Kodak debuts its first Android camphone

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Kodak, a name once synonymous to photography before it got waylaid by the smartphone, has debuted its first Android smartphone – and a photo-centric one at that.

The company unveiled its Android-powered IM5 mid-range phone, with tools for faster picture-taking and image editing, PC World reported Wednesday.

"This is the next step in Kodak’s reinvention from its days as a camera king. The build quality of the IM5 seems solid enough, but it’s disappointing to see a phone launch without the latest version of Android and with another custom interface," PC World said.

Still, it said the IM5 "looks pretty sleek, with a solid black color scheme and a metal trim."

It said the smartphone has a five-inch 720p screen, octa-core 1.7 GHz processor and 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage.

But the phone's main attraction is the hardware-software combination for its image processing.

While the 13-megapixel rear camera and five-megapixel front camera are not too impressive, Kodak had thrown in Android tweaks such as an image management software and a curated separate app store.

PC World also quoted Kodak as saying the phone runs Android 4.4.4, but will eventually be upgraded to Lollipop. — Joel Locsin/LBG/TJD, GMA News