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Gionee Elife E7 boasts most sensitive 16MP camera, 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800
Gionee isn't exactly a name that you'd come across in the Western market every day, but this time, the Chinese company has big global ambitions. The latest proof is its Elife E7, a 5.5-inch 1080p Android phone that boasts two titles: it's the first known phone featuring the 2.5GHz flavor of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chip (MSM8974AC); plus it has the most sensitive 16-megapixel camera, courtesy of its Largan M8 lens (though the aperture is still unknown) and 1/2.3-inch sensor with large 1.34µm pixels. Compared to the competition, Gionee believes this particular OmniVision sensor has the best balance between resolution and pixel size, and the phone maker even went as far as claiming this already beats the 1.12µm, 16-megapixel counterpart on the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy S 5. Of course, we'll believe it when we get to properly test the E7's camera ourselves.
iPad 2 will have rear and front-facing cameras, say multiple sources
Hey, it's December, what else are you going to do but monger rumors of the next iPad? Reuters has rounded up no less than four sources from within Apple's component suppliers, all expressing their belief that the hallowed tablet will be refreshed some time in early 2011. A pair of the tipsters could only go so far as to say that production at places like Wintek and Simplo is expected to ramp up in the first quarter, while the other two were more decisive in identifying the cause for the extra activity as Apple's next tablet iteration. As to the future iPad's camera or cameras, one source says it'll feature both a back-mounted and a front-facing module, with Largan and Genius identified as having received new orders from Cupertino for churning out imagers. Notably, the latter is currently also supplying the iPhone 4's photon collector and there's no confirmation that whatever they produce will inevitably land in an iPad 2, but the tea leaves seem to be in agreement: parts are targeted for a February shipment in preparation for an April iPad refresh. Whether the new slate arrives at that time, however, will be another matter altogether.
Next iPad's camera supplier outs itself in Taiwan Stock Exchange filing?
At this point, is there anyone that doesn't suspect the next iPad will sport a camera? We've heard as much, more or less, and now here's more fodder for the suspicious out there: according to Digitimes, a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing from Largan Precision pegs itself as the "sole lens module supplier" for the impending second-generation iPad, with shipments (of the part or of the tablet, we're not sure) due out in the first quarter of 2011. It's worth noting that Largan is the camera parts supplier for the iPhone 4. We haven't been able to check out the filing ourselves yet, and for its part Largan's not saying a word, but we'll let you know what we dig up. You can now return to the part of your iPad 2 dream where it's rocking a glasses-free 3D ultra-retina display... on both sides... and it's transparent... and foldable... and not real. Update: China Times is reporting that Largan got lucky with the exclusive order because Apple's other iPhone 4 camera supplier GSEO (Genius Electronic Optical) is already running at full capacity. Said publication also casually mentions an "end of Q1" launch for the iPad 2, which makes sense given that the original iPad was launched in April.
