Real Photography on a Cell Phone: Samsung Memoir

For years we’ve found ourselves stuck on the convenience side of the quality/convenience compromise of cell phone cameras. Unlike your real camera that you take out for all those contrived photo ops, the cell phone camera is always there for the unexpected shot that you just have to take. Unfortunately, while those pictures are theoretically the best shots in your collection, you can barely make them out afterwards. Swept in by the winds of change, the Samsung Memoir destroys the compromise with an 8 MP camera with 16 x digital zoom, 5 shooting modes and Xenon flash. On one side of the phone, a brilliant touch screen beckons the fingertips, and on the other, a camera that actually looks like a camera is prepared to take REAL pictures. You don’t lose any of the other perks, either–bluetooth, built-in GPS and audio/video player are all there. The Memoir will be released on T-Mobile’s 3G network is expected to run $299 w/2 year contract. [DVICE]