Panasonic, which exited the smartphone game some two years ago, has now returned…technically. The company has just announced the new CM1 smartphone at Photokina 2014, but Panasonic prefers that it be known as a camera first, smartphone second; it is even branded as a Lumix. And judging by the camera specs, it isn’t hard to figure out why.
The CM1 looks like a very compact camera, measuring only 21mm thick and weighing 204g – it’s light for a compact camera, but exceptionally heavy for a 4.7-inch smartphone. But it is one really handsome device, featuring metallic accents and that iconic Leica brand etched at the top of the lens. The CM1 packs a 20MP 1-inch sensor with f/2.8 Leica lens, mechanical shutter as well as a manual control ring. It is also capable of 4K video recording.
While the last cameraphone packing a sensor this big, the Lumia 1020, was iconic for its large black round camera module, the CM1 looks a lot more refined and truly lustworthy as a compact camera. As a smartphone, it is no slouch as well. Besides the 4.7-inch 720p display, the CM1 runs on a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM, and features 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot that supports 128GB cards, and a rather small 2600mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.4, too.
Panasonic is releasing the CM1 in France and Germany as its two test markets first, at a retail price of around 900 Euros – that’s about RM3755. It is likely that the CM1 would also be distributed in very low quantities before a final verdict is determined based on sales records in the two test markets.
(Source: The Verge)
