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"Is your smartphone 'EPIC'?"

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DQINDIA Online
New Update
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By: Vivek Tyagi, Director-Business Development, Channel and OEM Sales, SanDisk India

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Mobile phones have been an integral part of people’s everyday lives for quite some time now.  Phones are no longer just a communication device; they are being used for multiple purposes. India,  one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the world, is set to overtake the US by 2017, according to recent IDC data.

One of the many purposes mobile phones serve now is for photography. The 2015 Internet Trends Report indicates that many millennials use their smartphone cameras at least once a day. With the line between compact cameras and mobile phone cameras blurring, phone cameras have become the camera of choice for many users. Millennials use photography to capture moments and to gain social status, and in this day and age, they expect nothing less than cameras that take flawlessly clear, high quality pictures.

The ‘Selfie’ phenomenon has, no doubt, taken the world by storm. This has triggered smartphone manufacturers to perfect the quality of the front facing camera. Recently, OPPO India launched N3, a camera-centric smartphone aiming to encourage mobile photography. The camera on the N3 is a motorized 16MP 206-degree swivelling camera that rotates back to front, working in tandem with an on-board photo processing suite.

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Mobile phone manufacturers are heavily emphasizing camera quality on their devices. This is because digital imaging and mobile photography, which till recently was mostly a priority for US customers has become a top criterion for Indian customers as well.  The resolutions, HDR, panorama, dual LED flash, rotating camera lenses and full HD video recording amongst others are all features that can be utilized in smartphone cameras. These features are further fuelling the mobile photography craze here in India. Given this growth in mobile photography, it is time that manufacturers begin thinking about their devices as cameras that make phone calls, rather than phones that take pictures. SanDisk has recognized the need for an industry standard to be in place to measure the imaging quality offered by smartphones. This is where the EPIC initiative comes in.

EPIC, or ‘Extreme Photo Imaging Capability,’ is a SanDisk initiative to denote smartphones that take a holistic view to mobile imaging.

So what makes a smartphone EPIC? Here are some criteria to help decipher this:

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 EPIC recommends 13 megapixels and resolution for 4K video recording as the standard

 An EPIC device should feature a minimum of 32GB memory storage and an operating system that can accommodate imaging of large resolution images. The memory should suffice for imaging with fast sequential write speed and high capacity that will meet or even exceed the demand of RAW, burst, RAW burst and other processing intensive usage for capturing photos as well as processing photos on the go

 Finally, to make the most of RAW capability, which is the cornerstone of SanDisk’s EPIC

Initiative, consumers need to be able to both view and edit their RAW images directly on the phone, without having to download them onto a computer first-

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Through 2015 and in to 2016, SanDisk will be partnering with handset manufacturers, OEMs and application developers to standardize the EPIC program. They will also work with testing labs to measure image quality and standardize the mobile device imaging performance testing. Mobile photography has gained additional popularity due to easy photo sharing mobile apps which facilitate editing of photos. Instagram provides easy integration options across multiple social media platforms making it fun and convenient for users.

These mobile editing apps are designed keeping simplicity in mind, making it even more attractive for people to click, edit and share.

There are a number of benefits of smartphone cameras, such as ease of use, instant sharing options, image editing capabilities, and easy storage. Without a doubt, there will be more innovative features expected for smartphones in the near future assuring that mobile photography is a growing trend with opportunity for growth.

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