Verizon and HTC have recently unveiled the HTC Incredible phone, which runs on the Android 2.1 OS, and carries some pretty impressive camera functions.

Most notably, the Incredible has a whopping 8-megapixel camera, putting it a few megapixels shy of the average point-and-shoot on the current market.

Verizon announced in a press release that the phone provides “quick and easy access to Flickr for sharing and viewing pictures.”

The phone also has what looks like a fairly prominent, large lens (by camera phone standards), alongside two LED flashes. Additionally, the camera mode includes the ability to touch the screen in order select an autofocus point, along with impressive manual options to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and ISO from 100-1250.

Though it’s unlikely to edge out the point-and-shoot just yet, the Incredible certainly seems to be designed with the photo enthusiast in mind.

The HTC Incredible is available April 29th and will cost $199.

Remember the days when a 5 megapixel digital camera was considered top-of-the-line? I do. Remember the days when 570 megapixel digital cameras were the size of cars? That’s a question people might ask years from now, when the most basic pocket cameras boast hundreds of megapixels, and when we have petabyte external hard drives.

The “camera” shown above is one of the largest digital cameras in existence, created by Fermilab, a US national laboratory specializing in physics. It uses 74 CCD sensors to create 570 megapixel images of galaxies and supernovas. Scientists plan on using the $35 million dollar camera to map some 300 million galaxies.

Any guesses as to how long it will be before we’re paying $350 for a 570 megapixel compact digital camera? Will that day ever arrive?

(via PopPhoto Flash)