Smartphone makers aim to cash in on selfie trend

October, 30th 2014

Dubai: Smartphone photography is transforming this into the era of the selfie, and manufacturers are focusing on the trend to keep it up.

Some manufacturers have launched 8MP front-facing cameras but between 2MP and 5MP is still the standard.

Initially, front-facing cameras were intended only for low-resolution video chats like Skype, Facetime, etc, but that is changing dramatically.

To change the face of mobile photography, Taiwanese manufacturer HTC is heading into a new direction, combining hardware with software features.

HTC showcased a new smartphone — HTC Desire Eye, and the RE wearable camera in Dubai on Wednesday.

The Desire Eye has 13MP front and rear cameras, with dual LED flashes both cameras. This is a first in the market.

Neeraj Seth, Head of Marketing, HTC MEA, told Gulf News that the young and trendy generation is experimenting with the pictures, apart from the fact that they are more into social networking platforms. They want to take high-resolution selfies.

“We are taking users out from behind the viewfinder and putting them back where they belong, at the heart of the action,” he said.

The 5.2-inch HTC’s Desire Eye has a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage capacity.

HTC hasn’t fixed the prices or the availability of the devices.

Seth said that it’s not just about the hardware, the HTC EYE Experience takes mobile imaging software into a new league with unique features like split capture function and screen sharing option.

Video recording

The face fusion feature allows users to merge their face with that of a friend or celebrity for a completely original look and Live Makeup, where users can set the desired level of skin smoothening and preview the effect in real-time before the image is captured.

The cylindrical design RE features a 16MP CMOS sensor, Full HD (1080p) video recording, 146 degree wide-angle lens and slow-motion and time lapse recording.

Seth said the RE app, available on Apple and Android stores, features a remote live viewfinder that lets users set up the perfect shot and watch the live action on the screen of a mobile device, or switch to album and playback view to flick through the shots and videos already stored on the camera.

“The app will also back everything up to your phone or the cloud automatically so users never need to worry about running out of space and missing a shot again. In addition, in the future, RE will offer real-time video streaming to YouTube, allowing you to live in the moment and share it live via your YouTube channel,” he said.

The RE wearable camera is compatible with any phone that has Android 4.3 and iOS 7 or later.

Source: Gulfnews.com