Samsung i85: not just another camera

Samsung has gone convergence mad with a new digital camera that plays music and video clips, and even comes with a built-in tour guide.

The 8.1-megapixel shooter has all the usual camera functions like a 5x optical zoom, ASR image stabilisation, ISO1600 sensitivity and a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000sec. But it's the secondary features that really take the cake.

The first of these is the built-in digital audio player which plays back WMA and MP3 files. The Samsung i85 even has built-in speakers and a 2.5mm headphone jack so you can groove while you shoot.

Better yet, you can also shoot and playback video. Capturing video is carried out using the MPEG-4 format. Playback is the same, so if you want to watch an MPEG, AVI, MOV, WMV or ASF on the camera, you'll have to convert it using the supplied software first. The i85 comes with a 3-inch LCD for viewing your clips.

Built-in tour guide

But best of all, the Samsung i85 also includes a tour guide with built-in travel information for over 2,600 regions in 30 countries - so you'll always know where the fun stuff is taking place.

Of course having all these music, movie and photo files will take up quite a chunk of memory. Luckily the i85 comes with 450MB built-in, and you have the option to add more via external SDHC cards. All this and the camera's only 20mm thick. Isn't technology marvellous?

The Samsung i85 goes on sale at the end of August, price £299. It's joined by three other touchscreen cameras , which were also launched today.