Capturing magic moment

Having a camera and camcorder built into your smartphone makes sense on a number of levels.
You never leave home without your phone, so you'll never miss capturing that magic moment; you can instantly and wirelessly send the memories to another phone, computer or upload to a website; and hundreds of photo-centric applications ( "apps") let you edit and display your images in myriad ways. And yes, cameraphone quality is improving considerably with each successive generation. So, the question isn't whether or not to pick up a smartphone with a great camera, but rather, which one? Here are a few suggestions.
Mega megapixels
The sleek-looking Xperia X10 from Sony Ericsson ($149.99 on a three-year Rogers plan) features an incredible 8.1-megapixel camera with autofocus and facial recognition for up to five faces in a scene. More megapixels means you can crop images without losing much detail or even blow them up for large-sized prints, if desired. Available in black or white, this Android-powered device boasts a large four-inch, high-resolution touch screen that doubles as a photo album when you run into friends, while its expandable memory. (including a bundled 16 gigabyte microSD card to get you going) translates to a lifetime of photos and videos in your pocket -- and plenty of room to add more.

Zeiss is nice
Named best cameraphone by the CTIA wireless association, the Nokia N86 8MP ($99.99 on a three-year Rogers plan) rocks a Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens, 8.0-megapixel photo resolution and other extras including autofocus, integrated flash, high-speed shutter and variable aperture settings. The cameraphone can also shoot DVD-quality video, day or night, with a video light and wide exposure range. Sharing is also the name of the game as you can easily import your memories into Ovi maps (so you can geographically tag the location they were captured in) or upload them to Facebook or Twitter on the fly. The N86 8MP ships with eight GB of internal memory, plus you can expand it with additional microSD memory cards (up to 16 GB). Bell Mobility has the Nokia N97 for $99.95 on a three-year plan.
Cheap chic
If you'd like a competent cameraphone, but don't want to break the bank, you might consider snapping pics on the Samsung Galaxy (free with a three-year Bell Mobility plan), a surprisingly versatile Android smartphone equipped with a five-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, editing options and colour-correction features.
The Galaxy shoots high-resolution video, too, which you can upload to YouTube, Facebook and other social media sites. Alternatively, dazzle friends beside you with the smart-phone's scratch-resistant AMOLED touch-screen display, designed especially for viewing in the bright outdoors.
Tasty pick
The LG New Chocolate (model BL40; $49.99 on a three-year Telus plan) is also a sweet pick thanks to its five-megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, the ability to take continuous shots (up to six pictures, so you can select the best one) and a host of photo and video editing and playback options -- with gesture support for fast operation. What truly makes this phone stand out is its ultrawide, four-inch touch screen display with 800 x 345 pixel resolution and unconventional 21:9 aspect ratio.
Integrated e-mail support for personal e-mail accounts such as Windows Live Mail, Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! means you can share your photos or videos with the press of a button.

Fourth time's the charm

Apple's iPhone 4 will be available in Canada by the end of July for about $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 MB (based on announced U.S. pricing), and carried by Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Apple's latest not only has a fivemegapixel camera with LED flash and the ability to shoot and edit 720p HD video, but a front-facing camera, too, so you can video chat with friends and family over a Wi-Fi connection. The redesigned iPhone 4 also boasts a better battery, ultra-high-resolution screen and the ability to multi-task between applications.
Amazing (and amazingly cheap) photo-centric apps make this smartphone a treat for shutterbugs.Hipstamatic ($1.99), for example, offers a huge variety of nostalgic lenses, flashes and film to choose from.
Two Motos are better than one
The Motorola Backflip ($99.99 on a three-year Telus plan) lets you capture photos and videos on its fivemegapixel camera and then upload them to multiple social networks at the same time.
It handles this via the proprietary Motoblur service, which aggregates all your connections, such as Picasa, Facebook, - -Gmail.
This Android phone also enjoys a healthy app store with thousands of downloads such as Adobe's Photoshop.com -app.
Another new Android device with a five-megapixel camera is the Motorola Milestone ($149.99 on a - -term), with comparable features and a glide-out QWERTY keyboard.