ST1000(CL65) leads in the-state-of the art camera

It is not easy to find a product with all three built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Recently, there is a Netbook or MID having all these functions but Samsung ST1000(CL65) must be the first in the world for a camera to have all those GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There may be people who ask what so many wireless features are for in a camera but you can try different convenient features from the ST1000(CL65)’s wireless function, which the existing digital camera could not provide. Any electronics will be the same: before use, you may say, ‘why are there too many functions’ ‘should I need all these things!’ and feel uncomfortable with a new function. However once you experience it by yourself and get used to it, there may be a lot of people who will say ‘It’s too inconvenient without it’. Although people are afraid of adapting themselves to new functions that much, it will be become pretty convenient for you once you try to use it. If you are able to enjoy yourself over a new product without being afraid of new challenges, you may approach anything more easily. It will be the same for the new functions the ST1000(CL65) provides. Today, I’ll explain the simple features of the ST1000(CL65) and what it is with as a preview.

When you see the ST1000(CL65) the first time, you may think it is simple and neat. That is because the front of the camera is made of a metal type with hairline and the back is of a large LCD covering the whole back area. The size is compact and high quality material really stands out. You can see ‘5X’, ’12.2MEGA PIXELS’, Schneider and GPS on the front. As it is described, the ST1000(CL65) supports 12.2 M pixels, 5x digital zoom, optical lens and Schneider lens and even an onboard GPS. From the front, there is a lens first of all and next to it there is a AF-assit light/timer lamp. Then, you can see a flash and built-in GPS antenna above the flash. There is a small microphone below the flash to allow you to record your voice while taking a movie. You can, of course, set the record on or off separately. There are power and shutter buttons in a line alongside of the GPS. The power button is a small one and shooting button is rather long and also you can recognize them by a sense of touch. You will not turn it off by mistake. Nevertheless it would be better for the power button to be placed somewhere else, I guess.

A large 3.5 inch touchscreen is largely placed on the back. There is a push/pull zoom button next to the shutter button and below it you can see a playback button to play photos or movie. You can press the playback button anytime whenever you want to see a photo or movie. The 3.5 inch touchscreen allows you to operate different features by touch. The existing product has operating buttons separately but for the ST1000(CL65), the whole back area is of LCD to have a sleek design and those buttons removed can now be controlled by the touchscreen. I was told that the rear LCD of 1.15M pixels is a 3.5 wide touchscreen adopted for the first time in the world. In addition, G-sensor is built in so that you can operate the camera by motion. Through a ‘Smart Gesture’ feature, it provides a different interface. Personally I would give more points to it because of fun rather than convenience but this may be felt differently to user.

In the battery slot at the bottom of the camera you can put not only a battery but also Micro SD memory. An output terminal for USB, A/V and HDMI next to it allows you to charge the camera, connect with USB, HDMI and etc. There is a tripod mount right next to the terminal.  

At the right side of the camera, there is a hook for you to put a hand strap in so that you carry your camera safely. You can also hang an extra Micro SD memory on it too.

Included items are simple: camera, AC adapter/USB cable, battery, strap, A/V cable, user manual CD-ROM and quick start manual. The rechargeable adapter having a power and USB cable in one allows you to use it as USB cable at ordinary times and also for charge by connecting the adapter. However I don’t think there will be many occasions you connect the ST1000(CL65) to a computer because most of time people save data on a removable disk unless you use an internal disk. Also, you can send photos directly to your friends via Bluetooth, which will be easy and fun unless you want to print them out. You can print out photos via a photo printer supporting Bluetooth.

When you open the battery cover, you can put a battery and Micro SD side by side. While SD memory is a lot used for the digital camera, I think it is a good idea to use Micro SD, which can be utilized from the cell phone. You may not be worried about memories if you utilize memories for various multi-media terminals like digital camera, MP3, cell phone that provide a removable disk.

Some people may wonder about onboard Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth of the ST1000(CL65). I was one of them asking myself ‘why wireless LAN? The advantage of the ST1000(CL65) wireless LAN is that direct connection from camera to website is possible rather than camera-computer-website. You can upload photos taken by the ST1000(CL65) directly to a website. Not all website support this function though except YouTube, Picasa, etc. Of course, you should have your own account and log in.    

Now how GPS works? As the existing digital camera used to have, shooting information is saved for you to check geographical location via website. How about this? When you look back on the past looking at photos saved in a memory after 5 or 10 years, you may want to know where such photos were taken. The ST1000(CL65)’s GPS will really stand out to this question. When you read the location information of a photo by interfacing photos with Google Map, the exact location will be shown on the map. Also, when you see a photo of famous restaurant or tourist attractions and if the photo was taken by the ST1000(CL65), you don’t have to search for location information but you can right away know it from the photo, which will be very convenient.

As for Bluetooth, there are many uses recently. The mostly used case will be transmitting data with the cell phone, I guess. Some time ago, I sent a photo taken by the ST1000(CL65) to a friend who liked it via cell phone. Connecting was easy and speed was fast so I thought I would often use this feature. However good a function may be, people are not likely to use it if it is difficult to use and inefficient.  

In addition to this function, Gesture UI via touchscreen is impressive. You may have imagined a lot like this: when you mark ‘X’ on touchscreen, the file is deleted and that you draw a circle to your right, the screen rotates. It is possible with the ST1000(CL65). Furthermore, as you can operate different features not by touch but only by tilting the camera from side to side and upward and downward while pressing Gesture UI icon utilized by G-sensor, it is a fascinating new technology for people who want easy and fun features.

There are many different digital products of various functions and technologies. Among them, the ST1000(CL65) is a leading product in the state-of-the art digital performance because it has not one not two even four wireless technologies. Thank you for your time in reading my simple preview for the ST1000(CL65) reaching for new line out of DSLR. Let me get back to you with more detailed experience review next time as there are so many things I want to share with you considering so many different features of the ST1000(CL65).