14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier today we told you that Samsung pulled the veil off the new NX mini camera, which the Korean tech giant claims is the “world’s slimmest and lightest interchangeable-lens digital camera.” Now a new uncovered patent sheds some light on Samsung’s future plans in the camera department.
The filing was discovered by The Wall Street Journal and it was apparently filed by Samsung pretty recently, just a month ago. In the documents, Samsung outlines a camera that comes with a very atypical feature: transparent displays.
The transparent screen with allow the person snapping the pic and the person being photographed to look at each other, making direct eye contact. This feature might come in handy when giving directions to the model, as the photographer will be able to review the position they are sitting in better.
As can be seen in the picture enclosed in the patent, the device resembles a compact camera of sorts, so it’s probably destined for hobbyists and such, rather than the professional photographer.
The main body features a “wide” transparent display with lens and flashes and a power button located on the side. The actual dimensions of the camera aren't revealed in the filing.
Samsung’s digital cameras are yet to carve a stable place in the marketplace, since there’s basically no real need for them.
Smartphones these days boast cameras with plenty of megapixels capable of snapping a decent batch of photographs. However, Samsung refuses to accept defeat and has been trying to offer something worth having for some time now.
Samsung is the world’s top smartphone maker, but growth in this department has recently encountered stagnation, due to the over-saturation of the market.
Sammy has publicly announced its intention of focusing on the tablet market in 2014. But now it appears that the tech giant will be looking to further advance things along in the camera camp as well.
In the photography department, Samsung has been experimenting with various designs and ideas, from integrating Wi-Fi into its cameras (which is not unheard of) to creating a hybrid model between a smartphone and camera (the Galaxy Zoom phone).
Recently, Sammy has merged its camera division with its mobile unit and is not giving out the separate revenue numbers per division, leaving us in the dark as to whether the camera business is flourishing or not.
In related news, Samsung has just pulled the veil off the new NX mini camera that has been designed to make selfie-taking easy. And it’s not just about the individual, but about the group too, as Samsung hopes to make the new term “wefies” (taking group shots) go viral.