Developer(s) | Microsoft |
---|---|
Initial release | 5 November 2014 |
Stable release | 2024.2408.1.0 / 25 September 2024 [1] |
Operating system | Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11, Pocket PC, [2] Windows Phone, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox system software [3] |
Platform | ARM, x64, x86 [3] |
Website | www |
Windows Camera is an image and video capture utility included with the most recent versions of Windows and its mobile counterpart. It has been around on Windows-based mobile devices since camera hardware was included on those devices and was introduced on Windows PCs with Windows 8, providing users for the first time a first-party built-in camera that could interact with webcam hardware. [4] It is similar in structure and features to the iOS and Android Camera apps.
Camera can capture standard photos, videos, and "living images", which are similar to animated GIF images. It supports 16:9, 4:3, and 3:2 aspect ratios and offers square, rule of thirds, golden ratio, and crosshairs alignment frames, which are disabled by default. Video capture selections can be taken with detail levels of 640 × 360 pixels/30 frames per second, 1280 × 720 pixels/30 frames per second, or 1920 × 1080 pixels/30 frames per second. Flicker reduction and video stabilization can also be enabled. [5]
Photos and videos are saved by default to the Saved Images folder of the Pictures library in File Explorer, but users can change the storage location.
Camera's captures include location information if the user provides the app permission to use it. Additional settings included in the app include time delay, zooming, focus control, sensitivity control, white balance control, shutter speed control, brightness control, and a toggle for switching between different cameras. For instance, most Windows phones and tablets have both front- and rear-facing cameras, so Camera's switch button toggles between the two options..
Camera was introduced to Windows Mobile in 2000 and Windows PCs in late 2012. Prior to its introduction, there was no built-in tool for using built-in PC cameras or connected external webcams, [6] although some manufacturers included third-party camera software on devices they sold. On Lumia Windows 10 Mobile devices, it is the only camera as Microsoft discontinued support for the custom Lumia Camera apps. [7]
Camera does not have some of the features of the iOS app, such as slow-motion videos, a 1:1 photo ratio, and filters. However, all of these effects can still be added to already-created photos and videos by editing them in Photos. Camera does have a panorama capture feature similar to iOS', but only on phones.
Microsoft launched a free camera app named Pix exclusively for iOS devices, despite already having its own mobile platform and Camera app. Pix has a different set of features than either Windows Camera or iOS Camera. [8]
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in video telephony, live streaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral devices, and are commonly connected to a device using USB or wireless protocol.
A smartphone, often simply called a phone, is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps.
Nokia phones beta labs is a service in which beta software for Nokia smartphones are available for public download. The service was originally launched as Nokia Beta Labs in 2007 by Nokia for S60-based Symbian devices, and later for the company's Windows Phone-based Lumia line. After the sale of the Nokia mobile devices division to Microsoft, the website was renamed Lumia Beta Apps. It was discontinued in 2015. The service was revived by HMD Global in 2017 for Nokia Android smartphones, allowing members to test Android 8.0 Oreo beta.
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design language. Unlike Windows Mobile, it was primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market.
The Nokia Lumia 800, which was codenamed 'Sea Ray', is a smartphone that was launched by Nokia on October 26, 2011, at the Nokia World 2011 event. Initially, it operated on Snapdragon S2 processor and Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" and was the first device manufactured by Nokia to run on the Windows Phone operating system. This marked a significant shift for the company from using Symbian for their smartphones. Upon its original release in November 2011 in Europe, it was Nokia's flagship product and was hence a crucial product for their mobile phone business.
Microsoft Lumia is a discontinued line of mobile devices that was originally designed and marketed by Nokia and later by Microsoft Mobile. Introduced in November 2011, the line was the result of a long-term partnership between Nokia and Microsoft—as such, Lumia smartphones run on Microsoft software, the Windows Phone operating system; and later the newer Windows 10 Mobile. The Lumia name is derived from the partitive plural form of the Finnish word lumi, meaning "snow".
Microsoft mobile services are a set of proprietary mobile services created specifically for mobile devices; they are typically offered through mobile applications and mobile browser for Windows Phone platforms, BREW, and Java. Microsoft's mobile services are typically connected with a Microsoft account and often come preinstalled on Microsoft's own mobile operating systems while they are offered via various means for other platforms. Microsoft started to develop for mobile computing platforms with the launch of Windows CE in 1996 and later added Microsoft's Pocket Office suite to their Handheld PC line of PDAs in April 2000. From December 2014 to June 2015, Microsoft made a number of corporate acquisitions, buying several of the top applications listed in Google Play and the App Store including Acompli, Sunrise Calendar, Datazen, Wunderlist, Echo Notification Lockscreen, and MileIQ.
Nokia Lumia 920 is a smartphone developed by Nokia that runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system. It was announced on September 5, 2012, and was first released on November 2, 2012. It has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Krait CPU and a 4.5" IPS TFT LCD display, as well as a high-sensitivity capacitive touchscreen that can be used with gloves and fingernails; the display is covered by curved Gorilla Glass and has a 9 ms response time. The phone features an 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with OIS; it was the first smartphone camera to implement that technology, as well as to support Qi inductive charging. The phone comes with 32 GB of internal storage, but has no expandable storage.
Lumia imaging apps are imaging applications by Microsoft Mobile and formerly by Nokia for Lumia devices built on the technology of Scalado. The Lumia imaging applications were notably all branded with "Nokia" in front of their names, but after Microsoft acquired Nokia's devices and services business the Nokia branding was superseded with "Lumia", and often updates included nothing but name changes, but for the Lumia Camera this included a new wide range of feature additions. Most of the imaging applications are developed by the Microsoft Lund division. As part of the release of Windows 10 Mobile and the integration of Lumia imaging features into the Windows Camera and Microsoft Photos applications some of these applications stopped working in October 2015.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 is a smartphone developed by Nokia, first unveiled on 11 July 2013 at a Nokia event in New York. It runs Windows Phone 8, but is also Windows Phone 8.1 ready. It contains Nokia's PureView technology, a pixel oversampling technique that reduces an image taken at full resolution into a lower resolution picture, thus achieving higher definition and light sensitivity, and enables lossless digital zoom. It improves on its predecessor, the Nokia 808, by coupling a 41-megapixel 2/3-inch BSI sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a high resolution f/2.2 all-aspherical 1-group Carl Zeiss lens. It was considered to be the most advanced cameraphone when released in September 2013.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 was a flagship Windows Phone phablet smartphone designed and produced by Finnish telecommunications manufacturer Nokia in partnership with American software manufacturer Microsoft. The device was first announced at the Nokia World event on 22 October 2013 in Abu Dhabi, alongside its mid-range phablet stablemate the Nokia Lumia 1320 and Nokia's 10.1 inch Windows RT tablet the Nokia Lumia 2520. Until its discontinuation in the United States on 7 April 2015 the phone served as the flagship device for Nokia's Lumia Series and Microsoft's mobile effort. On 6 October 2015 Microsoft officially announced its flagship phablet successor, the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, with availability sometime in November 2015.
Windows Phone 8.1 is the third generation of Microsoft Mobile's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8. Rolled out at Microsoft's Build Conference in San Francisco, California on April 2, 2014, it was released in final form to Windows Phone developers on April 14, 2014 and reached general availability on August 4, 2014. All Windows Phones running Windows Phone 8 can be upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1, with release dependent on carrier rollout dates.
The Nokia Lumia 830 is a smartphone developed by Nokia and released by Microsoft Mobile that runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. It was announced on September 4, 2014 at Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, just a few months after Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile division and renamed it Microsoft Mobile. It was released in October 2014. It is a successor to the 2012 Nokia Lumia 820 and marketed as an "affordable flagship".
The Nokia Lumia 730 is a smartphone developed by Nokia and released by Microsoft Mobile that initially runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. It was announced on September 4, 2014 at Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, just a few months after Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile division and renamed it Microsoft Mobile. It was released in October 2014. It is a successor to the 2013 Nokia Lumia 720 and marketed as a selfie phone.
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Microsoft Lumia 950 is a smartphone developed by Microsoft Mobile, officially revealed on 6 October 2015 alongside the larger Lumia 950 XL. The phone was first released on AT&T in the United States on 17 November 2015, and subsequently made available on the Microsoft Store as well as in other countries.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is a smartphone developed by Microsoft Mobile, officially revealed on October 6, 2015 and released on November 20, 2015 alongside the smaller Lumia 950. The Lumia 950 XL is the successor to the Nokia Lumia 1520 and is among the first phones to natively run Windows 10 Mobile. The phone is primarily aimed at users desiring a flagship device, in contrast to Microsoft's previous strategy of targeting developing markets with low-end hardware.
Phone Link, previously Your Phone, is a syncing software developed by Microsoft to connect Windows PCs to Android and iOS mobile devices to view notifications, make phone calls, use mobile apps amongst others, via the PC. It is a native component of Windows 10 and Windows 11, where it is a UWP app and consists of a driver that communicates with the Link to Windows app on the mobile device. Phone Link makes use of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth for voice calls, or mobile data.
Camo is a freemium webcam app by British software company Reincubate allowing phones and other mobile devices to be used as webcams and document cameras.