Camera360 to partner with Nokia and the Lumia 925 Windows Phone

By George Ponder
last updated

Bloatware just got a lot better on our Windows Phones or at least in China. Camera360 has announced a partnership with Nokia that will have the camera app pre-installed on the Nokia Lumia 925 sold in China.

Camera360 is a fantastic Windows Phone app that is part photo editor, photo organizer and camera app. There is no doubt that Camera360 will compliment the Lumia 925's camera very well.

In a brief statement sent to Windows Phone Central by Camera360, Marketing Director Gary Gu commented,

"We are very happy and honoured to announce this partnership with Nokia. This is certainly a very high recognition for our product, and a great achievement for everybody in Camera360 and those who support Camera360.  We are making continuous improvements to make our products better and the most important thing is, we will continue to provide free photography application to users."

Freeware or bloatware has come a long ways since the days of Windows Mobile and it's nice to see manufacturers of Windows Phones seek out quality apps to provide, pre-installed on their phones.

Hopefully this growing partnership with Nokia will extend beyond the Chinese market.  On the plus side, Camera360 is a free app for Windows Phone 8 devices that don't have the photography app pre-installed.

If you haven't tried Camera360 on your Windows Phone 8 device, it's worth a look. You can find it here (opens in new tab) in the Windows Phone Store.

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

65 Comments
  • Almost feel Microsoft should buy Cam360 and make it the default camera
  • Idk about all that...
  • Y does MS has to buy everything? Cant they make good things themselves, they dont have any shortage of resources..
    Whenever a wp shortcoming is discussed ... People say MS shud buy this n that... Y cant MS make something themselves on par or better w.r.t those softwares
  • Google buys, IOS buys even Facebook buys so I don't see the reason why Microsoft shouldn't buy
  • Good Answer.
     
  • Microsoft bought Skype...
  • Having the resources and making us of thos resources are 2 different things. Like you said MS could make better apps than X app but they are not thus people suggesting they should buy this and that. If they are really taking Wp as serious as they should, i don't think people would suggest such things. Sorry to say this but Wp8 as it is now is nothing but a beta OS. Before you say anything i use a l920 as my daily driver but i am 100% sure i would have thrown my phone out of the window had i gone with the wp offer from Htc, Samsung or Huwei(dont know how it is spelt). 
  • I totally agree with u on the fact that wp is still beta as its still missing very basic phone features still after 3 years of its existence...
    And moreover i'm not strictly against MS buying something ... But people here tend to think that MS shud buy everything for eg buying Nokia is a common statement here but y cant they complete their OS .
    P.s. Sorry for my bad english as it is not my first language, hope u guys understand what I'm trying to say
  • Windows Phone 8 software is only over a year and a half old, not three years. Windows Phone 7 is irrelevant because they developed an entirely new kernal. For that short period of time I think they have given a better more reliable OS than anyone else.
  • +720
  • I heard they are already testing Wp8.1 so i was thinking why didn't they just release the dam thing since Wp8 is beta anyway. I don't think that will make it worse. If they released Wp8.1 to us now then they will be able to find more bugs that way and release bugs fixes faster and more efficient. I mean there will be bugs in Wp8.1 no matter how much they test it themselves.
  • testing ? you meaning developing
  • I imagine you would be one of the first to complain that feature x ot y didn't work.
    Wp8 is not a beta, its a full product. Sure there are features missing, but there are features missing from ios and that's 7 years old.
    If a specific thing you want is missing, state it. There is no such thing as having "all the features" so no product will ever be complete. We do however have a fast, stable and quickly growing software platform that's 8 months old and is being well supported with promiced future updates
  • I think you need to check your dates. Windows phone 7 came out around October 2010, whereas 8 came out at the end of 2012.
  • Ahh, but windows phone 8 Is based on a different kernal, hence restarting!
  • Totally weak defensive statement! Shouldn't have to change kernels and introduce plugs in development cycles
  • Would you prefer to continue on a weak kernal now and reach your limit or do it now that will pay off in the future? Developers now are set for the future or would you rather have then alienate developers when the platform is established? Good defense if you think long term instead of short term.
  • Dude...it's kernel, not kernal.
  • Sorry, I apologize for the autocorrect. Like holy fuck you get the point.
  • WP8 is only 9 or 10 months old.
  • But has been being developed for over a year and a half... Which is a very short period of time.
  • Sorry but gotta disagree..wp8 is far from a beta platform. It has all the basic features a smartphone should have..and quite a few other features that beta platforms could not pull off ...whatever may be missing... Does not in any way hinder its performance.It is not android, nor ios...and if people really feel that it is missing features, that they simply cannot live without...the other two platforms are waiting with open arms. WP8 is moving along just fine. Updates are slow but I believe that wp8 needs less updates and patching because it has so much built in. The small things that are lacking will come in our next two updates more than likely...and again they aren't hindering the performance of wp8 today. So again..happy to say wp8 is far removed from a beta platform...
  • Its easier and cheaper to buy then to hire a team and spend a year developing something.
  • MS should buy Google.
  • They are worth the same... Its not feasible.
  • Or....they could open up the APIs and let me choose. Honestly,that works as well.
  • Why try and make the dish when you can get a cook who is more experienced to make the same dish? It might cost you money but you will get what you want
  • Microsoft is too bad at creation. So they keep buying like Skype or Yammer etc.. And forgets to maintain
  • That's bull... They would be gone if they couldn't do things right! They are innovative but don't get credit.... Why is iOS following windows phone in their style?
  • Are you on Drugs? iOS going on WP8 style they just removed the skewmorphism(shine) & surface reflection from their icons rest the concave BG of icons with convex icon symbols makes it look flat. I agree MSFT have a good UI in WP OS but you cant say apple copying it. They just shed off some weight off their UI for their slimmer phone.
    WP OS UI is undoubtedly good too.
  • It's a lot cheaper to buy a company that has proven result, then investing 5 years in r&d and not knowing if it would be a success. 
  • Great idea they should
  • they shouldn't buy them, but they should allow you to set a default app or jump to a default lens for the camera button.  Selecting a lens is one step too many.
  • This is a great idea
  • The EOS is rumored to have this functionality, select a default camera app and when you hit the camera button it opens that app! Idk about lenses tho haha
  • I dunno. Cam360 is pretty meh. ProShot is where it's at IMO.
  • +i8750
  • I prefer clevercamera, the ui is much more usable
  • Microsoft is restructuring and focusing less on software.
  • That's pretty extreme Camera360 is ok, but it's not that good. I wouldn't like to have it forced on me.
  • Then uninstall it? WP has been pretty good at allowing users to uninstall carrier apps, can't see this being an exception.
  • @sdreamer: was an answer to someone suggesting MS buying this and making it the default camera app...
  • Unlike iOS and Android....
  • That's awesome, I love and use Camera360 all the time!
  • Another proof china has plenty app dev resources. sadly, some apps only have Chinese version. Like this interesting app that shows a background by using tiles: http://wp.msn.com.cn/app/ff8aca92-f19c-4910-bb5f-fc29a33468ee.shtml
  • This is only a 山寨(counterfeit) version of skinery tiles, the best tile background editing app available in English, Chinese and a lot more languages. I am a Chinese Lumia user and I use both English and Chinese apps. I can confidently say that there are far more good apps that support English only than Chinese only. WP app dev in China is still way behind IMO. 
  • Thanks for the info. I didn't notice Skinery tiles. I hope this feature can be included in the OS.
     
  • Dont wana be rude but camera 360 doesn't have basic camera functions its more of a fun lens unless they are gona update it ??
  • Don't think the term "bloatware" really applies here. At least not in the conventional way we think of it on our PCs.
  • And why does it not apply here? Because you like the Software?
  • Bloatware:(n) Software that comes piggy-backed on other software installations. piggy-backing bloatware usually includes toolbars, desktop widgets or external unrelated applications. Most piggy-backing bloatware can perform a mundane task that is generally non-essential to every day computer use.
    Learning is fun, no?
  • sooo.. here we have the external unrelated application. Bloatware is every unessential install on an operation system that is not necessary. Or do you recon pre installed games and Skype and a pdf reader as well as norton security is not bloatware?
  • I wonder what the rationale was in promoting Camera 360 when I expected them to push their own Smart Camera software. Also as a camera replacement, isn't Camera 360 just a filter application? I had it on my phone briefly, but I remember not being able to control camera settings...only adding pre-defined filter looks.
  • The rationale is that Camera360 is made by Chinese devs, so it make sense to partner with them in China.
  • Camera360 is a really good filter app but I took it off after trying to link it with my twitter account because of how much they wanted to access seemed too much for me. 
  • Cam360 is a must have on WP8, cause it is so simple!
  • Pro Shot is the must have, Camera 360 is meh!!!
  • Not for the average user, Pro Shot it more for enthusiasts.
  • What's that weather app you got on the picture?
  • The weather app is WeatherFlow. I love it!
  • Thanks, gonna check it!
  • No, it's not Weather Flow. The Weather App in the photo is Amazing Weather HD, a much better weather app.
  • One is free, the other you have to pay for it.
  • I have this app awesome app, nice nokia
  • Meh