Samsung ST5500 WiFi camera hits the FCC
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 14th 2009 12:28PM
posted December 14th 2009 12:28PM
Samsung's fast making a name for itself as a company that throws more than the basics into its point-and-shoots, and it looks to be continuing the trend with its new ST5500 camera, which just recently cleared the FCC. Judging from the specs, this one certainly looks to have things covered on the picture-taking front, with it packing an ample 7x optical zoom, 14.2 megapixels, ISO settings up to ISO 3200, a max 1/2000 shutter speed, and support for 720p video at 30 fps for good measure. Toss in a fairly large 3.5-inch touchscreen and built-in 802.11 b/g WiFi (all in a surprisingly compact package) and you've got a camera that just might turn a few heads. Of course, there's no indication of a price or release date just yet, but you can check out a few more pics and even the camera's user manual at the links below.
Update: A rep from Samsung has given us the following statement regarding the camera:
Update: A rep from Samsung has given us the following statement regarding the camera:
Information and technical specifications made public by the FCC regarding the Samsung ST5500 are not final and are subject to change prior to launch. Final specifications and details will be made available by Samsung at a later date with the official launch of the product.
Where's the GPS?
@doubledeej
Will it have image stabilization? That's an important factor for me to consider for giving one as a gift (though not likely for this holiday season). Looking ahead to a certain birthday...
Soon our cameras will be twittering
@yulebellow wow, you know what, i totally see that. take a picture, geotagged, posted to twitter. doesn't that make sense?
@yulebellow
wasn't there a monkey with a modded camera that would automatically upload pictures as soon as the shutter was pressed ?
Since when the electric stoves gets measured in megapixels and come with wifi? :) Hey, don't blame me, see the picture :)
Its high time they throw in WiFi in cameras
@Arun Balan hmmm then again.. imagine people accessing your camera without ur knowledge (i.e. if it werent secure)
But you can't control the camera settings from your computer. It would be nice to control some of the exposure settings with the camera on a tripod.
@LloydChiro
It would also be cool to be able to use it as a wireless webcam.
@LloydChiro
I second this idea..with increasingly more capable hardware being put in these, only the coding remains.
@alden8gmailcom They can play doom as well: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/doom-on-your-digital-camera
the headline made me think this was a monitoring device, not a point and shoot.
interesting how we may start blurring the two.
wifi? We approve.
Lack of functionality to come with it? We wait for hackers.
Is it me or does every damn device needs to be hacked nowadays to get above 60% of its capabilities?
Sony already has a PandS cam with wifi, even has a basic web browser. How is this new, besides the better specs?
How about tossing in a real sensor? Call me crazy, but I care less about WiFi and more about picture quality.
Sigma is really the only player in that market and unfortunately, they haven't quite gotten it right yet.
Cool! I have an EyeFi Geo SD card which automatically uploads pictures via WiFi and even adds geotagging via WiFi triangulation and I love it! Plugging your camera into your computer is a thing of the past!
like the wireless webcam idea. shit, just throw in webcam capabilities and many will be happy :)
and whats up with the STUPID megapixels??? c'mon samsung, add a better lens and keep it at 8MP which is more than enough for taking pics at a party or family shots.
hopefully this can beat out the panasonic tz7 as that is ONE AWESOME digicam.
No surprise to me I got a Nikon P3 in 2006 that has WIFI let just hope that is supports N speeds because I am sure 14.2 megapixels arn't going to be small.
14 megapixels?
Is that really necessary?
Christ in a camera, resolution is not important, IMAGE QUALITY is!
There is one advantage, when a sensor has another megapixel more than 2 months ago you know you got the latest version, but the advantages of the technology being fresh are negated by too many pixels, a conundrum of sorts.
didn't canon try that already with one of their cameras powershot series in 2005... since then it's been discontinued so this one probably won't be that good either
Samsung always manages to add great features and then leave out all the useful stuff
It must have gps, wifi, and bluetooth, if not, its useless
@Hydra
It does have wi-fi, bluetooth, and GPS
http://www.joenelumal.com/more/samsung-st5500-samsungs-bluetooth-wi-fi-and-gps-enabled-camera/index.html
I just hope it also includes "able to take good photos" and "great battery life" as features
I already own a 14.7 point-and-shoot from Panasonic- but I like Samsung's vision to create something different. And sure image quality might go hand in hand with MPs, but it doesn't hurt either- and you can't get top quality from a small point-and-shoot lens anyway- that's for bigger 35mm lenses.
Hope that other camera makers take notice... fishing about for offload cables is *so* 1999. For a tech-driven business, camera makers can sure be stodgy...