Lens extends on camera activation and startup

anyone with this otherwise great device will be familiar that upon boot up and camera activation the lens automatically extends.
Sadly, in my case the lens has broken as a result of
1/apps that activate the camera programatically, pushing itsself out of its car cradle physically damaging the lens assembly
2/ Power on lens extension when held in hand like a phone, lens in palm of hand.
I emailed to samsung and suggested they use a proximity sensor ( very common on phones) mounted on the front of the device ( lens side) to check the path the lens will take during extension is clear, or possibly even using data from the focus beam. I suggested that If it cant extend safely then it should not, rather than risk damage to the motors inside the lens. Samsung could actually apply this to all their cameras.

I also suggested the default on power up should be to not activate the camera app, which extends the lens ( after all this is a hybrid device) it may be possible for devs to alter this behaviour ?

It also occurs to me that developers who make device specific apps for this device could win some serious respect if they used the accelerometer Z reading to ensure the camera wont activate when device is lens down/screen up avoiding the lens causing the phone to do pushups which also bends usb connectors.

I know this belongs in the development forums for this device but I can't access them due to having less that 10 posts. Hope someone can add it for me Many apps can activate the camera programatically, it's worthy of consideration as a lens fix costs $200.00 and is not covered by wararanty.

it gets worse

yep, that would solve the startup issue but any app can activate the camera programatically, meaning they can start the camera according to any variable, time, location, force etc.
Initial quote to repair was 150.00, but It also now appears the motherboard is damaged, since it is behind the lens, so now the cost to fix is $450.00, just a few dollars short of its replacement cost.
This device can damage its self without you having to touch it.
Pretty serious problem

paulikxp said:

That's a bit odd. The same thing happened to me more than once but there seems to be some sort of protection against damage as the lens of my camera goes back in after hitting an obstacle (they only need to monitor the current drawn by the zoom motor).

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Interesting, I'm sure that mine does not do that, the motor seems quite strong and pushed as hard as it can, perhaps they rectified it in later versions, I bought mine Christmas 2012 which I assume was the first "model " as such. I get the lens error, but it stays out, only returning when you power it off. funnily enough I'm pretty careful where and how i leave it positioned