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Samsung's latest 8MP cameraphone sensor has backside illumination, zero shutter lag (Update: specs)
Samsung hasn't shown off all of its new tech at MWC 2012 yet, but one more early announcement is a new "premium" cameraphone sensor, the 8MP S5K3H7. Its new 1.4um CMOS shown above features backside illumination (BSI) technology for better quality in low light -- just like the iPhone 4/4S camera and HTC's just-announced ImageChip -- as well as the promise of zero shutter lag and 30fps 1080p video all while using less power than previous generations. There's no word yet on which phones will include the new imaging chip, but it should go into mass production in the next couple of months.Update: Looking for more numbers? The English PR is out now and confirms a slim form factor 8.5mm x 8.5mm camera module with 5.5mm height dimension capable of 120fps 720p or 240fps slow motion video recording. Check the data yourself in the press release after the break.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 flexes its imaging muscle (video)
While we already know that Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 will offer a quad-core variant, incorporate LTE and use a 28nm manufacturing process, the company posted an article to its media blog ahead of Mobile World Congress showcasing the new features provided by the chipset's Image Signal Processor. You're likely familiar with some of the imaging functionality available in Qualcomm's existing Snapdragon processors -- technology like Scalado's Rewind (pictured above) which we've covered before. The new SoC cranks things up a notch with support for up to three cameras (two in the back for 3D plus one front-facing), 20-megapixel sensors and 1080p HD video recording at 30fps. In addition to zero shutter lag, the Snapdragon S4 includes proprietary 3A processing (autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance) along with improved blink / smile detection, gaze estimation, range finding and image stabilization. Rounding things off are gesture detection / control, augmented reality and computer vision (via Quacomm's FastCV). Want to know more? Check out the source link below, then hit the break for video demos of the S4's image stabilization and gesture-based imaging chops.
Ice Cream Sandwich revamps Android camera and gallery features
It's been a long time coming, but with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, Android finally takes a significant leap forward in terms of camera and gallery features. The camera interface is completely new -- it's faster and easier to use with instant access from the lock screen. Shots are taken immediately thanks to zero shutter lag and continuous autofocus with automatic face detection. Touch-to-focus with exposure lock is now supported, and the UI adds a proper digital zoom slider. The camera app also includes a new sweep panorama feature. The gallery app is also significantly improved, with Instagram-like "hipster filters" and a built-in photo editor that lets you crop and rotate pictures at arbitrary angles. Any tweaks you make are saved in a separate file, keeping the original shot intact. Images can now be sorted by location (using geotagging), and by person (if manually tagged). Video also receives a serious boost in functionality with 1080p capture, continuous autofocus, and the ability to zoom while recording. Additionally, it's now possible to create time lapse videos right from your phone. It's too early to tell if all these features will trickle down to legacy devices or remain exclusive to the Galaxy Nexus, but we'll find out soon enough.
Qualcomm takes sci-fi one step closer to reality at Computex 2011 (video)
While flying cars are still a pipe dream, other technologies are quickly transitioning from the stuff of sci-fi movies into the very tangible realm of reality. This was definitely the case at the Qualcomm booth here at Computex where we got to experience two interesting new technologies -- zero shutter lag and the ultrasonic pen. What if when you pressed the shutter button on your phone the camera captured 2 frames before, one frame during, and 2 frames after that instant? That's the idea behind Scalado's zero shutter lag and Rewind, which speed up the process of taking pictures on a phone by letting the camera continuously sample images and allowing the user to create a composite shot from the content available in up to 5 frames.Also on display was Qualcomm's ultrasonic pen that we already played with at MWC. By using an ultrasonic transducer attached to a pen and a phone with 3 microphones (like the MSM8660 Mobile Development Platform), the ultrasonic signal can be triangulated to determine the location of the pen. Once calibrated, the phone is able to accurately capture handwriting either on the screen itself or on a standard sheet of paper up to 30cm away. We noticed that accuracy and distance appear to have improved since February -- at this pace, perhaps we'll all have flying cars soon after all? Check out the gallery and hit the break for our hands-on video.%Gallery-125105%
