A portable electronic device is capable of protecting a camera against impact
from
outer peripheries of a casing, and clearly indicating the passage of the camera
through an image-inversion position. A camera (30) is rotatably installed
in a casing (40). Windows (40d, 40e), through
which the camera is able to view the outside of the casing and to be operated to
rotate by a user, are formed in a front wall (40a) and a rear wall
(40b), respectively, of the casing. Each of frames enclosing the
windows, respectively, has a part which lies near an outer peripheral side of the
casing and which is constituted by a bridge portion (44) connected with
the casing. In this construction, all the outer peripheral sides of the camera
(30) excepting those corresponding to the front and rear sides of the casing
are covered with the casing and the bridge portion (44). As a result, an
impact applied to the camera from a peripheral side of the casing adjacent to the
bridge portion can be blocked by the bridge portion. In addition, when the camera
is rotated to move the shooting or picture-taking plane thereof to the front side
or the rear side of the casing, the image on the display becomes dark at a time
for example, and hence the user is able to clearly recognize that the camera has
passed an image-inversion position. A control part performs prescribed control
based on an image of a wall of the casing which is taken by the camera and which
lies between the front side and the rear side.
