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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Moto and Kodak Partner on 5 MP Cellcam

Two of the oldest American technology brands have partnered to create the highest megapixel camera phone available in the U.S. (along with the Nokia N96 and N82). The Motorola Motozine ZN5 is a candybar cellphone up front and a 5 MP Kodak camera behind.

Unlike other camera phones, the ZN5 acts like a real camera. You slide down the lens cover to activate the camera. The shutter release button is right on the top right where you'd expect. Press the shutter halfway and the autofocus swings into action. And pressing the shutter all the way instantly snaps the scene – none of the usual slow second-or-so shutter delay between press and capture on other camera phones.

The ZN5 includes other digicam-like features such as multi-shot and panorama photo stitching, which patches together multiple consecutive exposures to create a extreme wide view. There's also an unusually powerful (for a cellcam) Xenon flash.

There's 350 MB of memory inside the phone to save photos to, or you can slide in a roomier 4 GB micro SD card. Once saved, you can upload your shots to Kodak's Kodak Gallery site, use ShoZu to upload them to varying social networking service, or off-load them via more traditional Bluetooth or wired connections. You can also print prints on Kodak's Bluetooth-compatible printers or Kodak Picture Kiosks.

Like Moto's pending E8, the ZN5 features the company's innovative haptic keypad that provides local tactile feedback when you hit a button. The touch sensitive keypad also displays backlit icons for functions specific to whatever application the phone is in.

As a phone, the ZN5 functions on GSM networks and offers Motorola's CrystalTalk technology which makes voices sound more landline-like. Instead of locating the phone's address book and looking up a name, you can just start tapping the name you're looking for and the appropriate name and number pops up on the screen. There's also a music player with stereo Bluetooth.

The ZN5 will first be available in China in time for the Beijing Olympics. Everyone else will have to wait until the games are over.

Labels: cellphones