Google's New Android Software Can Shoot Raw Images - Analyst Blog

Google's (GOOGL) new Android software is now equipped to attract photography buffs with its ability to capture raw images.

This feature allows users to see what the photos look like before they are processed and converted to a JPEG file.

This feature is common on high-end DSLR cameras but relatively new to mobile phones.

Till now, only a limited number of phones have offered this feature. Some designs from Nokia, now a part of Microsoft (MSFT), including the Lumia 1520 and 1020 come with this feature.

Raw photos are pure image data captured via a camera. These images are free of any compression or modifications. It thus gives the photographer more information and therefore, greater flexibility to play with the pictures any way they want using various software. Basically, the camera's software does not make any assumptions about how the photo should look.

However, it could be quite a headache for an average person.The camera software in phones is designed to compress and convert images into a JPEG file format as it's convenient to share and edit and also eats up less storage.

This new feature does open the door for mobile phones to replace professional cameras in some situations. Photography has become vital to mobile phones as people record their lives with their phones. As mobile phone cameras have gradually improved, people have also started using it to artistically express themselves.

Google's decision to include this new feature capitalizes on this trend. It also gives Android an upper hand over Apple's (AAPL) iPhone in this regard. iPhone captures incredible images, however, it doesn't take raw images.

Google currently has a Zacks Rank#4 (Sell). A better-ranked stock in this industry is Geeknet, Inc. (GKNT), which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).