Powering The Selfie Revolution

In the good old times it took more than just saying cheese to get a good photograph. Just for taking a photograph you needed another person and much more. Selfie was something non-existent. The Prime Minister now himself is a role model for the selfie generation. Until recently there were specific brands focused on photography but now there are phones that are specifically meant for selfies.

Oppo F1 - The latest in Selfie Brigade
The latest phone to add to the selfie brigade is Oppo F1. Targeted at the photography enthusiasts, Oppo F1 features a 8 MP front-facing camera with a wide f/2.0 aperture lens and a 1/4-inch sensor. There is also a sophisticated Pure Image 2.0+ photography platform offering a beautify feature. For low lighting conditions there is Screen Flashto make snapping selfies in low-light conditions. The phone also supports gesture and spoken commands ensuring selfies in all conditions.

The rear camera has a 13 MP rear camera with an ISOCELL sensor, detection autofocus (PDAF)with a focus time of just 0.1s. There is also an anti-shake optimization feature which enables the camera to automatically select the clearest image from a huge buffer of image data the moment the shutter button is pressed.

The F1 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 series Octa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 16GB ROM. The phone has a 5 inch display along with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 Protection. The battery is 2500 mAh. The Oppo F1 is priced at Rs.15990

Selfie Phones Galore

LG G4
While Oppo F1 was a recent launch, the selfie phone top of the line product include LG G4, considered one of the best selfie phones. Launched in July 2015 and priced around Rs.40,000 upwards, LG G4 comes with a 8MP front shooter and has top of the line features like Gesture Shot and Gesture View features

HTC Desire Eye
HTC Desire Eye which comes with a 13mp front camera. Priced at around Rs.23,000 plus HTC Desire is one of the best in terms of megapixels.

Samsung E7
Samsung E7 is another empowering the selfie lovers. Priced at around Rs.20000, the front camera is 5 megapixels. It has received a favorable customer response but it a year old launch.

Asus Zenphone Selfie
Asus Zenphone Selfie was launched around June 2015 and has front camera with 13 megapixels, a f/2/2 - aperture along with a 88-degree wide-angle lens. What that means is that it can produce flawless selfies. Priced around Rs19,000 it has received a favorable response.

Making Innovation Social
Technology has the capability to change lives. At this hour maybe a century ago people would be preparing to go to bed. Thanks to electricity and the gizmos our generation is blessed with, I am writing this story. As phones compete with each other to outperform, each new model is coming loaded with mind boggling features. I wonder if manufacturers would also look at the social side and use technology to empower consumers. Recently three girls died taking selfies. Telegraph last published a story that more people died taking selfies than by shark attacks. Russia even published a selfie guide.

The smart phones are evolving great with all the spoken and gesture support. Can we in the next edition of phones see safety features that can save lives. For example based on the content of the image, the location, height and GPS, sudden change in height or dimensions (eg. a person is taking a selfie on the 15th floor terrace), maybe a warning is flashed by phone or an emergency message sent. That could save precious lives.

The Last Word
The way technology is evolving that could easily be a feature soon. For selfie lovers it's getting better as mobile phone manufacturers are coming with selfie specific phones, each one better loaded than another . I guess it's always good to be in a world spreading your smile.