Polaroid is Releasing a Smart Camera Powered by Android

We're on the brink of a really exciting time for cameras. Picture quality has gotten good enough that even mid-level point-and-shoots can take some really impressive pictures so there's only so much improvement that needs to happen there. The next step is adding features on to those cameras to make them more convenient to use.

Polaroid's new SC1630 camera packs the same technology that's in smart phones, tablets and other devices. It's built on the Android operating system which means you can get all the same apps you could get on your phone. Want to upload pictures to Facebook, edit your photos or take a break with Game Dev Story? You can do it.

Of course, the SC1630 has to offer something that smart phones don't if it's going to be viable in the market and Polaroid says picture quality will be the big differentiator. The camera boasts a 16MP CCD sensor and a 3x optical zoom.

Polaroid hasn't set a price for the SC1630 yet, but says that you'll see it in stores this year.