Toshiba is working on a camera sensor for mobile devices for post-shot image focusing, potentially allowing viewers to change the focus of a photograph while it is being viewed. . The camera module can apparently take images similar to the Lytro light field camera, but shrinks down the process from Lytro's 4-inch camera to a sensor a cubic centimeter in size.
Toshiba has shown off a new backlit 20-megapixel sensor aimed at compact cameras, a month after revealing a 13-megapixel CMOS sensor for smartphones. The TCM5115CL BSI CMOS sensor, in the 1 /2.3-inch form factor, gives a 4-megapixel upgrade to the 16-megapixel glass ceiling of compact cameras, and is claimed by the company to have the highest resolution in the optical format in the industry.
Camera sensor manufacturer Aptina has started production on two 8-megapixel sensors designed for high-speed video. The AR0835 and AR0835HS are both backlit CMOS image sensors capable of recording at 60 frames per second using a full-width 16:9 HD video window, while also allowing for 6-megapixel still images to be taken without interrupting the video recording.
Aptina Imaging is preparing to supply 1-inch image sensors to manufacturers. The AR1011HS digital camera image sensor has a resolution of 10 megapixels, a pixel pitch of 3.4 microns, and can record broadcast quality quad HD video, which makes the sensor potentially attractive to Tier-1 OEMs for bridge and mirrorless cameras.
A self-writing book from Harry Potter inspired researchers to make paper which prints your blood type. A Monash University team in Australia, which published their findings in Angewandte Chemie, made a square-inch sized paper-based sensor that has been tested to achieve the same accuracy as existing blood-identification methods, but is cheaper, easier, and faster to use.
In April, specifications were allegedly leaked from Hon Hai/Foxconn offering users a glimpse of the then-unreleased 3G iPhone, showing a third sensor, which has now been confirmed. iLounge writes that the 3G iPhone features an ambient light sensor, as with the previous model, but also two proximity sensors, which sources indicate is to improve face-detection functionality. The original device reportedly had issues dimming the screen when a phone call was answered using the handset.
