The Samsung Galaxy Camera -- the world's second Android-powered camera -- will go on sale in the U.S. Nov. 16, available through AT&T. It'll cost $499.99, and customers can buy it with or without a data plan.
The Galaxy Camera, unveiled in August, takes the improved picture-taking that a point-and-shoot camera provides over a smartphone camera, and combines it with wireless connectivity so users can upload and share photos directly from the camera. The AT&T version connects via HSPA+ (not LTE) as well as Wi-Fi when available.
AT&T is offering several different data plans for the camera, so customers can choose depending on how many photos they wish to share remotely, and how high-resolution they will be. They'll also have the option to fold the camera into one of AT&T's "Mobile Share" group plans. The full breakdown:
AT&T Mobile Share: $10 to share between 1 GB and 20GB
AT&T DataConnect 250MB: $15 for 250MB
AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB
Of course, you can always get the camera without a data plan and upload photos over Wi-Fi only.
The Samsung Galaxy Camera runs Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" with access to the full Google Play market. That means users will be able to download and run Android apps like Instagram, Pixlr and Aviary using the camera's 21x zoom lens and 16-megapixel CMOS sensor to capture pics a smartphone couldn't. It's actually the second Android camera -- the first being the Nikon CoolPix S800c -- although Nikon's ran an earlier version of Android (2.3 "Gingerbread").
We got a chance to spend a little hands-on time with the Samsung Galaxy Camera and loved it. It essentially brings the large 4.8-inch screen of the Galaxy S III smartphone and turns it into a camera viewfinder. Samsung's also done some impressive things with the user interface, rendering settings as virtual "dials" on the screen.
Are you interested in using a camera that works more like a cellphone? Let us know in the comments.