Smartphone cameras are now an integral part of capturing everyday occurrences that would otherwise be missed because you're either not a real photographer or happened to leave your camera bag at home. The issue is, that in order to remain compact, smartphones use small, cheap lenses, with a few shortcomings, offering up no optical zoom, fixed angle viewing and limited focus.
Will.i.am thinks he can change all this with his new i.am+ foto.sosho iPhone camera additions. These devices clip around the iPhone, giving it the feel of a real camera, whilst adding a stronger flash and three interchangeable lenses; standard, fish-eye and wide-angle.
Two models will be available for the iPhone 4 and 4s and two for the iPhone 5:
foto.sosho C.4 (modern look and feel)
- Lens: Standard, 0.67x Wide Macro, 0.28 Fisheye
- Trim: Black or White
- Additional LED Flash
- Price: £199
foto.sosho V.4 (vintage look and feel)
- Lens: Standard, 0.67x Wide Macro, 0.28 Fisheye
- Keyboard: Bluetooth slide-out
- Trim: White and Gold or Black and Silver
- Additional LED Flash
- Price: £299
foto.sosho V.5 (vintage look and feel for the iPhone 5 only)
- Lens: 5x Zoom dedicated 14-megapixel sensor (other details TBA)
- Trim: Silver and brown leather, all white or all black leather
- Additional LED Flash
- Price: TBA
foto.sosho L.5 (luxury look and feel for the iPhone 5 only)
- Lens: 5x Zoom dedicated 14-megapixel sensor (other details TBA)
- Keyboard: Bluetooth slide-out
- Trim: Silver and brown leather, all white or all black leather
- Additional LED Flash
- Price: TBA
The iPhone 5 edition will feature a dedicated 14-megapixel sensor with a 5x zoom lens, something not currently offered by alternative products, though, this was an early prototype and we suspect Will.i.am will be in the midst of negotiating a license from Apple.
With prices beginning at £199 and moving up to £299 for a Bluetooth keyboard, we seriously question the viability of the product. Will will tell you that this is, in-part, a fashion accessory, that converges with technology and that the bundled app provides social sharing, however, we're sure we've seen something similar before, that does a better job for a better all-round price.. just what could it be...
Samsung Galaxy Camera
