Twitter*. Not only is posting to an SNS simple, but browsing them is also smooth and easy.
     • *Connection to Facebook and/or Twitter requires installation of dedicated apps available on Google Playâ„¢.
   • Support for Google Playâ„¢ and built-in Googleâ„¢ appsUsers can customize their cameras by downloading favorite apps from Google Playâ„¢. This will expand the ways in which users enjoy digital photography. A number of Google apps, including Google+â„¢, YouTubeâ„¢, Google Mapsâ„¢, and Gmailâ„¢ come preinstalled on the camera.
   • Simple image transfer to other smart devicesThe camera’s Upload to Smart Device app can be used to transfer high-resolution photos and movies to smart devices running the Android or iOS operating system over a wireless connection.
     • *We plan to release Android and iOS versions of a corresponding app to be used by smart devices.
2. Superior basic performance for shooting of images with superior image quality and definitionIt is often very difficult or even impossible to capture decisive moments or telephoto shots with a smartphone. 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.
   

   Basic performance

   • Equipped with a 10x optical zoom NIKKOR lens with coverage for angles of view for focal lengths from the wide-angle 25 mm to 250 mm (equivalents in 35-mm [135] format), and built-in lens-shift vibration reduction (VR) function
   • Backside illumination CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of 16.0-million pixels enables capture of images exhibiting little noise at the high sensitivities required for night landscapes and pictures taken indoors under dim lighting
   • Functions for recording 1920 x 1080p/30-fps full-HD movies with stereo sound (recording of slow-motion movies that play back at 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 normal playback speed for a dramatic effect, and fast-motion movies that play back at twice normal playback speed for a comical effect is also possible)
3. my Picturetown app for using Nikon’s image storage and sharing service, my PicturetownWhen the my Picturetown app on Google Playâ„¢ is downloaded and installed, images captured with the S800c can be easily uploaded to my Picturetown. In addition, the app can be used to browse uploaded images, or to post a URL to a specific my Picturetown album to Facebook or tweet them on Twitter. It can also be used to view a list of my Picturetown albums, to rearrange albums using drag-and-drop operations, or to change their layout. Since images stored on my Picturetown can be accessed directly from the camera, users can easily view or share them with others, almost as if they were carrying photo albums around with them.
4. GPS function (A-GPS* compatible) for recording position information with imagesThe high-performance GPS module incorporated into the camera can be used to record position (latitude and longitude) information with photos and movies as they are recorded. When the my Picturetown app is used, the place where these photos and movies were recorded can be displayed on Google Mapsâ„¢.
   • *A-GPS, or Assisted GPS, is a system which can increase the startup performance, or time-to-first-fix, of a GPS positioning system by using extended ephemeris (EE) data. The data file used for A-GPS can be updated by downloading the latest file from Nikon’s web site.
5. Equipped with a 3.5-inch, approximately 819k-dot widescreen OLED monitor for vivid reproduction of even the finest detailsThe S800c is equipped with a 3.5-inch, approximately 819k-dot widescreen, OLED touch panel monitor. The high-resolution, widescreen, VGA OLED monitor makes shooting, viewing and sharing photos more enjoyable.
   • The OLED enables reproduction of deeper, more vivid colors with clear and beautiful blacks in night landscapes, less loss of detail in highlights (blown highlights), and greater contrast.
   • With a broad color gamut, subjects are vividly reproduced. This broad color gamut enables high-definition display of not only images, but the user interface as well.

As an Android lover it is hard not to like the camera. It does do a whole heck of a lot. The new Nikon S800c comes in a black and white color option and will retail for $349 lter in September. Not a bad price tag, but a bit more than we all hoped for.

On to the questions that are still left unanswered though. What processor is built inside the device and how much RAM is there? This is important because we want to know what games it can handle and if CM9 or CM10 will be ported to it. A little to soon for that request?

Via Nikon and Nikon 1