Posts tagged with "camera"

WSJ: iPhone 5 Is Thinner And Lighter, iPhone 6 May Have New Way Of Charging

Late yesterday night The Wall Street Journal published an article which included some rumors about the next two iPhones. Interestingly it noted that this years iPhone refresh would be thinner and lighter with an 8MP camera (up from 5 MP), whilst the company focuses on a more ambitious 2012 iPhone, even including experimenting on a “new way of charging” the iPhone.

These people said the new iPhone is expected to be similar to the current iPhone 4, but thinner and lighter with an improved eight-megapixel camera.

Whilst the WSJ doesn’t have any specific details on this new way of charging the device, one potential technological possibility is using induction charging. If it did use such a technology it would not be the first smartphone to use it, back in 2009 Palm revealed their Pre smartphone which came with an optional inductive charger accessory. Yet two years later, inductive charging has not been used on a widespread basis, if Apple adopted it in a future iPhone it could spur such widespread adoption. It would also achieve somewhat of a philosophical goal that Apple has had in removing cables wherever possible.

Curiously, the WSJ suggests that the release of the iPhone 5 was pushed to Fall instead of its usual June announcement because the device simply wasn’t ready yet. It also warns that if their manufacturer, Foxconn, cannot improve their production yield, the device may be further delayed. The WSJ’s source also noted that Apple had been working on an edge-to-edge screen that could possibly debut on a second, less-expensive, iPhone.

[Via The Wall Street Journal]

Capture: The Fastest App To Record Video On Your iPhone

Released today at $0.99 on the App Store and created by the same developers of Canned, Capture is a minimal and simple utility for the iPhone that addresses a common issue with the iPhone’s Camera app: sometimes you need to capture a moment quickly, but the app takes too long to launch or switch to video recording. Brought to my attention by Ben Brooks, Capture is simply great at what it does: the developers describe it as “a record button for your home screen” and, really, that’s not too far from the truth. Capture starts recording a video as soon as you tap on its (beautiful) icon. You launch the app, and it starts recording after one second. No need to switch to the “video” tab as in Apple’s Camera, no need to wait because, and I don’t know how exactly, Capture is immediately available after you tap on it.

I can see why Capture could become an essential tool for many: by placing the app on the iPhone’s dock, you have quick access to video recording by pressing an icon. This is certainly useful for people who want to “capture” a particular moment in their kids’ life or, overall, users frustrated by the general slowness of Apple’s Camera when it comes to recording a video quickly. For reporters and citizen journalists, Capture might be exactly what they were looking for.

Capture is fast, elegant, lets you activate the iPhone’s Flash but has no support for switching between rear and front facing cameras yet. If you need an app to record video in seconds without waiting, get Capture at $0.99 on the App Store.

iPhone 5 To Feature Dual-LED Flash?

According to a new report from Digitimes, the iPhone 5 set for a September launch might come with a dual-LED flash system. The publication bases its speculation on “recent market rumors”, citing Taiwan-based Everlight Electronics, Edison Opto and Lite-On Technology as potential suppliers for the new Flash sensors.

Everlight and Lite-On have strengthened their deployments in the smartphone market for a while, with their products already being shipped to the supply chains of brand-name handset vendors, said industry sources.

Edison, which is specialized in the production of high-power LEDs, has begun shipping its LED flash products to branded handset vendors and therefore has a high chance of winning dual-LED flash orders from Apple, the sources noted.

A series of reports in the past months suggested the iPhone 5 could feature a relocated camera Flash because of some allegedly leaked case designs and parts that showed a different placement for the Flash unit on the back of the device. A dual-LED flash mode was rumored before among Apple bloggers and tech pundits, but was never taken in consideration as much as in today’s report from Digitimes. The iPhone 5 is also set to deliver an overall improved camera experience with an 8-megapixel sensor as opposed t the current 5-megapixel one, though recent debates failed to indicated with 100% accuracy whether OmniVision, Sony or Largan Precision would be the suppliers of camera image sensors for the iPhone 5.

Dual-LED flash systems are said to offer wider and brighter light coverage, which could be an important advantage when taking photos in completely dark areas or low-light situations. Mobility Digest posted in 2010 a series of photos shot with the HTC HD2’s dual-LED flash camera, taken in total darkness.

FYI all the photos are treated the same way. The background is blurred except for a bag of Animal Crackers which I zoomed into and set in detail so you can see the actual photo size relative to the inset.

For a little bag blown up that large from 20 feet away it’s very impressive. The light levels are pretty close to those at 10 feet. I was expecting a lot more of a dropoff. Remember, this is total darkness and you can see the amount of light that’s generated by two LEDs.

iPhone 4 Becomes The Most Popular Camera On Flickr

Sometime in the past few days, the iPhone 4 became the most popularly used camera on Flickr – two months after TechCrunch noted that it was poised to take the top spot. The Nikon D90 now holds the second spot, although its share of users has remained constant whilst the iPhone 4 has surged to the front. The next three spots are taken up by various Canon EOS line cameras including the 5D Mark II, Digital Rebel XSi and Rebel T1i.

In terms of smartphones the iPhone 4 took the lead a long time ago but it continues to extend its lead. It is followed by the iPhone 3G, 3GS and then the HTC Evo 4G. Surprisingly the iPod Touch rounds out the top smartphone cameras at number 5.

The iPhone 4 becoming the most popular camera in the Flickr community comes after the iPhone 3G held the top spot for just over a year. It lost the top spot earlier this year as it saw a significant reduction in users as the iPhone 4 surged in popularity (just see the above graph and the drop-off in 3G users).

[Via @espiekermann]

iPhone 5 Reaches Final Testing Stage, Launching In September

Several rumors in the past months indicated that Apple wasn’t ready to launch a new iPhone model this summer, and the WWDC confirmed speculation of Apple focusing on software (with iOS 5, Lion, and iCloud) to save the next-generation iPhone for a Fall launch. We’ve already discussed why this would make sense for a number of reasons. 9to5mac is now reporting the new iPhone has reached the final “AP” testing stage, and is being carried around by high-level Apple executives. Apple is apparently also working on a deal with Verizon to launch FaceTime over 3G, something that was spotted in the first beta of iOS 5 and suggested the company was playing around with settings to enable video chat on mobile operators by the end of the year.

Although this has been assumed since the no-iPhone-at-WWDC-rumors broke, the current plan is for a September launch for the next-generation iPhone.

Apple and Verizon have yet to strike a deal regarding FaceTime over 3G for the Verizon network. Keep in mind that 3G and 4G aren’t the same thing. < Don’t read into that too much. Or maybe do.

The website has also done a little digging into the iOS 5 SDK and discovered codenames for two unreleased iPhone devices, N93 and N94. The current-gen iPhone was codenamed N90 and N92 for the GSM and CDMA variations, respectively. Considering rumors of worldphone capabilities that are floating, it’s not clear why would Apple have two different iPhone models in the works, unless one of them is destined to another US carrier like T-Mobile or Sprint, as recent speculation claimed. However, it seems very clear at this point that the device will feature minor hardware changes and the same industrial design of the iPhone 4, with 9to5mac also claiming that the iPhone 5 could have the same 5 MP camera of the current generation as code strings in the SDK point out. The iPhone 5 was rumored to be set for an 8 MP upgrade from either OmniVision or Sony, though a report from last week also said Largan Precision had been contacted to provide 8 MP sensors for the next-generation iPhone.

iOS 5 To Feature Panoramic Camera Option?

According to some code strings posted by 9to5mac and found in the first beta version of iOS 5, Apple may soon introduce a panoramic camera functionality to go alongside the photo editing enhancements announced at the WWDC keynote. As detailed by Scott Forstall on stage, iOS 5 will bring the possibility to crop, rotate and auto-enhance images from the native Photos app – these features won’t be available on the iPhone 3GS, but they represent a great addition for iPhone 4 users that won’t need to purchase additional basic photo-editing apps anymore. With red-eye reduction and Photo Stream compatibility, Apple touts the new Photos app as the best way to take photos on an iPhone, and send them to an iPad for a quick touch-up. However, as the code discovered suggests, there may be more coming in future betas.

There’s a variety of “pano” photo apps available in the App Store, some of them like Occipital’s 360 Panorama and Pano we reviewed on MacStories before. These apps allow you to take photos of what’s around you to build a panoramic, zoomable representation that “stitches” the various images you’ve taken together in a single file.

The code found in iOS 5 beta doesn’t suggest much, except that Apple has been thinking about a menu to “take” and “save” a panorama. These strings are usually a good indication of new features to come in iOS 5 – in January, iOS 4.3 beta code confirmed that Photo Booth camera effects would be implemented sooner or later, and indeed the iPad 2 (released in March) sported a native Photo Booth app on its custom 4.3 version.

OmniVision and Sony to Supply 8-Megapixel Camera for iPhone 5

According to a new report from Digitimes, camera image sensor supplier OmniVision has won “significant orders” for Apple’s next-generation iPhone, set to debut later this year. Whilst OmniVision has been the selected supplier for image sensors in previous generation iPhones, iPods and iPads, surprisingly enough Digitimes claims 90% of orders will be supplied by OmniVision, with Sony shipping another 10% of units.

OmniVision has grabbed a majority of total CMOS image sensor (CIS) orders placed by Apple for the fifth-generation iPhone, market sources have claimed. Meanwhile, power amplifier (PA) supplier Avago Technologies has landed orders for the WCDMA version of the device for its first time, according to the sources.

About 90% of the CIS orders for Apple’s new iPhone will be supplied by OmniVision, while Sony takes up the remainder, the sources said. The upcoming device will feature a built-in 8-megapixel camera, the sources added.

Speculation about the iPhone 5’s camera in the past months arose to a new level when a rumor claimed Sony would be the only supplier for the device’s camera. With other reports claiming the statement from Sony CEO Howard Stinger were largely a misunderstanding or inventions from bloggers, it wasn’t clear why Apple would choose Sony over the long-time partner OmniVision, which in the meantime announced a variety of new sensors including improved 5 MP, 8 MP and 10 MP ones, some of them with 1080p capabilities.

A few weeks ago, alleged iPhone 5 parts surfaced showing a different camera flash position and thus re-igniting speculation about a different camera module in the iPhone 5, rumored to be a “minor” hardware refresh.

The i9 - A Hybrid iPhone / Leica Concept

Black Design Associates, LLC, an Los Angeles-based consultancy, revealed a concept for a hybrid iPhone / Leica called the i9. It’s a 12.1 megapixel, 8x zoom, fully featured iPhone 4 accessory. Before you break out your credit card, remember this is only a concept.

The i9 has a camera/iPhone toggle that turns on your camera with an instant start-up time of 0.3sec., while simultaneously loading the Leica app on your iPhone 4. A zoom/volume control adjusts tight and wide when your camera is on, and adjusts volume up and down when your camera is off. Dedicated aperture and shutter dials offer fast and easy options for manual operation. Pass-through and actuators give you full access to your iPhone 4 controls and headphone jack. The flash and light meter offers higher quality photos and videos in low-light conditions.

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Photo Shows Alleged iPhone 5 Back Part

As noted by MacRumors, Taiwanese website Apple.pro – a usually reliable source of Apple information and product leaks – posted today [Google Translation] what they claim to be the back part of the next-generation iPhone. The iPhone 5 back panel is shown in white, with two different holes for the camera lens and flash as previous speculation and case design suggested. A rough Google Translation seems to suggest that Apple.pro can’t confirm the authenticity of the picture though:

SHOW pictures out of the back cover a picture of white iPhone

camera with flash, but the difference with iPhone4

Is separated

Of course now I can not verify the authenticity of this picture

But frankly, I personally think this picture should be PS Follow the following chart last week, I do

Authenticity of unknown origin

The first case design indicating the iPhone 5 would get separated camera lens and flash holes was then pulled from the e-commerce website it appeared on. Another report from Apple.pro the same week re-confirmed the rumor of a distinct camera flash showing different components for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. The next-generation iPhone is rumored to be a minor refresh of the existing iPhone line with speedier processor, better cameras and more RAM, though some recent rumors also pointed at Apple working on a major update for the device featuring a bigger edge-to-edge screen, dramatically thinner design and NFC capabilities.