Did RED Cancel the Hydrogen One Modular Camera? [Update]

 

, Did RED Cancel the Hydrogen One Modular Camera? [Update], #Bizwhiznetwork.com Innovation ΛI

Camera maker RED announced its entry into the smartphone market in 2017, hyping up the Hydrogen One. It said the phone would have a “holographic” display, but it was the promise of a modular accessory ecosystem that included a real RED camera sensor that really got people excited. The phone didn’t get stellar reviews, but owners held out hope for that camera add-on. It may not happen, though. RED has removed all mention of the modular components from its website without explanation.

The only truly unique feature of the Hydrogen One at launch was the 4-view 3D screen, which could make it look like objects were coming out of the display without 3D glasses. Although, the effect wasn’t very impressive and only worked at just the right viewing angle. The Hydrogen One has similar internals to any 2017 flagship smartphone, except it launched in 2018. There’s a Snapdragon 835, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and dual 12.3MP cameras on the back. However, those are traditional smartphone sensors with mediocre performance — no RED camera technology. The company said that the modules could fix that.

According to the original Hydrogen One product page, RED planned modules that would add storage, extend your battery life, and integrate a real RED camera sensor with the phone. The diagram even showed the phone with interchangeable lenses. RED’s high-resolution video cameras are best-in-class, and also hideously expensive. While the One was no impulse purchase at $1,300, the idea you might be able to shoot with a RED sensor for a little more cash probably encouraged some camera enthusiasts to take the plunge.

, Did RED Cancel the Hydrogen One Modular Camera? [Update], #Bizwhiznetwork.com Innovation ΛI

The Hydrogen One has a bank of gold contacts on the back, similar to Motorola’s Mod platform. So, the phone people have in their hands is physically capable of connecting to modular accessories. However, RED hasn’t released any. It’s looking increasingly unlikely there ever will be any now that all mention of the modules has been scrubbed from the site.

You can check a cached version of the page to see what used to be there. The page listed a release timeline of “2019.” Rather than tightening the ETA to a quarter or even pushing it back to 2020, RED just removed everything. The only indication RED has plans for Hydrogen accessories is the recently teased Lithium 3D camera rig. However, that just uses the phone as a display for the camera’s 3D output. Whatever RED is up to, it’s not inspiring confidence.

Update 3/12: RED provides details… sort of. 

RED founder Jim Jannard has posted a cryptic update on the company’s forums that does little to clarify the situation. Here’s the full text.

Some have noticed that we have taken down the images of the 2D module from our website.

The reason for that is because we are currently in the middle of radically changing the HYDROGEN program. As I have said before, everything can and will change.

A series of obstacles and then new discoveries have given us the opportunity to significantly improve the entire program, not only for HYDROGEN but also for RED.

The changes create new opportunities to better satisfy the professional image capture customers as well as the casual consumer for the HYDROGEN program.

The RED team, led by Jarred Land, as of now will now be fully in charge of the professional image capture program for HYDROGEN and the HYDROGEN team is fully engaged on the new in-device image capture system. Both are major advancements to what was previously posted.

We are excited to share details as soon as we file the patents and lock down the changes and are all pretty excited about what is coming…

As a side note… all HYDROGEN customers will be “obsolescence obsolete” when buying into the new professional image capture program.

If RED was actually planning to launch the promised camera module, it would have been easy to say that. However, this rambling statement dodges the question. When we asked point blank about the camera module, PR reps had no comment.

What we can glean from this statement is that something has changed with regard to the Hydrogen One’s “professional image capture” program. RED’s main camera team will apparently now be in charge of developing a new image capture system. It’s unclear if that means a new version of the camera module or a new phone. Jannard uses the bizarre term “obsolescence obsolete” to describe the Hydrogen One. In a follow-up post, he explains that he meant the Hydrogen One will not be obsolete when the “Pro camera version” launches.

For now, Hydrogen One owners are left to speculate about what this means for the modules they were promised. Is RED starting from scratch? Giving up on the current Hydrogen One accessory connector? It’s impossible to tell.

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