After three years of development, the Alice Camera — which transforms smartphones into mirrorless photographic systems with a mount for interchangeable Micro Four Thirds (M43 or MFT) lenses — is taking preorders and will start shipping July 15, beginning in the UK. The Alice Camera leverages AI to produce “computational photography” that runs on-device in real time. The result, its makers say, is content that is “beautiful straight out of camera” and instantly ready to share. “Alice Camera transforms your phone into a content creation studio,” according to parent company, London-based Photogram Ltd.

The Alice Camera uses a “Sony Four-Thirds CMOS image sensor, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and Google’s Edge TPU to handle the deep learning features,” reports PetaPixel.

The Quad Bayer HDR and 4.63μm pixels sensor “would give around 10.5 MP images,” writes Digital Photography Review, noting the “camera can shoot 4K video at up to 30p and 1080 at up to 60p.”

Onboard processors “help Alice perform the required calculations to drive the camera’s computational photography features, including noise reduction, sharpening, and expanded dynamic range,” PetaPixel explains.

AI is also utilized for autofocus, exposure and white balance. The unit has a Micro Four Thirds lens mount and its aluminum body “includes a microSD card slot, a USB-C port and a 3.5mm mic jack,” reports PetaPixel, noting it “has a 5,000 mAh built-in battery.”

Although Alice can be used without a smartphone, a connected iOS or Android device is required to use all available features, and the smartphone also acts as an electronic viewfinder.  The Alice Camera relies upon a dedicated smartphone app, which includes camera control, file management, and streamlined content-sharing tools.

“The camera runs on a custom-built Linux-based operating system, which supports open-access development and over-the-air updates,” PetaPixel explains.

Alice faces competition from another M43 phone camera system, the SwitchLens, set for release in November. While “the Alice Camera has doubled down on AI features and content creation friendliness,” SwitchLens is focusing on “real light photography, capturing images untouched by AI enhancements,” writes Digital Camera World.

Following its UK rollout, Alice “deliveries to pre-order customers in the U.S., Japan, the EU and Australia will follow from August 15, and then buyers in Canada, France and elsewhere will start to get their devices from September,” New Atlas says, adding that “pricing for new customers is currently set to $845, a 30 percent discount on the normal retail price.”