The point-and-shoot market is bleeding sales, according to Nikon
Sales of point-and-shoot cameras are falling thanks to the rise of camera-equipped smartphones, but Nikon is not about to go down with that particular ship.
Its expensive digital SLR cameras are doing just fine, after all, Nikon President Makoto Kimura told Bloomberg last week.
More importantly, Nikon's got big plans that will "change the concept of cameras," the president said.
Whether that means a Nikon smartphone or something else entirely for now remains a mystery, but Kimura had a little more to say.
Change is hard
"We want to create a product that will change the concept of cameras," said Kimura. "It could be a non-camera consumer product."
A "non-camera" product that "will change the concept of cameras?" If that's not a Nikon smartphone he's teasing then we wonder what other consumer products Nikon engineers are busy strapping cameras to in a secret lab somewhere.
"Rapid expansion of mobile devices is a change in business environment given to us," Kimura further teased.
"Our task going forward is to find an answer to that change."
Low expectations
Nikon is probably not alone in that struggle; Kimura believes point-and-shoot camera sales in April and May of 2013 fell a full 25 percent across the industry from the same time in 2012, and that the compact camera market will shrink 12 percent this financial year.
Nikon does not divulge quarterly specifics, but its estimates for the first quarter this year were reportedly "fairly low."
With a mysterious ace up its sleeve, could Nikon turn things around?
A Nikon smartphone with a high-end camera inside might struggle to make a mark, especially with devices like Nokia's rumored Lumia 1020 - with its 41-megapixel camera - on the horizon. That might end up being the phone to own for photophiles.
According to Bloomberg, Nikon may expand further by following Canon, Sony and Olympus into production of medical devices.
Reports emanating from Samsung's South Korean homeland have claimed the company will launch four versions of the forthcoming Galaxy Note 3.
ETNews suggested the range, expected to arrive in September, will launch with various spec options; from a high-end, limited edition model, to a budget model with a scaled back LCD screen.
Top of the range, the report claimed, will be a Galaxy Note 3 featuring a 13-megapixel camera, constructed from "high-quality materials" and boasting an "unbreakable" AMOLED screen.
This may mean Samsung has listened to the masses and moved away from its reliance on plastic in favour of a new material that could challenge rivals like the iPhone 5 and HTC One in terms of build quality.
Cameras and screens
ET News said the rest of the models will keep the plastic body with the second in line also offering a 13-megapixel camera, but rocking a traditional AMOLED screen.
Next up would be a device with 13-megapixel camera and an LCD screen, while cheapest of all would be a device with an 8-megapixel camera.
The report mentions not whether processors, RAM and other specs could vary with each model, but it would be relatively safe to assume there'd be options in that department too if the reports came to fruition.
Spoiling the broth?
While we're treating this report with a healthy dose of scepticism at the moment, it would certainly be no surprise to see Samsung flood the market with Galaxy Note 3 variants.
The company has released multiple versions of its flagship Galaxy S4 handset in recent months, including the outdoor-themed S4 Active and a Frankenstein's monster-style Galaxy S4 Zoom cameraphone.
Vodafone has angered its UK customers by announcing a switch from per-second to per-minute call charges, which are likely to cost subscribers more money.
From August 1, the Guardian reports, if a Vodafone pay as you go customer makes a call to a landline or mobile lasting, for example, 1:02, they will be charged for the two minutes.
In real terms that means a call that previously cost 26p will now cost 50p - a 92 per cent price hike.
The struggling operator is, of course, dressing this up as a benefit for its subscribers, claiming the simplified charges will help users know exactly how many minutes they have left in their accounts.
Gee. Thanks, guys!
Straightforward price hike
A post on the Vodafone website reads: "Calls on Pay as you go are getting simpler from 1 August 2013. No more complicated pricing by the second – just clear, straightforward per minute charges.
"So if your call is a minute and 37 seconds long, it'll be charged as two minutes. That way, you'll always know exactly how many minutes you have left."
Posters on the Vodafone support forum called the move "patronising," while others accused the network of insulting the intelligence of its customers.
One post read: "Please don't patronise us. This is being introduced to make more money for Vodafone, pure and simple. It doesn't make anything simpler other than the fact that PAYG customers will essentially pay more for calls."
Are you a Vodafone customer affected by the transition to per-minute call billing? Feel free to vent your spleen in the comments section below.
Photos snapped by Windows Phone VP Joe Belfiore seem to confirm that the 41MP Nokia Windows Phone we're all expecting to arrive in New York this week will indeed be called the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Some light detective work revealed that at least two pictures within the photo stream from June 29 have "Nokia Lumia 1020" listed as their source in their EXIF data.
One of the discovered photos has a resolution of 2947 x 1658 pixels (almost 5 megapixels), and the other 2352 x 1568 (3.7 megapixels), suggesting that like the Nokia 808 PureView, the camera is able to shoot at multiple resolutions, as well as following the PureView's tendancy to oversample.
A flickr of truth
The name of Nokia's PureView successor has been the subject of much back-and-forthing, with the Nokia 909, Nokia Lumia 1020 and Nokia EOS all being thrown around as potential monikers.
The data could, of course, be fake, but the fact that the pictures are now hidden from Belfiore's main page makes us suspect otherwise.
TechRadar will be at the July 11 Nokia event, where Nokia promises "41 million reasons to zoom in", so keep all eyes on the site for the news as it breaks. Oh Joe Belfiore, you were so close too.
The Samsung Galaxy Fame is a phone that comes with a celebrity name, but certainly no celebrity price tag. Available SIM-free and unlocked from around £180/US$200 and free on UK contracts starting as low as £10 per month, the Samsung Galaxy Fame will certainly not drain your bank balance.
It is unsurprising that Samsung has the most prolific smartphone sales figures. With Galaxy devices as numerous as stars in the night sky spanning every corner of the market, from the highest end Samsung Galaxy S4 and announced Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, the super-sized Samsung Galaxy Note 2 right through to the ageing Samsung Galaxy S3 before hitting the lowest ends with the Samsung Galaxy Fame and the Samsung Galaxy Young.
Samsung has clearly got a design ethos in mind, one that has been apparent since the Galaxy S3. The Samsung Galaxy S3 was far curvier than its predecessor, with its successor following very much in its footsteps.
With the Samsung Galaxy brand all very much in line, the Samsung Galaxy Fame is positioned at the very bottom, alongside the Samsung Galaxy Young.
With vital statistics sitting at 113.2 x 61.6 x 11.6mm (4.46 x 2.43 x 0.46) in size and 120.6g (4.25oz) in weight, Samsung has created a handset that sits very comfortably in the hand, if a little heavier than expected.
Clues to the smaller price tag are certainly evident from the off, the smaller 3.5-inch screen with a 320 x 480 HVGA resolution and plastic body being the biggest clues.
That said, Samsung has been a fan of using plastics on its devices since the off, with its appearance on its flagship smartphones always being a talking point. On the Samsung Galaxy Fame, the plastic feel fits the phone.
Sticking with the design of the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy Fame comes in two colours, our review model coming in white, with blue also being available.
A faux metallic band surrounds the bezel, which is noticeably thicker than on premium handsets. The curved back wraps tightly round the back of the Fame, offering a reassuringly snug fit.
As with every modern smartphone, the screen dominates proceedings. The aforementioned HVGA resolution was always going to be a bit of a worry, but its diminutive size goes some way to helping.
Thankfully, the resolution doesn't greatly hinder the phone, since Samsung's screen tech keeping things vivid and a lot brighter than expected.
Elsewhere on the front of the Samsung Galaxy Fame is the traditional Home button, sandwiched between the Menu and Return soft keys. At the opposite end is a metallic speaker, the VGA front-facing camera and a couple of sensors.
Underneath this, Samsung has powered the Galaxy Fame with a single core 1GHz processor, as well as 512MB of RAM. These sit alongside a VGA front-facing camera, 5MP rear snapper (with flash) and 4GB of internal storage, of which a mere 1.95GB is free.
Externally, the Samsung Galaxy Fame comes with the standard micro USB port at the bottom, sat alongside the microphone, with the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top.
Unsurprisingly, the volume rocker is on the left and the Power/Lock button is directly opposite, on the right-hand side. Being such a small phone, every inch of the screen - as well as every button - was easy to hit one-handed, which is ideal for the younger generation that Samsung seems to be aiming the Galaxy Fame at.
Behind the wrap-around back cover, which sits reassuringly tightly to the back of the Fame, the 1300mAh battery sits over the SIM slot. Thankfully, as with all Samsung Galaxy devices, the Samsung Galaxy Fame also comes equipped with a microSD slot, which even more thankfully is hot-swappable.
The Samsung Galaxy Fame shapes up to be an interesting prospect. The budget market has become increasingly packed with Android phones, with last year's flagship devices slipping down the price scales to sit alongside newly launched tech.
The question is, will the Samsung Galaxy Fame live forever? Or will it crash into the ground while learning to fly?
