A few hours ago I participated in a Kodak impromptu photo contest and won first place - the prize being a spanking new V610.

The V610 is Kodak’s claim to fame for two things - it is the world’s smallest 10x optical zoom camera and it is also one of the world’s first consumer cameras with Bluetooth connectivity built in.

I won’t do a very technical overview of V610, because you can read one here.

Let’s talk about the Bluetooth experience. Bluetooth sending options include:

QVGA XGA (recommended for phones)
4×6 Print Quality
6.0MP Full Resolution

After choosing the type of resolution, you will have the option of pairing the camera with the Bluetooth device whether it be a phone, wireless printer, laptop or PDA. Sending files is a breeze with the first two options while it would take roughly one minute to send a 6.0MP picture. Below is a shot I took for the “make a mobile phone wallpaper” category. It took me 2 seconds to send the file via Bluetooth to my iBook. The picture you see below has not been resized and, thank the gods, portait images do not have to be rotated when ‘toothed.

The 10x zoom can be shown via these shots:

This is a close up …

Of this … in sepia mode. There are four color modes available - natural colors, dim colors, sepia and black and white.

The Kodak Perfect TouchTM color correction gives a huge advantages to photographers who really suck. Like here:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Do I have complaints? Well, for one the camera flash sticks out to the left which is the position where you’d keep your fingers to steady the camera. It will be common to experience your hands covering the flash.

These guys have pioneered technology like anything - having invented OLED, released the first WiFi camera, the first dual lens camera, and now getting FCC approval for the first Bluetooth camera.

Though there seems to be indication that the module can be “professionally installed” there still is no news as to whether it really is an add-on to point and shoot cameras. Will this new technology compete with the convenience of cameraphones? The tradeoff is that you get higher MP quality with a dedicated Bluetooth camera as opposed to carrying just one device for your phone and cam.
[via Mobilewhack and Gizmodo]