Kodak, with its more than a century of rich history in photography and imaging technology, has introduced in their website its first ever Smartphone called KODAK EKTRA, specifically created for budding and professional photographers. The once leading photography American company hopes to revive its top position in collaboration with Bullitt Group with this incredibly fast smartphone, tuned for the best in image quality and media management.
"Kodak has a rich history in imaging technology and the launch of the KODAK Smartphone today demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bringing the latest advances in photography to consumers," said Jeff Clarke, Kodak Chief Executive. He noted that the original KODAK EKTRA Camera was launched in 1941, and in its latest reincarnation, opens up a world of creative opportunities to all who care about photography.
With the tagline, "A Classic is Born. Again," the original Eastman Kodak Co., which was known for its photographic prints processing, photo paper and cameras, named this smartphone after its iconic 1940s rangefinder Ektra camera. In the 1960s all the way to the late 1990s, Kodak had been very popular for its line of Instamatic cameras. As digital cameras became popular, Kodak failed to keep up and stay relevant, forcing the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012, when it sold its imaging operations.
The Kodak Ektra Smartphone is poised to regain Kodak's popularity as it makes you nostalgic with its distinctive design that looks like a classic 35mm compact camera, only it has modern smartphone features. The handset looks like a retro film-style camera, with a patterned black rear cover and a protruding lens, while integrating a modern smartphone into its touch-screen front facade. Truly meant to be reminiscent of traditional analog and digital cameras, Ektra Smartphone has a physical two-step Camera Shutter Button too. The optional leatherette cases with carrying strap finishes the old-fashioned compact camera styling of this phone.
According to CNNMoney Tech Correspondent Samuel Burke in a review video, "The phone even has the look and feel of the old Kodak camera-- with the big lens, the leather that wraps around it, even the curves on its sides, plus an actual camera button to take the picture."
The "photography-first" smartphone boasts of its 21-megapixel fast-focus main rear camera and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera, main rear camera that has an f2.0 lens, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), dual LED flash, 4K video capabilities and Optical Image Stabilization.
It has lots of manual and custom settings for photography enthusiasts. The 4G LTE-enabled phone also comes with a custom camera app, which features a digital "Scene Selection Dial" that lets you switch between manual, portrait, landscape, sports, bokeh, night, macro, HDR and film/video modes.
Its Advanced Manual Mode feature offers users settings for exposure, ISO, focal length, white balance, shutter speed and aperture, plus preset scene mode choices for a wide variety of photo situations. It also has a Smart Auto mode that auto-selects the best settings for photographic conditions on the fly.
It also takes pride in its Helio X20 2.3GHz deca-core (10-core) processor, 3GB of memory, 32GB of onboard storage, a microSD card slot for additional storage and the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. It also has Bluetooth connectivity.
Bringing back the charm of photography prints, one can also choose to order photo prints directly from their phones using the Kodak Prints App. The app also allows users to edit their photos with built-in editing tools from Snapseed, in the same capacity as desktop computers. Users can also post images directly to social media sites using the smartphone.
Indeed, the Kodak Ektra Smartphone is built on Kodak's long photographic legacy perfectly matched with the latest smartphone technology. The new phone, which will be available in Europe in December this year, may be launched to the United States in 2017. For more info, visit www.kodak.com.
