Add-ons Make Smartphone A Better Camera

Just wrapped up an updated guide to digital cameras for  Realtor magazine online. Since digital cameras remain such a critical tool for marketing properties, , and the technology improves and advances at such a relentless pace, we take a renewed look at the category every year or so. Once again, the guide highlights a representative sampling of all that’s currently available, at all tiers of the market. 

Across the board, today’s selection offer a dazzling g array of power, performance and features, whatever your budget. Because the focus is on “cameras,” per se, there’s passing reference passing reference to an emerging trend, in the latest smartphones, and their potential value as a photo/video solution for real estate needs. 

While newer smartphones like the iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920 , Blackberry Z10 and Samsung Galaxy S3  all advance the case for the smartphone as camera, smartphone optics still trail the lens performance of even the most basic of today’s digital cameras. That will change , over time. In the interim, there’s a whole class of accessorie— lenses, adapters, cases, tripods, , mounts , etc — to make your smartphone a more functional camera.

To give you some idea of the many options, here’s some sources with a good selection: Photojojo    Precision Camera  and Amazon 

There’s no debate there’s already tools out there to make your smartphone a serviceable camera. The issue is whether the results are good enough to speak for you and your listings. If not now,...well just wait. And while you do, you won’t break your bank by investing in many of the digital featured in this years guide.

A Sampling from CES

CES is showcase for the new, so much it can get overwhelming. Here’s a glimpse of a few introductions, and coming technologies from this  tech-year’s kick-off event which should interest mobile real estate pros. 

Sony's Experia Z

You need some sort of multifunction mobile device for all you do in the field. Some prefer a smartphone, some a tablet, and some carry both. Maybe not for long: enter the phablet.

A new class of devices is emerging which fall,  screen size-wise, between these extremes without surrendering functionality. Variations include the Sony Experia Z with 5-inch screen; Samsung Galaxy Note, 5.3 inch; Lenovo K900, with 5.5 inch screen; Huwai Ascend Mate with  6.1-inch HD screen.

Larger screens don’t necessarily you’ll have a bigger brick in your pocket. Vendors also showed off flexible screen technologies for future devices. Samsung calls its “Youm,”(check out CNET’s Youm gallery from CES for an idea of the possibilities while Corning calls its variation Willow Glass. 

There's an iPhone within the foot.sosho case.

As many real estate agents already know, smartphone cameras are good enough for basic video or photo tours. Reinforcing that trend are a growing assortment of accessories to upgrade optics and make them more of a camera. For example, Olloclip  is a 3-in-1 adapter that snaps on the iPhone to equip it with a macro, fish eye and wide-angle lens. The foto.sosho case, offered in three versions, actually outfits an iPhone to look and function like a compact camera, with flash and lens options

       Serious shooters are migrating to cameras with interchangeable lens systems. The Polaroid name has been licensed for an innovative new approach, the iM1836 smart camera. It runs Android, is Wi Fi compatible and the image sensor is built into its interchangeable lens.. Incidentally, WiFi seems destined to become the next standard convenience in a true digital camera, as evident in Sony’s WX180, its smallest camera to boast this feature yet, and at $199, its cheapest.

      Mobile productivity can be totally dependent on battery life. ChargeDr  from Digital Innovations makes it possible to charge a tablet or smartphone in the field rom a laptop USB port. Fulton 

Tactus brings raised keys
to touch screens

Innovation, demonstrated its eCoupled technology  for sharing power between devices, wirelessly. Based on the Qi standard for wireless power transfer,  it will one day allow users to transfer stored power from one device to the other by placing two Qi-enabled devices back-to-back.

       While we’re talking upcoming cool, Tactus Technology( has a way to equip future touchscreen devices with tactile keyboards with raised keys.. Pull up the "keyboard" on your device, liquid inside it pools to produce raised keys. When through typing, the keyboard slips back into the screen.

What next?

In Gear for the New Year?

      Last month, the National Association of Realtors released its 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Two things jumped out at me when I read the summary report: today’s typical buyer is a 42 year old; and 96 percent of buyers under 44—almost all—used the Internet during the home buying process.

      Consider these buyers the vanguard, and we’ve entered the era when the average home buyer came of age in a consumer culture defined by its evolving digital technologies. They are well versed in all the tools and technologies which redefined our mobile society and real estate searches and services over the past two decades. And, they will quickly lose patience and move on from anyone they turn to for advice or assistance who lacks that core competency.

As the real estate market emerges from the doldrums of recent years, the “typical” buyer will expect a variety of tech enabled services in every phase of the home buying or selling process. Pressed for time, they’ll use online photo and video tours to winnow their options. In a similar way, social networking—either your online presence, neighborhood blog or recommendations from their own circle of friends— will identify the real estate candidates to help them through the emotional buying or selling process. 

As they preview properties, online presence can be the make or break factor determining who gets that first call. Sure they want a look at likely homes,and to calculate costs of ownership. They’ll also want to tour the neighborhood, with a map showing location and nearby amenities, recreational facilities, commute times and critical reports on the local school system before they initiate contact.

Once engaged, they’ll expect all communications channels to be open, with texting the first preference. They’ll use email less so, and voice calling when a more detailed response is required. For those out of state, video conferencing and virtual meetings will serve to familiarize them with you, and facilitate the process. In fact, live open houses, and virtual closings will eventually seem routine. 

When visiting homes or an area, they’ll expect you can provide information on the spot, via smartphone or tablet, on any home or property you pass. If you can’t summon the answers, they use theirs....leaving them wondering why they’re riding around with you.

Ebook readers, these consumers already understand digital forms and documents, and the convenience of electronic signatures. Once they’re under contract, texted updates should suffice, but they’ll also want the option of monitoring progress toward closing on their own, through a secure transaction management system.

Success in real estate is still built on personal relationships, but the tools and client expectations have changed. Today’s typical buyers came of age in a digital world, it’s shaped their world view, how they interact and communicate. Everything you’ve read is already available. With technology, availability becomes necessity, for those in the know.

Good Luck in the New Year!