If the current custodians of the much-abused Polaroid brand have any sense, they’ll call this upcoming camera the Polaroid Android, and they’ll license the Radiohead song of (almost) the same name to promote it.

Or they could just rip off the song, just like they appear to have ripped of the design: If the 18.1 Megapixel IM1836 looks familiar, that’s because it’s almost identical to Nikon’s J-series cameras.

The similarities are only skin deep, though. Inside the IM1836 (a name that makes even “Polaroid Android” seems plausible) is an Android 4.0 brain, complete with “a 3.5-inch touchscreen, an 18.1 megapixel sensor, a panorama mode, a pop-up flash, blink detection, built-in Wi-Fi, a microSD card slot, headphone and HDMI outputs, and HD video recording.”

Or so say the rumors – these product shots are just leaks/rumors right now. Still, it wouldn’t be Polaroid’s first attempt at an Android-powered camera.

With the iPhone long-since being the most popular camera on Flickr, and the latest Lightroom update adding correction profiles for the iPhone lens and camera, camera makers are going to need to add connectivity and apps to their machines to stay relevant. And popping Android inside is a smart and fast way to do that.

• SourcePetaPixel