The day when digicams in wireless handsets start catching up in the megapixel race to standalone digital cameras is rapidly coming to an end we think. This week at 3GSM,
OmniVision Technologies -- almost a
year to the day after announcing a 2 megapixel mobile camera sensor -- announced the details of a
5 megapixel auto-focus camera module for,
you guessed it, our beloved mobiles. The new 5 megapixel shooter is a CMOS model that has auto-focus (instead of the normal fixed focus in most cellphone digicams) and it should see the setting of a new standard as customers come to expect better and larger image quality from those tiny cams inside those tiny handsets. According to OmniVision, "the module is already in mass production and in development with customers, and we expect to be shipping soon." Are you ready for that 2592 x 1944 rez in that spiffy new handset? Your day may come soon.
It's kinda exciting when new tech comes along that promises a digital camera chip size reduction of 50 percent and cost reduction of 30 percent. That's precisely what has been announced from Tessera Technologies, and cellphone makers worldwide will join in the glee in the near future if they'll be able to slave even more size off of teeny, tiny slim sliders and clamshells. According to Tessera's OptiML product announcement, the "simultaneous manufacturing" allows for the cost and size reduction while still allowing for digital optical zooming and auto-focus, all without any moving parts. Derek Zoolander would be proud.
