It seems that all the camera manufacturers are considering the implementation of smartphone operating systems in their pocket shooters, and Polaroid is no exception. The latest rumor has a new 18MP camera coming down the pipes that will be powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. And it’s doing the interchangeable lens thing.

This isn’t Polaroid’s first foray into this arena. You might remember the Polaroid SC1630 from earlier this year, but the leaked Polaroid IM1836 is supposed to take it to a new level. Rather than simply competing against point-and-shoots, it’ll tackle the likes of the Sony NEX series, the micro four-thirds format from Panasonic and Olympus, and other compact interchangeable lens systems.

The rumored specs include an 18.1-megapixel sensor, 3.5-inch touchscreen, Android 4.0, pop-up flash, Wi-Fi, HDMI, and a microSD slot. Some people say that it bears a striking resemblance to the Nikon 1 J2, so we might assume that it uses the same CX image sensor (13.2 x 8.8mm). That’s been one of the knocks against the Nikon 1 series in that its image sensor is far smaller than micro four-thirds (17.3 x 13mm) and even smaller than the APS-C sensor used on the Sony NEX series.

Even so, simply going with a mirrorless interchangeable lens format will give the Polaroid Android camera a leg up against other Android cameras like the Samsung Galaxy Camera and the Nikon S800c. Soon, in-camera editing, cellular connectivity, and social sharing will become the norm rather than unique selling points.

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What happens when an Android device and a camera love each other very much? The camera is reborn, in the form of a smart-camera. The Samsung GALAXY Camera takes everything we love about Samsung media players and throws it into a camera body. The Galaxy Cam has 21x optical zoom lens, 23 mm, 16.3MP CMOS sensor, built-in GPS and a gorgeous 4.8-inch HD LCD display.

As far as the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the device, it’s powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, has Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and offers two variants- one with WIFI and 3G, the other with WIFI and 4G.

So you have the full power of Android, including Google Play, in a camera package that can upload your pictures directly to the net? Sounds like a good idea- but there are some negative aspects to putting Android on a camera as well.

Imagine having that “perfect photo opp” ready to go and bam, Android freezes up on you, you miss the shot. I’ve personally had a little of this issue with using the phone dialer on my older smartphone, so it does happen. That being said, the quad-core processor should be up to the job without much issue.

We don’t have official pricing and release information on the Galaxy Camera yet, but considering the push to 4G and 3G on this device, I’d wager it will be offered at a subsidized price through carriers. Does the idea of having a two-year contract on a camera sound crazy to you? I confess, it seems a little odd, but I still have a strong feeling it will happen here.

If Samsung offers subsidizing, that means consumers can get their hands on the super-powered Galaxy cam at a price that’s cheaper than the WIFI-only Nikon smartcamera. What do you think?

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Earlier this month, rumors were flying that Nikon was working on an Android-based digital camera. It turns out the were certainly more than just rumors after all, the CoolPix S800C has now officially been announced by Nikon, and looks to be a pretty capable camera indeed.

The camera essentially works like a full Android media player device, having full support for any app that will run through Android 2.3. The S800C even comes with Google Play, giving you full access to camera apps, imaging apps or even games if you so desire.

The S800C has an impressive 16MP CMOS sensor, 10x zoom lens ranging from 25-250mm, built-in flash, 8 frames per second shooting capability, and many filters and effects built-in. The camera is also very much capable of 1080p video with stereo sound. It’s not the highest end camera or the highest-end Android device, but the merger of Android and camera has some potential. Imagine you’re on a trip and snap hundreds of high-quality tourist pics. Head to a WIFI connection, and bam, you can throw them off your memory and put them onto the cloud via apps like DropBox. Having Instagram right from your camera sounds pretty epic as well.

The bad news, it costs $349.95. Honestly, a high-end smartphone might not have quite as good picture abilities but with 3G and even 4G LTE options, not to mention contract prices, it might be a better route for some of us. I’m curious how well an Android camera will sell at this price point, though I still admit it’s a pretty interesting idea. If you are considering the CoolPix S800C, it is expected to hit sometime in September.

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