HTC has just taken the wraps off its RE camera, a first-of-its-kind cylindrical-shaped camera. Featuring a highly unique shape and interesting features, HTC is boldly claiming that it will “reinvent photography” with the new RE camera.
As a lightweight and portable camera, the RE camera packs plenty of punch in the traditional sense: it has a 16MP CMOS sensor with a f/2.8 146-degree wide-angle lens, and captures 1080p 30fps video as well as 720p video at 120fps, allowing users to create beautiful slow-mo footage. There’s also a time-lapse mode, while its IP57 body allows for more creative use underwater. Rounding up the hardware are a HD microphone and a speaker.
But the RE camera isn’t just any camera. Its unique cylindrical design packs a grip sensor that instantly activates the camera the moment it is picked up, eliminating the need for a power button. The shutter button captures photos with a single tap, while a longer press captures video footage.
The 65.5g body, which resembles a World War 2-era torchlight is not only light and tiny, but there’s also space within the chassis to pack a microSD card slot (an 8GB card is included) as well as 820mAh battery, which is rated for up to 1200 16MP shots, or 1 hour and 40 minutes of continuous Full HD video recording.
And, just like the Sony QX lens-style cameras, the HTC RE camera packs plenty of connectivity options. It has Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi Direct, and microUSB connectivity, and even has a standard 0.25-inch tripod connection for those time-lapse videos.
Perhaps the best part of the HTC RE camera lies with its compatibility: it supports and connects to any Android device running Android 4.3 and above, as well as iOS devices running iOS 7 or later. With the Android and iOS app, the RE camera seamlessly streams content between camera and smart device, uploads content to the cloud, and of course, the connected smart device can be used as a remote viewfinder.
On top of that, an open SDK and API allows developers to create innovative new uses of the RE camera onto social media platforms like Instagram and Tencent. A future update will also enable real-time video streaming to YouTube.
The HTC RE camera will be available in the US later this month, with more markets to follow, in four colours: White, Navy, Red and Teal. Retail prices, unfortunately, were not revealed. HTC has also opened a new website for users to find out more about the RE camera, at recamera.com.
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