The innovative concept of this digital camera doesn’t match its lackluster design. The Kodak EasyShare-one looks like any other traditional digital camera from the front with its two silver panels and polished highlights. The EasyShare-one is rectangular and encased in a silver and white aluminum housing. The back is a little more telling of this Wi-Fi camera's innovative nature. The entire back of the camera is a 3-inch LCD monitor that folds outward and rotates 180 degrees and can be folded back into the camera facing in or out.  The Kodak EasyShare-one looks like a traditional, although slightly more formal, point-and-shoot camera with a fancy LCD screen that provides a pocket album aesthetic from behind.

The Kodak EasyShare-one markets its portability to attract on-the-go consumers to its wireless conveniences. Now users on vacation can send e-postcards seconds after taking the picture – assuming they’re in a HotSpot. The EasyShare-one’s body reflects its on-the-go status. All of the surfaces on the camera body are either flat or raised so subtly that it’s unnoticeable, helping the Kodak EasyShare-one measure a perfectly rectangular 4.1 x 2.5 x 1 inches. The EasyShare-one is heavier than you’d think from just a glance at the front; it weighs 7.9 ounces without the battery and cards. Despite its weight, the Kodak EasyShare-one is still very portable. It comes with a leather carrying case and a wrist strap. It may be too thick for some to stuff comfortably into a pocket, but will fit easily into a small bag or purse.

 

Handling can be a little tricky with the EasyShare-one. The camera is compact, but not so much that the average Joe’s hands will get cramped. There are no major grips, but the polished, slightly raised name plate on the front acts as a sort of grip for the middle finger. Shooting shouldn’t be tricky at all; it’s the mode and feature changes that could get complicated. This Kodak has a large touch screen that requires the use of a stylus; it can also work with fingers but most of the navigational features are too small for this. So using a stylus to scroll through pictures in the playback mode is complicated when you also have to press the Delete button or other dedicated buttons on the actual body of the camera. Those accustomed to multi-function devices should have no trouble acclimating to the interface of the EasyShare-one; however, long time Kodak EasyShare users expecting the same degree of simplicity as found on their EasyShare C340 may need to factor in a slight adjustment period. But  once users become familiar with navigation, the EasyShare-one really will be a point-and-shoot (and -share) device.

 

The control buttons are all adequately sized, although they are slightly cramped. They should be fine for most people, but if you’ve got exceptionally large fingers these buttons could prove to be cumbersome for you. The multi-selector and the zoom toggle are a bit stiff and pushing them in the correct direction will take a little more force than you’d think it’d take. The buttons are well positioned and neatly aligned and structured to accompany the touch-screen.  

 

The menus in the Kodak EasyShare-one are some of the most appealing I’ve seen. They are colorful with big text, big icons, colorful photo examples, and other such pleasures. There are many, many more menus here than in other Kodak EasyShare digital cameras though because this model does so much more. The menus can be navigated with the multi-selector or the stylus on the touch screen. Navigation with the stylus is a little tricky because some of the onscreen arrows are tiny. However, the multi-selector is a bit stiff too.

In the recording mode, the Menu button shows four options: Auto, Video, Scenes, and Setup. The first three options change modes, but the Setup option is what changes settings and such. The Setup menu has six large icons across the top with a changing set of settings on the bottom. When users scroll through the icons, the text title appears just above the icons: Wireless, Capture, Contacts, Groups, Device, and Preferences. From the recording mode, the camera sends users directly to the Capture menu. The following options are provided: Picture Size, White Balance, ISO, Date Stamp, Red-eye Pre-flash, Color Mode, Focus Zone, Exposure Metering, Sharpness, Continuous AF, Video AF, and Video Zoom. The Wireless icon has only two options: one for Available Networks and the other for Profiled Networks. The Contacts icon has an Add Person option at the top, followed by the lengthy list of contacts that the user enters. The Groups icon to its right bunches those contacts together for faster mass e-mails; its options are similar to an Add Group at the top and the user’s list of groups below. The Device icon has a long list of settings that can be changed: Language, Date and Time, Slide Show, LCD Backlight, Touch screen Calibration, Orientation Sensor, Sound Theme, Video Out, About, and Format. The Preferences section of the menu houses these options: Startup View, Email Address, The Gallery Password, and EasyShare Gallery URL.

In the playback mode, the buttons have completely different functions. The designated Menu button lets users choose the playback view from these options: Recent, Favorites, Albums, Calendar, The Gallery, Friends’ Albums, Outbox, Storage, and Setup. The Share button reveals these options: Email, Prints, Upload, Transfer, Slideshow, and Setup. All of these options will be discussed further in their respective sections.  

 

The Kodak EasyShare-one is not as easy to use as some of its other Kodak counterparts. However, it can be said that it is the easiest wireless digital camera to use. The camera’s interface is still fairly intuitive and easy on the eyes. The large icons and large text aid in ease of use. The small navigational arrows and stiff on-camera zoom toggle and multi-selector make changes a little tricky. What is even trickier is the stylus and the tiny virtual keyboard. These are all very new concepts, so perhaps Kodak will improve the ease of use on its next wireless model – assuming that the EasyShare-one is the start of a new line. While using the Kodak EasyShare-one isn’t rocket science, it will still require a date with the owner’s manual, which is a good 111 pages long.