Nokia Lumia photography chief Ari Partinen joins Apple

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2014
Apple's mobile imaging team looks to have a new leader, as former Nokia camera engineering executive Ari Partinen announced on Friday that he will depart the Finnish smartphone maker and move to its American rival.




Partinen made the announcement on Twitter, saying that Friday was his last day at Nokia and that he would soon "start a new chapter in Cupertino, California." The tweets were first noticed by Engadget.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Partinen leaves Nokia as the company's Lumia Photography Lead "in the fields of mobile photography, image quality verification, verification up-streaming, 3rd party management and collaboration, supplier collaboration and technical marketing in various multimedia segments." Products for which he was responsible include the Nokia 808 PureView and Nokia N8.

A graduate of Helsinki University of Technology, Partinen joined Nokia as an image quality engineer in 2007. He is credited as one of the inventors of Nokia's PureView system, which is widely lauded by photography enthusiasts as among the best mobile camera technologies available.

PureView uses pixel oversampling and on-chip image processing to shrink a very large image -- the Nokia Lumia 1020 ships with a 41-megapixel camera -- into a smaller, higher-quality one. This allows for sharper images, enhanced digital zoom capability, and better low-light performance.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    This article has no beat, but quite a punch¡

    Really, this is a good move, not only by him, but Apple as well. Do hope to get a confirmation from Apple, as I'm sure they aren't the only company in Cupertino.
  • Reply 2 of 25
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    What a coup. Nokia is "Finnished".
  • Reply 3 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Finally they'll have something to discuss on the MacBreak Weekly podcast.
  • Reply 4 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    This is big news, more evidence Apple has very serious plans in this direction. Digital zoom with large sensors baby!
  • Reply 5 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    jungmark wrote: »
    What a coup. Nokia is "Finnished".

    Haha
  • Reply 6 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    I have long believed this is part of the way forward (along with other technologies such as Light Field). The Pixel Myth brigade were quick to mock his work but they totally miss the point as they are so fixated in stating their '8 MP is enough and all else is marketing' [S]mantra[/S] B.S..
  • Reply 7 of 25
    waterrocketswaterrockets Posts: 1,231member

    That's a great move, for Ari and Apple. Nokia's cameras have been impressive. iPhones don't need much camera improvement, but this will probably spur some innovation in the future.

  • Reply 8 of 25
    jetlawjetlaw Posts: 156member
    Hopefully he will spell "design" correctly on his profile with Apple. His current bio lists him as the "Senior Desing Engineer"
  • Reply 9 of 25
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    [QUOTE]Finally they'll have something to discuss on the MacBreak Weekly podcast.
    [/QUOTE]

    Oh, they always can fall back on Leo's never ending hurt feelings at being blackballed from Apple events for being a jerk. ;)
  • Reply 10 of 25
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Haha



    you mean Lumia is "Finnished?" Nokia still has it's telecommunications and mapping branches, while the Lumia line was bought by Microsoft.



    True he brings proven experience to the Apple camp, but Apple would still need to secure those technologies if it wants to incorporate PureView into iPhone. But who knows, MS and AP and strange bedfellows these days....

  • Reply 11 of 25
    ash471ash471 Posts: 705member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post



    What a coup. Nokia is "Finnished".

    clever.  Agreed.  Bringing in people from has been companies is a bad idea. Build a team for the future, not the past.

  • Reply 12 of 25
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    This seems to be a very good hire on Apple's part! The guy who helped create the best smartphone imaging tech in the business!
  • Reply 13 of 25
    lostkiwilostkiwi Posts: 639member
    jungmark wrote: »
    What a coup. Nokia is "Finnished".
    Good one.
    Glad to see no one bought up any reindeer jokes.
    I just hope this chap isnt a one trick pony who left his best work behind him at Nokia.
    Nokia is such a great company, the only problem is they have been so badly led for so long, I wonder if they have much of a future anymore.
  • Reply 14 of 25
    macky the mackymacky the macky Posts: 4,801member

    you mean Lumia is "Finnished?" Nokia still has it's telecommunications and mapping branches, while the Lumia line was bought by Microsoft.


    True he brings proven experience to the Apple camp, but Apple would still need to secure those technologies if it wants to incorporate PureView into iPhone. But who knows, MS and AP and strange bedfellows these days....

    MS didn't necessarily get the PureView patents. Nokia was careful to only license some things to Uncle Fester under generous terms, but wisely retained rights to much.

    Partinen may be part of a quiet agreement between Nokia and Apple to license ClearView to Apple with Partinen employed to make it happen easier and quicker.

    Nokia can use the money. The camera tech is not needed for their current direction, and maaaybee Nokia would like to stick it to Microsoft a bit....
  • Reply 15 of 25
    macky the mackymacky the macky Posts: 4,801member
    ash471 wrote: »
    clever.  Agreed.  Bringing in people from has been companies is a bad idea. Build a team for the future, not the past.
    You mean like that group of losers Apple got with the purchase of NeXT???
  • Reply 16 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ash471 View Post

     

    clever.  Agreed.  Bringing in people from has been companies is a bad idea. Build a team for the future, not the past.


     

    That is a  stupid method of determining anything.

  • Reply 17 of 25
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    High resolution is cool and all, but that physical image stabilization is what has always caught my interest.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    palegolas wrote: »
    High resolution is cool and all, but that physical image stabilization is what has always caught my interest.

    It is that too, big time. Image stabilization, high resolution and more. We are in for a fun ride with photography and video technology over the next decade.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    You mean like that group of losers Apple got with the purchase of NeXT???

    Yes, that was a really bad acquisition wasn't it ... ;) I recall many at the time, absolutely sure, BeOS was a better way to go .... :no:
  • Reply 20 of 25
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    It is that too, big time. Image stabilization, high resolution and more. We are in for a fun ride with photography and video technology over the next decade.

    They do a great job with that stuff, although I wish Apple gave access to raw digital files rather than packing them into 8bpc under the hood. I wanted to write a raw processor for the iphone.

     

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Yes, that was a really bad acquisition wasn't it ... image I recall many at the time, absolutely sure, BeOS was a better way to go .... image

     

    I don't even remember BeOS. I called his comment stupid, because I don't think it's fair to brand an individual by whether you like their current employer. In terms of hiring, it should have more to do with what they learned there rather than the success of the overall group. Nokia's camera tech is also arguably their best feature.

     

    Edit: It wasn't Macky's comment that I thought was stupid. It was the one he replied to prior to that.

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