Camera is one of the important aspects of a mobile phone, and many in fact choose a handset on the basis of its lenses. Considering this, we had tried to zero in on the top 5 camera phones in a report in the month of June.

But, since then a lot of things have changed in this arena. From the June list, many camera phones such as Xperia X10, HTC Desire HD and Nokia C6- 01 have been replaced with newer devices.

Nokia N8 &#151 12 Megapixel (Price Rs 22,000)

Nokia N8 is by far the best camera phone ever made by any mobile manufacturer. It boasts of Carl Zeiss optics, a 12 megapixel 1/1.183 inch optical format CCD image sensor, Xenon flash with automatic red-eye removal and auto focus.

With the Symbian Anna upgrade, the Nokia N8 has gotten newer video recording capabilities and can record HD 720P videos with continuous auto focus. Besides, N8 users can record videos in 30 frames /second as opposed to 24 frames/second earlier.

Not just the camera, the N8 is an equally excellent device with good hardware and a very responsive and vibrant 3.5 inch touchscreen which makes usage of this device a breeze.

Samsung Galaxy SII &#151 8 Megapixel (Price Rs 29,000)

Samsung’s flagship mobile phone device is by far the fastest Android smartphone available to the Indian customers. The Galaxy SII is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and comes with a 4.3 inch Super Amoled plus screen and 16 GB inbuilt memory.

The device has an 8 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash. The device manufacturer has managed to keep the size of the device slim even while incorporating a higher Resolution camera. In terms of video recording, the SII offers 1080p HD video recording at 30 FPS. In fact, it is the highest ever frame rate attained by a smartphone in terms of video recording.

Although Samsung Galaxy S2 is available in two different memory capacity variants around the world, Samsung has announced only the 16GB version for its users in India.

HTC Sensation &#151 8 Megapixel (Price Rs 30,000)

The Sensation is HTC’s first ever phone to feature a 1.2 GHz processor supplied by Qualcomm and a whole new interface with the latest HTC sense 3.0 UI. Coupled with the latest Android operating system, this device works flawlessly and offers users unparalleled performance.

The Sensation features an 8 megapixel camera which is capable of recording high definition videos in 720p HD resolution. The quality of the camera is good with both stills and videos.

The camera also features auto focus but if still the user wants to do some manual tweaking with the pictures, the HTC Sensation allows touch focus making the camera focus on the point where the user wishes to.

The device features a 4.3 inch qHD resolution based touchscreen that makes watching pictures and videos fun.

Apple iPhone 4: (5 megapixel, Price Rs 34,000)

The iPhone 4 comes with a sleek, sharp and thinner design than its predecessor. The fourth-generation model of Apple iPhone comes with a 3.5 inch screen with 640 X 960 pixel resolution known as the Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, and FaceTime for video calling.

The phone has a 5 megapixel camera as compared to the 3 megapixel in the earlier version. The camera has an LED flash also for illumination. The 5 megapixel snapper uses one of the best image Sensors to reproduce life like colours with detail and variance.

The iPhone’s camera is considered to be one of the best because of its easy to use interface and speedy performance as well. Users can also record 720p HD video and get functionalities like touch focus and Geo tagging. Now apple users can also make use of the Apple iCloud service to store their pictures; Apple is offering 5 GB of space free to every apple device user.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc (8 megapixel, Price Rs 29,000)

Sony Ericsson has always been known for its world class camera phones that offer best in class photography options and results. But Sony Ericsson has a new pinnacle now in the form of the thin and sleek Xperia Arc.

The Arc features an 8.1 megapixel camera with HD video capability featuring Sony’s exclusive Exmor R (CMOS) based image sensor that enhances still images and videos even in low light conditions

The Xperia Arc is powered with a 1 Ghz processor from Snapdragon including a dedicated Adreno 205 graphics engine for faster operations and a 4.2 inch touchscreen display.

The phone features 512 MB of RAM and 364 MB of ROM for speedy operations. It also comes bundled with an 8 GB micro SD card and can manage up to 32 GB of external storage.

The phone also features touch focus, which allows the user to manually select which area to focus on while capturing an image. The user can also leave the phone on full auto mode or can select smile detection for that perfect shot.

Vodafone is all set to launch an Android phone under its own brand name. The phone, which is likely to be priced between Rs 6,000-7,000, will be based on Android 2.2 operating system with a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen display.

The phone is to be manufactured by Huawei and has been named as “Smart”. It will have a 2 Megapixel camera, 528 MHz ARM Processor and an Adreno 200 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

The 3G enabled device will also have WiFi and Bluetooth for connectivity. Besides, it will come with 130 MB of internal storage that can be expanded to 32 GB through a micro SD card. It claims to offer talk time of up to 250 hours on 2G and 380 hours on a 3G network though its 1200 mAh battery.

In addition to numerous Android apps, the handset comes pre-loaded with Vodafone Music, Vodafone Find & Go, and a GPS navigator app. Colour options are limited to two – Black and White, and will come with some short of bundled offer, which is likely to be 1 GB free data for 6 months.

The telecom operator will also be launching an Android 2.1 QWERTY device &#151 Webbox. In June this year this device was launched in Haryana for a pilot project. The device offers Internet connection through its EDGE support (no 3G) and uses the television as its display.

It also gives access to Android apps which comes bundled within the device. You also have things like Contact, email access etc. It is one device that has the potential to be the first PC of the family, only trouble is that it works on slow 2G network.

It is priced at Rs 5,799 with bundled 12 GB data usage for 12 months (2GB each month). However, Vodafone is offering this device for free under its 24-month bundled contract.

The Webbox is lightweight but portability is limited as it has to be connected through wire. A good thing is that it can be connected to all the TVs through now universal VGA connectors.

Philips quit the mobile phone space more than a decade ago but the brand is now making a comeback on 7 September with the launch of six touchscreen feature phones with extremely long battery life.

A spokesperson of the company confirmed this to The Mobile Indian. She further informed us that the company is going to launch a smartphone as well in August.

Among the features phones are two dual SIM full touchscreen devices, and three bar phones with long battery life. None of the phones comes with 3G, however two of the touchscreen devices support Edge.

X806 Black will be one of the dual SIM phones which will have a 3 inch touchscreen display and a 5 Megapixel auto focus camera with Flash. It also offers up to one month of standby support and 70 hours of music play back time through its 1530 mAh battery.

The other phone is the X518 Black. It too is a dual SIM device with a small 2.8 inch touchscreen display, with a 2 megapixel camera. Both the phones support external SD cards for memory.

The phone offers 12 hours of talktime and a month’s standby time. The exceptionally long battery life is thanks to a technology called Xenium, which allows the phone to use near zero battery while on standby mode, extending battery life considerably as much of the time even the most prolific users’ phones lie unused.

The company will also launch smartphones that use the same technology in October, but for the time being we will have to wait and see how the phones deliver on the promises.

HTC recently announced an investment in the earphones and professional audio company Beats. The two companies will together produce a new handset currently codenamed HTC Runnymede 2 that will come with a Beats Solo headset, reported Android Guys.

The new HTC Runnymede 2 will have a 4.7 inch display that will support WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resolution. Under the chassis the handset will house a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8255 processor, which is the same as the one HTC Flyer tablet uses. Runnymede 2 will have 768 MB of RAM and 16 or 32 GB of onboard storage.

At the back this handset will have an 8 Megapixel camera with a f2.2 lens with dual LED Flash, capable of recording high quality images and recording 720p HD video. On the front is a 1.3 megapixel camera meant for video calls.

Loaded with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and HTC Sense 3.5 user interface this device offers connectivity through WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. It also has a digital compass, ambient light sensors, a gyroscopic sensor and a gravity sensor.

Along with this handset HTC will also bundle a Beats Solo headset that will complement the audio technology used in the device. It is quite likely that this might be one of the first devices to be conceived by the HTC-Beats partnership.

While sound quality will play a major role in the handset, it will come with a mere 1600 mAh battery. It would be interesting to see if HTC Sense 3.5 user interface brings some new and much needed battery saving enhancements.

HTC has unveiled two Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update loaded devices &#151 Titan and Radar. HTC Titan comes with super large 4.7 inch display whereas Radar comes with a modest 3.8 inch screen. HTC has not shared the prices but promised to make them available in Europe and Asia by next month &#151 October.

HTC Titan

This is the same handset which was previously codenamed as HTC Eternity.

The new HTC Titan features 4.7 inch big LCD touchscreen display and houses a 1.5 GHz processor. This handset will come with 512 MB RAM and the actual storage available for user will be less (12.63 GB) as the operating system will occupy more of the whole 16 GB.

HTC Titan will support quad-band GSM networks and tri-band HSPA/WCDMA networks offering 3G support. Titan will feature Gyroscopic sensor, Gravity Sensor, Digital Compass, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor and GPS which brings support for Bing Maps and HTC Locations.

At the back lies an 8 Megapixel camera with dual LED flash. This camera has 28mm lens and is capable of recording 720p HD videos. HTC has also added a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera so don’t be confused with the different images floating over the internet. Movies and video watching experience can be enhanced with the 5.1 Surround Sound and SRS Enhancement.

For wireless connectivity, this smartphone offers Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n support. Besides, Titan will also feature Internet Tethering.

HTC packs 1600 mAh battery for the massive screen bearing HTC Titan and promises Talk time of up to 710 minutes on 2G networks and 410 minutes on 3G networks.

HTC Radar

Previously, this handset was codenamed as HTC Omega. Featuring 3.8 inch touchscreen display, the new HTC Radar supports 480×800 pixel resolution which will make the text and images appear crisp. Under the hood lies a 1 Ghz processor coupled with 512 MB RAM to power the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update. On board storage will be 8 GB while the actual available storage will be 6.54 GB.

HTC Radar comes with 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and f/2.2 lens coupled with BSI sensor which is good for low-luminance imaging. The front panel carries VGA camera meant for video chat. Besides that, HTC has added 5.1 surround sound for video playback and also SRS enhancements for improving the video output. This handset includes Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor and Ambient Light sensor as well.

This handset supports 3G networks up to 14.4 Mbps download speed and also brings supporting for WiFI (802.11 b/g/n). The onboard Sensors include Bluetooth 2.1, GPS that brings support for HTC Locations and Bing Maps, and Internet Tethering.

Packing a 1520 mAh battery, Radar promises up to 600 minutes of talk time on 2G, and upto 485 minutes on 3G network.

Both HTC Titan and HTC Radar are expected to be available in October while Microsoft is expected to release the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update anytime this month.