I think that in this camera, we're seeing a bit of the future. I don't know how far into the future, but I am sure this is a glimpse of what is coming.
Two key points.
First, at this time, and for longer than I've been alive, and probably for a few years yet to come; when it comes to serious photography, the SLR is king. What sets the SLR apart from all other cameras is how the viewfinder works. Uniquely, it gives the photographer a direct view of what the camera is truly seeing; or at least a much better view than any other sort of viewfinder at this time is able to offer.
I am sure that eventually, a purely electronic viewfinder, such as this camera has, will be superior to a true SLR viewfinder. We're not there, yet, but I have little doubt that I will live to see it. When we reach that point, I expect to see the true SLR become obsolete, as there will no longer remain any good reason for the cost, mechanical complexity, and potential maintenance issues that pertain to an SLR.
The other point is the use of an operating system like Android, that allows the user to freely install and use third-party software for taking, postprocessing, and distributing/sharing pictures beyond what is native to the camera. This also has a way to go, yet. The review mentions that from a cold power-on, this Samsung camera takes about half a minute to boot. That's a pretty serious shortcoming, but one that can surely be overcome as we get faster and more powerful processors and storage devices on which to base such a camera. Also mentioned, is that many of the third-party applications available to run on Android will not handle pictures as large as this camera takes; again, this is an issue that time and technological advancement will surely correct, as such devices come with more memory, more processing power, and applications that are developed to take advantage thereof.
Cost is also a serious issue. At $1700, this camera is just too expensive for its capabilities. For much less than that, you can get a nice DSLR that will be ready almost immediately when you flip on the power switch, and will take better pictures.
Somewhere down the road, I expect that what will be sold to serious photographers will be a descendant of cameras like this Samsung, with electronic viewfinders that are better than is possible with an SLR, that run Android or some similar operating system on a processor that is fast enough to boot it from a cold start in what, to a human, will seem as instantaneous as turning on a DSLR of the current time period, will have a large collection of third-party applications specifically written and optimized to run on such cameras, and will cost less than what a comparable DSLR would cost if they were still being made.
