Samsung put Android in a camera — and the camera couldn't use Android's apps

In November 2012 Samsung released the Galaxy Camera, a point-and-shoot that ran Android 4.1 — a camera with a phone's operating system, sold at about $500 as a 'connected camera'.

The idea was that Android would let the camera edit and share wirelessly. But the two halves undercut each other: the camera was expensive and heavy next to a phone, its battery life was poor, and the Android apps that made the platform useful — like Instagram — did not even support its optical zoom.

Reviewers praised the concept but flagged high cost, poor battery and weak third-party integration. The Galaxy Camera quickly became a niche gadget rather than a category.

By 2014 Samsung discontinued the original Galaxy Camera. The experiment proved that bolting a phone OS onto a camera did not make it either a phone or a better camera.