Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom phone doubles as a point-and-shoot camera

Samsung is continuing to build out its Galaxy S4 brand by rolling out the S4 zoom, a device that combines the elements of a smartphone with a point-and-shoot digital camera.

Samsung says the Galaxy S4 zoom is designed for users who care deeply about the quality of the images they shoot with their smartphones.

The new phone functions like any other Android device, but unlike other phones, it has a 16-megapixel, 10x optical zoom camera. Samsung says the Galaxy S4 zoom is the first smartphone to offer 10x optical zoom.

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The South Korean tech giant said the Galaxy S4 zoom also comes with a variety of features to enhance the photo-taking experience. For example, users can take a photo while on a call and automatically send the picture to the person they are talking with. The Galaxy S4 zoom also features a story album where pictures may be arranged in an easily viewable timeline.

The specs of the device, however, are very pedestrian: a 4.3-inch screen with 960 by 540-pixel resolution, running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor.

The Galaxy S4 zoom is the latest device announced by Samsung intended to piggy-back on the success of the company’s flagship smartphone. Recently, Samsung also announced the Galaxy S4 Active, which is built for the outdoors, and the Galaxy S4 mini, which features a smaller screen than the original Galaxy S 4.

Samsung has not announced pricing or release date information for the new phone.

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