Can’t smartphone manufacturers innovate anymore? Can’t the smartphone evolve anymore? Personally I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing what else can be made for the smartphone, for example the iPhone. The iPhone is already perfect to me, and this year is the first time I am thinking of eventually skipping to upgrade to the latest model, the rumored iPhone 7. The reason is that the iPhone 6s plus I have is still so incredibly fast and powerful that I actually don’t need anything else. It renders videos so fast and apps starts in a blink. Everything is so fast and the design and build-quality is perfect.
But their is one area where the smartphone still can evolve - the camera.
How many times have you wished that you could get closer to the picture, or how you're too far, or just mad at how terrible the picture looks because you didn't want or couldn't turn on the flash for the shot? This technology1 fixes that and puts yet another nail in the coffin of the compact point and shoot.
I started reporting about that Apple bought the company LinX imaging over a year ago, and their technology would make it possible to fit a dual camera module into a very thin device, that adds up to 8x optical zoom and much better image quality, less noise and much sharper image. In fact the technology makes it possible to have a module with up to 4 camera lenses in one camera module that is thinner in size than todays iPhone 6s camera module. It would mean that the iPhone 7 could have a much better camera with optical zoom that will not protrude on the back.
If the Apple rumors are true, we will see an iPhone 7 with optical zoom capability and other manufacturers who aren't on the same path will have to shift gears to catch up. Forget VR, forget mobile payment, this is where phones will be this year because its advantages are readily apparent, and avid phone photographers will have something to catch their eye once more.
The recently announced LG G5 has a dual camera2 but unfortunately it doesn’t use any technology that comes near Corephotonics or LinX imaging technology.
So if Apple manage to put this technology into the rumored iPhone 7 they will be far ahead of the competition , and personally I think the camera is exactly the innovation the smartphone need to move forward. And I am sure that it will help Apple to convince the masses to upgrade this year.
Via The future of smartphones is in dual-cameras | CNET
Here is some earlier videos I’ve done about this:
- Apple has bought LinX imaging technology that makes a dual lens technology that makes it possible to have a thinner camera module with a huge performance boost and optical zoom. And the competitor company called Corephotonics has a Hawkeye camera module that can do the same. ↩︎
- The standard lens construction is coupled with a wide angle lens that allows for a 135 degree field of view. That’s it so no sign of the same technology as we are talking about here. ↩︎