Fujitsu has introduced the 12.2-megapixel docomo PRIME Series F-01B water and dust resistant camera phone. To make the most of its onboard camera, the new phone utilises Fujitsu’s Milbeaut Mobile image-processing engine, and incorporates face recognition, smile detection, tracking focus, a 3.4” touch-sensitive screen and a 28mm equivalent lens. In addition to these, Fujitsu claims a maximum sensitivity of ISO 6,400/39° for full-resolution stills and an incredible (for a camera phone anyway) ISO 25,600/45° for 1920x1080-pixel images. The Fujitsu F-01B will be available from NTT DOCOMO, INC. as of 20 November 2009. Pricing to be confirmed.

Website: Fujitsu

The Casio Exilim CA003 is a twelve-megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom (28-84mm equivalent) and autofocus. According to Engadget, the Casio Exilim CA003 has a 3.3-inch WVGA OLED screen, integrated GPS and Wi-Fi support. It also boasts a 20fps burst mode, though the buffer appears to be big enough to accommodate one second’s worth of images only. The Casio Eximilm CA003 camera phone records images on microSD memory cards of up to 16GB. A smaller-resolution sister model, the eight-megapixel Casio Exilim CA004, has also been announced. It comes with a slightly smaller screen and supports cards of up to 2GB only, but is otherwise identical to the CA003. There is no word on international availability and pricing.

Via Engadget

Texas Instruments have announced the OMAP-DM515 coprocessor, which delivers up to 20-megapixel still imaging capabilities, as well as 720p HD camcorder functionality.  Note that, as with the Silicon Image announcement posted earlier today, it remains to be seen if any sensor manufacturer will ever actually bother to produce such high-resolution sensors for camera phones, and if any optics maker can come up with a lens that can support them, but the announcements indicate that the processing power will be there to handle the amount of data such a sensor would generate.

Ontela released survey results today that are said to indicate the “imminent death of the traditional film camera” amongst U.S. consumers. The last three years of data have shown a steady decline in people who report owning a traditional film camera, decreasing from 67% in 2007, to 61% in 2008, and dropping all the way to 48% in 2009. Conversely, camera phones continue to grow in ubiquity, going from just 70% reporting that they owned a phone with a camera in 2007, to 78% in 2008 and 87% in 2009. Despite respondents’ growing ownership of camera phones and usage of data, their ability to get the pictures off their phones to their PCs or the web has stayed consistently low. When asked to upload a picture to the web, 74% of respondents failed in 2007, compared to 81% in 2008 and 61% in 2009. Users were frustrated, however, since 90% expressed a desire to upload pictures. Some of the top desired destinations included the user’s own computer hard drive at 71%, Facebook at 54% and Photobucket at 25%.

Tessera has announced its FotoNation Face Recognition technology, which performs automatic identification of specific human faces in camera equipped mobile devices. This new embedded imaging solution will enable manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively integrate face recognition capabilities directly into devices such as cell phones, the company says. The FotoNation FaceRecognition technology is available for a number of platforms and requires only moderate computational and memory resources. The performance is claimed to be robust in the presence of various factors that make face recognition difficult such as changes in lighting conditions, facial expression and viewing angle/distance. The FotoNation FaceRecognition solution is available now for licensing from Tessera.

Samsung has officially announced the Samsung SCH-W880, also called the Samsung AMOLED 12M - a 12-megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom and a phone inside. Alternatively, you could call it a 12-megapixel camera phone with optical zoom, but the SCH-W880 has real camera controls such as a mode dial and a zoom rocker encircling a shutter release button. The rear panel features a 3.3” AMOLED display that allegedly boasts a resolution of 800x480 pixels. Touch-sensitive autofocus, image stabilisation and 720p video capture round off the features list. The SCH-W880 has a generous 4GB of internal memory, expandable by up to 32GB via Micro SD cards. According to Engadget, the Samsung SCH-W880 is going to hit the [Korean] market in October, but there is no word on international availability or pricing.

Via Engadget

Altek has unveiled the altek T8680, a twelve-megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom. Zoom lenses are still very much a rarity on camera phones, which is what makes this announcement interesting. Altek Corporation itself is a Taiwanese company which has been producing digital cameras and camera modules for cell phones, and the T8680 is apparently the first mobile handset being marketed under its own brand name. The most important highlight of the altek T8680 is of course its lens, which spans focal lengths ranging from 6.2mm to 18.6mm, equivalent to 35-105mm in 35mm terms. The maximum aperture is f3 at the wide end and f5.6 at maximum telephoto. The close-focus point is at 5cm. Other high points include a choice of centre-weighted, spot and matrix metering, a sensor and an imaging processor developed in-house, touch focus function and a VGA video mode. The altek press release, which you can read in its entirety after the break, talks about entering the “Mainland China market” with this product, and it is currently unclear whether the T8680 will be sold in other markets or not.

Apple has announced the Apple iPhone 3G S, billed as “the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet”, with features like video recording and hands free voice control. Other highlights include a new operating system, improved battery life, support for 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, built-in GPS, and a 3-megapixel digital camera with an auto-focus lens. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. Also, you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe or YouTube with just one tap. The iPhone 3G S will be available in the UK on June 19th with pricing available at launch. The US price is $199 for the 16GB version, and $299 for the 32GB variant.

Samsung has announced the Samsung Pixon12, the first 12-megapixel camera phone in the world. The Samsung Pixon12 boasts a 28mm equivalent lens, a 3.1” touch-sensitive AMOLED screen that also enables AF point selection via a touch of your fingertips, AF tracking, one-touch access to the camera function, a shot-to-shot time of just 2 seconds, a Xenon flash and a Smart Auto feature that intelligently picks the right scene mode based on an analysis of the scene in front of the camera’s lens. Videos are recorded at a resolution of 720x480 pixels at 30 frames per second and are saved using the H.264 codec.The phone’s high-connectivity functions including Wi-Fi and HSUPA capabilities mean that users’ photos can be shared with their friends in no time, Samsung says. The Samsung Pixon12 will be available from end of June in European countries and it will be expanded to other regions in August.

According to In-Stat, continued uptake of cameras in mobile phones and notebook PCs is driving growth in the area-array image sensor market. Research shows that camera phones accounted for nearly 81% of sensor shipments in the world and that CMOS imagers massively outweighed CCDs in 2008. However, the latter statement does not apply to dedicated digital still cameras - CMOS sensors are not forecast to surpass CCDs until 2013 in this segment. The main sensor makers include Aptina, MagnaChip, OmniVision Technologies, Sharp, Sony, and Panasonic.

The Nokia N86 is a new 8 megapixel camera phone offering performance comparable to a stand-alone digital camera. The Nokia N86 8MP is designed to excel in both bright and low light conditions and it’s optimized for both video and still imaging. “People demand mobile cameras that take excellent pictures in all light conditions,” says Juha-Pekka Sipponen, Director, Nokia Nseries. “That’s why the aperture of the Nokia N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. Whether it’s running with the bulls in Pamplona or capturing the panoramic beauty of a sunrise over Sydney, the Nokia N86 8MP will take brilliantly clear, wide-angle images that are instantly geotagged to be uploaded onto sites like Ovi Share or Flickr.” The Nokia N86 8MP will be available in the second quarter of 2009 for an estimated retail price of EUR 375.

The Samsung Memoir is a new 8 megapixel touch-screen camera phone. The Memoir, available exclusively from T-Mobile in the USA, is designed to look and feel like a point-and-shoot digital camera, with a built-in 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash, 16x digital zoom and five shooting modes. “This is the camera phone that will make people want to leave their digital camera at home,” said Bill Ogle, Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung Mobile. “When you combine the Memoir’s imaging capabilities, customizable menus and music player, not only is it a great phone, but the entertainment possibilities are unlimited.”

Sony have unveiled a 12.25 megapixel CMOS sensor for use in camera phones. The 1/2.5 CMOS “Exmor” image sensor features the industry’s smallest unit cell size (1.4µm), highest pixel count, and 10 frames/s continuous shooting. Sony claim that its new sensor “realizes high-definition image quality equivalent to compact digital still cameras” - there’s a sample image with a 100% crop after the jump, so you can judge for yourselves.

The Casio W63CA is a new 8 megapixel camera phone complete with 9-point auto-focus and a 3 inch LCD screen. Only announced in Japan so far, the W63CA takes a typical Casio Exilim compact camera as its starting point, and then designs a camera phone around that, rather than trying to cram photo features into a mobile phone. The Casio W63CA features a 3.1 inch OLED screen with 480 x 800 pixels, face detection, anti-shake and Casio’s now standard YouTube video mode. The W63CA will be available in Japan in early-November.

Website: Engadget - Casio’s 8.1 megapixel W63CA with 480 x 800 pixel OLED flips out in Japan

Website: Casio Japan

Motorola challenged 8 photographers around the world to capture 24 hours in 8 of the worlds cities, using the new 5 megapixel Motozine ZN5 camera-phone. The Motorola ZN5 is the first mobile phone to combine Motorola’s ModeShift Technology and Kodak Imaging Technology. It features a high-resolution landscape screen and one of the fastest click-to-click times available for 5 megapixel camera phones. Auto-focus locks in less than one second and there are no delays when taking one photo to the next. With one touch, users can view all their photos right from the home screen, and the ZN5 is optimized to work with Kodak Easyshare Software and provide one-touch access to Kodak Gallery.
Website: Motozine ZN5

Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa will boost sales of camera phones to more than 1.3 billion in 2012, according to a new report from InfoTrends. “The developing countries are less congested, with fewer competitors and price wars, making this an excellent time to take the camera phone to those consumers” commented InfoTrends’ Senior Research Analyst Carrie Sylvester. Higher resolution phones will produce additional growth, with 5+ megapixels causing an increase in the taking, sharing, printing, and storing of photos.

The Samsung innov8 is a new 8 megapixel camera phone. The innov8 uses the latest imaging applications such as smile shot, blink shot and face recognition. Users can enjoy personalizing and editing their photos, videos and music with Movie Maker and Story Board applications. The handset also acts as a digital photo frame, allowing users to display their favorite images on the 2.8-inch LCD screen. The Samsung innov8 will be launched in Europe in August, and then other markets during September.

Printing camera phone photos at retail over the counter nearly doubled between 2007 and 2008, according to a new study from InfoTrends. “As more retailers are adding photo printing capabilities to their stores and awareness about these capabilities has increased, InfoTrends expects continued growth in the printing of camera phone photos at retail locations. Retailers can capitalize even more on this growth by marketing their digital photo printing capabilities, particularly in relation to printing directly from camera phones.” commented David Haueter, an Associate Director at InfoTrends. Photo kiosk print stations also increased in popularity, realizing almost the same level of growth.

The new Motozine ZN5 combines a high-quality phone and camera experience, incorporating Kodak Imaging Technology. The Motozine ZN5 features a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, a Xenon flash, 4GB of optional external memory and optimized settings for low-light environments. “Today’s creative consumers not only want to be the photographer, but also the retoucher, the exhibitor and the critic,” said Jeremy Dale, corporate vice president, mobile devices marketing, Motorola, Inc. “The Motozine ZN5 lets them be all the things they want to be.” Motozine ZN5 will be first available in China in July 2008 and is expected to roll out around the globe throughout the remainder of the year.

Kodak Imaging Technology aims to to redefine the image quality, convenience and connectivity of mobile imaging devices. “There are more than 600 million digital images captured each day, and more and more photos are being taken with mobile devices,” said John Blake, general manager of digital capture and imaging devices group, and vice president, Eastman Kodak Company. “KODAK Imaging Technology addresses the three main issues that frustrate consumers about these shots - poor image quality, difficulty transferring images off their mobile devices, and the inability to easily share images with family and friends.”