1:31 PM
Say hello to the plastic periscope point-and-shoot camera.
We're accustomed to seeing HTC go toe-to-toe with Samsung and LG in the battle for Android smartphone dominance. But now, HTC Is trying to square off against GoPro and Polaroid.
At its New York launch event this afternoon, the company revealed its vision for what the point-and-shoot camera should become. And it revealed copious new camera features to remind you that the selfie era is just getting started.
. HTC Re A camera needn't be a box anymore. So HTC made one that looks like a periscope.
Re ($199, available by the holidays) is round to fit the contours of your closed hand. Push its one big button with your thumb to shoot a pic with the 16-MP camera. Hold it down for a moment and Re begins to shoot 1080p video. That's pretty much it. The only other button on the device shoots slow-motion video.
More features come into play when you launch the Re app on Android or iOS. (Yes, HTC is making iPhone apps now.) The app auto-syncs to show you what Re has captured. You can use the app to remotely tell the camera to start recording, turning Re into a de facto webcam. It will create time-lapse movies, too.
HTC America's Jason Mackenzie reassured the assembled throng that Re has a 146-degree wide-angle lens, so you don't have to worry about the fact that you can't see what's in the frame. But after trying Re for a few moments, I have to tell you--it feels weird. After all these years of instant photographic gratification--a digital camera or smartphone's display showing what you just shot--it's strange to fire away and not know what you're capturing.
I'm inclined to like Re. It's bright and different and funny-looking. As we noted earlier this month, HTC is trying to win an emerging product category here. The Re is waterproof, and you'd probably take it places you wouldn't take your dainty smartphone. But it's not as rugged as a serious GoPro, either. So, like Polaroid's new Cube, the Re is intended to be a standalone camera that occupies a space in the market for people who don't want to spend $400 on a GoPro. Yet at $199, it's a little steep for that space. Everything Else
The other piece of hardware HTC rolled out was the Desire Eye, a powerhouse Android smartphone for people who really, really like to take pictures. The 5.2-inch phone has a flat back, unlike the round back of the flagship HTC One (M8). But the marquee feature is the camera tech: Desire Eye has 13-megapixel rear-facing and front-facing cameras.
The Desire Eye is meant to be a vehicle for the Eye Experience (not iExperience), the branding HTC is using for the suite of new camera software it revealed today. The system includes Face Tracking, which automatically keeps your face in frame during video chats; Split Capture, which allows you to take side-by-side photos showing what the rear- and front-facing cameras see; Face Fusion, which will meld a given percentage of two faces into one (for the happy couple that wants a sneak peek of their kid); and Crop-Me-In, which uses the front-facing camera to crop you into a scene where you are not. This barrage of camera features will come pre-loaded on the Desire Eye and be available as an update for HTC One users.
Oh, and HTC is bringing you the button-free selfie. Just turn the camera on yourself and it will take the photo automatically, or use a voice command like "say cheese."
Lastly, there's Zoe, a montage-making app HTC has been testing; the 1.0 version is live today in the Google Play store—and it's coming soon to the Apple Store. HTC pitches Zoe as a way to share experiences such as music festivals or art shows by stitching your video clips and pictures into a short movie overlaid by the music of your choice.
HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang concluded the event saying that "a smartphone is just the overture." Based on what we saw today, the next movement in HTC's symphony is to become a camera company.
We're accustomed to seeing HTC go toe-to-toe with Samsung and LG in the battle for Android smartphone dominance. But now, HTC Is trying to square off against GoPro and Polaroid.At its New York launch event this afternoon, the company revealed its vision for what the point-and-shoot camera should become. And it revealed copious new camera features to remind you that the selfie era is just getting started.
. HTC Re A camera needn't be a box anymore. So HTC made one that looks like a periscope.Re ($199, available by the holidays) is round to fit the contours of your closed hand. Push its one big button with your thumb to shoot a pic with the 16-MP camera. Hold it down for a moment and Re begins to shoot 1080p video. That's pretty much it. The only other button on the device shoots slow-motion video.
More features come into play when you launch the Re app on Android or iOS. (Yes, HTC is making iPhone apps now.) The app auto-syncs to show you what Re has captured. You can use the app to remotely tell the camera to start recording, turning Re into a de facto webcam. It will create time-lapse movies, too.
HTC America's Jason Mackenzie reassured the assembled throng that Re has a 146-degree wide-angle lens, so you don't have to worry about the fact that you can't see what's in the frame. But after trying Re for a few moments, I have to tell you--it feels weird. After all these years of instant photographic gratification--a digital camera or smartphone's display showing what you just shot--it's strange to fire away and not know what you're capturing.I'm inclined to like Re. It's bright and different and funny-looking. As we noted earlier this month, HTC is trying to win an emerging product category here. The Re is waterproof, and you'd probably take it places you wouldn't take your dainty smartphone. But it's not as rugged as a serious GoPro, either. So, like Polaroid's new Cube, the Re is intended to be a standalone camera that occupies a space in the market for people who don't want to spend $400 on a GoPro. Yet at $199, it's a little steep for that space. Everything Else
The other piece of hardware HTC rolled out was the Desire Eye, a powerhouse Android smartphone for people who really, really like to take pictures. The 5.2-inch phone has a flat back, unlike the round back of the flagship HTC One (M8). But the marquee feature is the camera tech: Desire Eye has 13-megapixel rear-facing and front-facing cameras.The Desire Eye is meant to be a vehicle for the Eye Experience (not iExperience), the branding HTC is using for the suite of new camera software it revealed today. The system includes Face Tracking, which automatically keeps your face in frame during video chats; Split Capture, which allows you to take side-by-side photos showing what the rear- and front-facing cameras see; Face Fusion, which will meld a given percentage of two faces into one (for the happy couple that wants a sneak peek of their kid); and Crop-Me-In, which uses the front-facing camera to crop you into a scene where you are not. This barrage of camera features will come pre-loaded on the Desire Eye and be available as an update for HTC One users.
Oh, and HTC is bringing you the button-free selfie. Just turn the camera on yourself and it will take the photo automatically, or use a voice command like "say cheese."
Lastly, there's Zoe, a montage-making app HTC has been testing; the 1.0 version is live today in the Google Play store—and it's coming soon to the Apple Store. HTC pitches Zoe as a way to share experiences such as music festivals or art shows by stitching your video clips and pictures into a short movie overlaid by the music of your choice.
HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang concluded the event saying that "a smartphone is just the overture." Based on what we saw today, the next movement in HTC's symphony is to become a camera company.
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