About Electronics

ITProPortal: Sony has announced that it has developed a 12.25-megapixels CMOS sensor for camera phones, called the Exmor IMX060PQ.

The company also announced two other sensors capable of 5.15 and 8.11-megapixels which will be implemented next year in cheaper camera phones.

Expect the sensors to appear in Q2 2009 in Sony Ericsson cameras first.

Furthermore, Sony will start selling next year the IU060F camera module which comes with a built-in lens and an auto-focus function.

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Camera Core: Semiconductor manufacturer, OKI, has developed a new manufacturing technique which could cut the size of camera modules for mobile phones by 50 percent.The company has started a contract assembly service for W-CSP (Wafer level Chip Sized Package) semiconductors, which uses innovative through-hole technology.

Further miniaturisation of camera modules requires smaller image sensors. OKI’s new technique creates a through-hole in the silicon substrate such as an image sensor and puts an electrode through the newly made hole.

OKI plans to increase production to 10,000 wafers a month within the year to March 2009, with a further increase to 20,000 wafers per month by the fiscal year ending March 2010, subject to demand.

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Mobile Magazine: While there have been numerous upgrades in the world of camera phones, they’re still not up to snuff with their standalone counterparts. There are tips, tricks, and hints that will help improve the quality of your camera phone-fueled snapshots however. A recent guide was released that outlines a few of these pointers, and while some of them sound pretty obvious, you’d be surprised how many people don’t pay attention to these factors.

The guide describes eight tips in all.

1. Hold it steady: The lens on a camera phone is small, so it’s very prone to camera shake. When you press the shutter button, you inevitably move the phone just a bit, resulting in blurry shots. Try to stay as steady as possible.
2. Watch the light: This refers not only to the quantity of light (dimly lit shots typically suck), but also how the light is arranged. Be aware of the primary light source.
3. Get close: Get as close as possible to your subject, because the resolution just isn’t there to handle faraway objects. This also minimizes the effects of camera shake.
4. Pose people: Less movement results in clearer shots.
5. Edit later: The built-in image editing software in camera phones is “rudimentary at best.” Use PhotoShop on your computer instead.
6. Keep your lens clean: Pretty self-explanatory.
7. Use the highest resolution: We all know that you can’t go wrong with more megapixels.
8. Take lots of pictures: When it doubt, give yourself as many options as possible.

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Bloomberg: Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth-largest mobile-phone maker, said third-quarter profit almost tripled on sales of handsets with high-resolution cameras and Walkman music players.

Net income jumped to €298 million from €104 million euros a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement today. Sales rose to €2.91 billion as they sold a total of 19.8 million phones in the quarter.

“I see no reason why they can’t continue on that level for quite a while,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics Ltd. in Milton Keyes, England.  “They can string more out of the Walkman brand and they have another few brands, such as Bravia and the Playstation, to play with.”

Sony Ericsson said it had about 8% of the global market in the quarter, and reiterated the industry will expand to more than 950 million units sold this year.

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