Many of Nokia's most recent handsets come equipped with a Pop Port connector: Sindre Lia checks out the HS-1C Camera Headset which is compatible with the 7210, 6610 and 6100.
By introducing the new Pop-Port standard in its handsets, Nokia has now begun to offer accessories that are a wee bit more exciting than high-capacity batteries and chargers. We've taken a look at the new Nokia HS-1C Camera Headset - and just like its name hints, it's a combination of a digital camera and a headset. Or, just a digital camera if you want, since the headset can be removed when the user doesn't require it.
 | Nokia's new digital camera accessory is small, but delivers adequate picture quality under proper lighting conditions
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At a weight of 60 g and vital measuremensts of 72.7 x 28.4 x 18.4 mm, the HS-1C is possibly a bit small to handle for those who already feel that the mobile phone itself has been shrunken too far. Good is it then to know, that there is only a camera lens, a brightness indicator and two buttons - for the record duly spaced - to keep track of, so the learning curve is almost non-existant in terms of the camera interface. The lens delivers pictures at VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution and with 24-bit color depth.
Following connection to the phone and the camera being placed in an open position, it takes only a few seconds before the brightness LED switches to green, and a user can starts snapping pictures. The trigger button is located at the top of the camera, while the bottom is home to the Hi/Low button which lets users decide at what quality they wish to store pictures. Hi produces pictures averaging 30 KB, while pictures taken in Low mode requires an average 12 KB. Seeing as how the HS-1C like so many other add-on cameras doesn't offer built-in flash, however, users are entirely dependent on good lighting conditions to shoot pictures of a satisfactory quality. As an example, this picture is taken in broad daylight and with the quality set to 'Hi'.
After shooting a picture, this is transferred to the mobile phone where users are presented with the choice of either showing, storing, deleting or sending the picture. How many pictures can be stored depends on the amount of memory available in the handset, which in other words means the HS-1C does not offer any internal storage capacity of its own. Pictures are stored under the Gallery menu entry, and can be inserted into MMS messages and from there sent without a hitch to other MMS-enabled mobile phones.
The headset part of the HS-1C is comparable to any other headset from Nokia, and delivers satisfactory sound quality.
Availability
The Nokia Camera Headset HS-1C is available for prices averaging 90 EUR in most European countries, and is compatible with future and current Pop-Port enabled handsets such as the Nokia 7210, 6610 and 6100.
Conclusion
Nokia's HS-1C Camera Headset is a fun little toy, but users should pay particular notice to its lack of flash and thus strong dependence of proper lighting conditions to be able to shoot pictures of adequate quality. The headset is for the most part an added bonus, and can in a nice touch be removed when it is not required, reducing wire overload.
- What's positive: Simple and user friendly
- What's negative: Use depends entirely on proper lighting conditions
Overall: 
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