Photos purport to show new iPhone's autofocus camera, compass

[AppleInsider]

A chinese blog has blurry photos that appear to show an iPhone -- possibly the next-generation model -- using autofocusing with its camera, movie recording and the digital compass.

The series of images from UMPCFever make side-by-side comparisons between an older iPhone and the device running the new firmware, which is claimed to be a new iPhone brought over from the US and deliberately shot with blurry detail to avoid confirming details of the physical design. The claim is suspected of being at least partly true as many of the shown features would simply refuse to run on an iPhone 3G, even with iPhone 3.0 firmware installed.

Autofocusing is the most obvious difference and works simply: as with many touchscreen cameras and camera-equipped phones, it's only necessary to tap a particular point of the screen to focus the camera on whatever object is in that point; an aiming rectangle helps confirm where the focus rests. The mode appears to work in both photo and video capture and has a very visible effect on certain shots, bringing text into focus that would otherwise have been blurry with today's fixed-focused model.

Such a feature is expected not only to prove useful for better photos but to enable barcode scanners and other image recognition apps. These usually wouldn't work with current iPhones as fine details are often unreadable.



Bottom photos taken with old iPhone (left), new iPhone (right).

Additionally, the Hong Kong-based leak shows a previously unseen compass-only app that would use the built-in magnetometer for the new model; it's not sure if this would be a default app or is simply a test app to show the feature, as its only role is to indicate the current heading. Other images taken are for features that were already known to exist in the firmware, such as MMS, voice recording and an enhanced stock tracker, though a new CPU Activity app seems designed for engineers looking to check the behavior of the phone and monitor running processes.

While all of the features have been frequently rumored, their appearance in the photos tentatively confirms that some of the 2009 iPhone's biggest improvements will be those that bring it up to par with some of its tougher competitors in sheer features.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Bageljoey]

I'll take two!

[Contegni]

Interesting. Also you can see a chrome bezel in some of the pictures that contradict recent rumors of a black bezel on the next iPhone.

[MacHope theWorld]

Originally Posted by Contegni

Interesting. Also you can see a chrome bezel in some of the pictures that contradict recent rumors of a black bezel on the next iPhone.

I read on MacRumors forum that the internal hardware is new, but placed in the old iPhone 3G casing. sketchy, if i must say.

[MacTripper]

Meanwhile, back in Cupertino town, a loud voice could heard shouting across the highway...

"Get to China and take pictures of everyone's dashboard!"

"No not the software one, their cars!!"

"And take down their mileage too!"

"I'm back just a few days and the ship is leaking secrets like a sieve!"

[Takeo]

Someone just needs to make a sighting / targeting mirror attachment for the iPhone and that compass might actually be useful Then again... a magnetic compass doesn't need batteries.

[hopejr]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

Meanwhile, back in Cupertino town, a loud voice could heard shouting across the highway...

"Get to China and take pictures of everyone's dashboard!"

"No not the software one, their cars!!"

"And take down their mileage too!"

"I'm back just a few days and the ship is leaking secrets like a sieve!"

It looks like the speedo of the latest Toyota Corolla, so there's a place we can start.

[psychodoughboy]

Originally Posted by hopejr

It looks like the speedo of the latest Toyota Corolla, so there's a place we can start.

Oh good, I think they only made a limited run of a couple hundred thousand of those

[SpamSandwich]

Weird. No one can ever manage to take an in-focus picture. These spies aren't very good at their spy biz.

[CanadianMac2008]

Originally Posted by MacHope theWorld

I read on MacRumors forum that the internal hardware is new, but placed in the old iPhone 3G casing. sketchy, if i must say.

Sketchy? Hardly. My best friend works for RIM and has told me that they often put new internals in old casing to maintain secrecy. It's not a stretch of the imagination to think that Apple would do the same.

[Tac22]

hmmm... look at the compass picture... i think i can see their asian faces

[justflybob]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Weird. No one can ever manage to take an in-focus picture. These spies aren't very good at their spy biz.

Perhaps it's because they were scared s**tless while performing the spying.

From the storyline, they ARE in China, you know. I can't imagine the government treating such individuals too kindly if it caused any loss in any factory orders or a reallocation of orders to other manufacturers.

You do remember the certain video card company that got cut off at the knees by Steve because they bragged about being in the new Macs a few years back.... BEFORE the release date?

Just saying.

[Dr Millmoss]

The blurriest spy photos yet -- they must be genuine!

[MacTripper]

Originally Posted by justflybob

Perhaps it's because they were scared s**tless while performing the spying.

Sure didn't have a lot of time, or else he would have uploaded the photos to a computer to see the pictures he took looked like &^#$*!

[applebook]

Why are all UFO photos so out of focus? Are these UFO witnesses that terrible at using cameras?

[nvidia2008]

Now if using Google Maps the Magnetometer will automatically correct for Magnetic North and Geographic North, right? If I remember my high school Geography correctly...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination should be taken into account, especially for Turn-by-Turn services??? How do the Garmin thingys do it? Do they have compasses in them? For conversations' sake. (Don't tell me "Google it")

[Contegni]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Now if using Google Maps the Magnetometer will automatically correct for Magnetic North and Geographic North, right? If I remember my high school Geography correctly...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination should be taken into account, especially for Turn-by-Turn services??? How do the Garmin thingys do it? Do they have compasses in them? For conversations' sake. (Don't tell me "Google it")

I'd imagine they would correct for it - it seems like a not-that-hard thing to do. I don't think Garmins have compasses in them, they use GPS tracking to figure out your heading. If that's the case then they wouldn't be affected by magnetic declination. Then again, I may be completely wrong I'm just guessing

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Weird. No one can ever manage to take an in-focus picture. These spies aren't very good at their spy biz.

He was using an iPhone to take the photos - duh!

[tim0]

check out http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/30/m...-a-test-drive/
They edited the photos to show more clearly some really weird hardware in one of the photos. I kind of noticed that shiny circle at the top of one of the iphone photos and then forgot about it until I saw this link.

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Now if using Google Maps the Magnetometer will automatically correct for Magnetic North and Geographic North, right? If I remember my high school Geography correctly...

The geographical location of the phone could be derived from the GPS. From that, the software just has to use a formula or table to enable a final display of true North.

[hiimamac]

Apple cmon. Lame marketing. Every pro marketing firm knows these so called rumors are from apple and a pr spin really. Blurry Chinese??? Why do people fall fir this? It's all apple controlled. It always starts out as a Chinese or Russian blurry image.
Then talked about and over the silly things.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

A chinese blog has blurry photos that appear to show an iPhone -- possibly the next-generation model -- using autofocusing with its camera, movie recording and the digital compass.

The series of images from UMPCFever make side-by-side comparisons between an older iPhone and the device running the new firmware, which is claimed to be a new iPhone brought over from the US and deliberately shot with blurry detail to avoid confirming details of the physical design. The claim is suspected of being at least partly true as many of the shown features would simply refuse to run on an iPhone 3G, even with iPhone 3.0 firmware installed.

Autofocusing is the most obvious difference and works simply: as with many touchscreen cameras and camera-equipped phones, it's only necessary to tap a particular point of the screen to focus the camera on whatever object is in that point; an aiming rectangle helps confirm where the focus rests. The mode appears to work in both photo and video capture and has a very visible effect on certain shots, bringing text into focus that would otherwise have been blurry with today's fixed-focused model.

Such a feature is expected not only to prove useful for better photos but to enable barcode scanners and other image recognition apps. These usually wouldn't work with current iPhones as fine details are often unreadable.



Bottom photos taken with old iPhone (left), new iPhone (right).

Additionally, the Hong Kong-based leak shows a previously unseen compass-only app that would use the built-in magnetometer for the new model; it's not sure if this would be a default app or is simply a test app to show the feature, as its only role is to indicate the current heading. Other images taken are for features that were already known to exist in the firmware, such as MMS, voice recording and an enhanced stock tracker, though a new CPU Activity app seems designed for engineers looking to check the behavior of the phone and monitor running processes.

While all of the features have been frequently rumored, their appearance in the photos tentatively confirms that some of the 2009 iPhone's biggest improvements will be those that bring it up to par with some of its tougher competitors in sheer features.

[palegolas]

Cool update. Most important update in terms of the camera must be instant start up. Now it takes like 10 seconds or more until you can take your first image. Kodak moment long gone.
I also think one finger touch anywhere on the screen while in camera mode should take a picture. It's not the best solution to have to find that tiny camera button when holding the phone in an uncomfortable position. Two finger touch could focus.

[RichL]

These pictures show why auto-focus is such a useful feature.

[mavis]

Originally Posted by palegolas

Cool update. Most important update in terms of the camera must be instant start up. Now it takes like 10 seconds or more until you can take your first image. Kodak moment long gone.
I also think one finger touch anywhere on the screen while in camera mode should take a picture. It's not the best solution to have to find that tiny camera button when holding the phone in an uncomfortable position. Two finger touch could focus.

Indeed. Hopefully the faster processor will help about a bit as far as start-up times go ...

[Abster2core]

Most of the time, AI posts reference links in order to back up their editorials. Too bad that many don't take the time to check them out before they comment.

As here,* if everybody did there would be less criticism or damning commentary. Or at least, it would be more constructive.

* http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

[solipsism]

The magnetometer will come in very handy for my travels.

Originally Posted by Contegni

Interesting. Also you can see a chrome bezel in some of the pictures that contradict recent rumors of a black bezel on the next iPhone.

They could be disguising the device for testing or the rumors of different device types, high-end/low-end or world/Chinese versions will be made to look different.

Originally Posted by Contegni

I'd imagine they would correct for it - it seems like a not-that-hard thing to do. I don't think Garmins have compasses in them, they use GPS tracking to figure out your heading. If that's the case then they wouldn't be affected by magnetic declination. Then again, I may be completely wrong I'm just guessing

GPSs locate cardinal directions from movement. If you flipped the device around 180° but still going in the same direction the display would not reorientate itself.

I hope that Google will use this compass in their maps software. Often, when I look for a direction it starts me out going in the opposite direction on the highway, getting off at an exit and then getting back on. Not a big deal, but it does mean I have to repeat the lookup until it gets it right or click next many times to get to my current point. This would be able to eliminate that if it knew my current heading.

PS: I really hope that the next Mac notebooks have GPS chip with an API that ties into the world clock weather widget, as well as allow websites to use your current location, like Google Maps and movie theater websites, to quickly location your position without the rigamarole of manually looking up and then typing in your location everywhere I go. I use my iPhone for this simply because it’s easier, but it does have its limitations.

Originally Posted by hiimamac

Apple cmon. Lame marketing. Every pro marketing firm knows these so called rumors are from apple and a pr spin really. Blurry Chinese??? Why do people fall fir this? It's all apple controlled. It always starts out as a Chinese or Russian blurry image.
Then talked about and over the silly things.

On a Saturday? It’s certainly possible and offers cheap advertising, but if it’s true we should definitely see more juicy stuff come out the day of the Palm Pre, though so close to WWDC it wouldn’t prove anything one way or the other, but it would help your theory out a bit if there were some great iPhone 3G 2.0 shots leaked next weekend.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Weird. No one can ever manage to take an in-focus picture. These spies aren't very good at their spy biz.

"All pictures were taken with iPhones" LOL (yeah, I made it up - sue me!)

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by Ireland

"All pictures were taken with iPhones" LOL (yeah, I made it up - sue me!)

Is there an echo in here?

[Quadra 610]

But will it run Crysis?

[randfee]

oh please guys....
these Apple spy photos are always crappy because they were shot using in iPhone!!!! gg


Seriously, the iPhone camera sucks big time. The ONE thing I keep getting mad about every day. I've had the K750, K800, 3 years prior to the iPhone they had way way better cameras. I used them on a daily basis to photograph sheets that I would have copied otherwise, a HUGE time saver and less wasted copies. Then there was THE IPHONE. Great device, useless camera, Apple-idiots in this regard!

I hope they changed that, otherwise I won't get the new one, I don't need a compass or more speed, hell, I don't even have GPS yet but wtf, its not a proper device anyway, just works with a cellular network, what if there is none?

[freeny]

Edited

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by randfee

oh please guys....
these Apple spy photos are always crappy because they were shot using in iPhone!!!! gg


Seriously, the iPhone camera sucks big time. The ONE thing I keep getting mad about every day. I've had the K750, K800, 3 years prior to the iPhone they had way way better cameras. I used them on a daily basis to photograph sheets that I would have copied otherwise, a HUGE time saver and less wasted copies. Then there was THE IPHONE. Great device, useless camera, Apple-idiots in this regard!

I hope they changed that, otherwise I won't get the new one, I don't need a compass or more speed, hell, I don't even have GPS yet but wtf, its not a proper device anyway, just works with a cellular network, what if there is none?

I’d wager that the phones you mention are probably twice as thick as the iPhone. A better camera does require a certain level of physical space. If you want a good camera then a cellphone shouldn’t never be considered. If you want a good camera-phone camera then the iPhone shouldn’t be a consideration. It’s impossible to excel in every area, to expect otherwise is to expect disappointment. The iPhone will always be forced to limit its camera potential when compared to larger devices.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

But will it run Crysis?

It will run the iphone version of Crysis, which will have the name Crysis but will be another 2D point and tap game. A screenshot of a field of grass and enemies just popping up that you have to tap to kill.

I don't really see much point in the photos with relation to the new iphone, A lot of them show software changes that presumably will be available for the older phones too.

The interesting part of the new phone is the spec and any hardware changes such as rubber back, glowing Apple logo etc.

The pictures also look like there's a chrome bezel not a black one so perhaps that rumor is false, or this is just a release of the 3.0 software on a current generation phone and the next-gen phone isn't anywhere in sight.

[hiimamac]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

I'll take two!

Oh my

Wonders never cease. A compass. Wow. Unbelievable. I can't believe it took so long. Like wow by golly by molly. Woe a compass. Man oh man. Oh boy a compuss. Time to turn my 3g phone in if the software doest help. A compuss. Wow.

LOL.

[rorober]

that this guy took the first picture, pushed his trip button, buckled his seatbelt, and then took the second picture.

[TBell]

The Chinese blog notes the Unit in the photo is a test unit, which isn't necessary the actual model that will ship.

Originally Posted by Contegni

Interesting. Also you can see a chrome bezel in some of the pictures that contradict recent rumors of a black bezel on the next iPhone.

[cnocbui]

The SE K750i is 20.5mm thick, the iPhone 3g is 11.6mm

The K750i was introduced 4 years ago and still to this day has easily one of the best cameras in a phone. While I understand you need certain physical dimensions for a camera, the one in the K750i does not take up the full depth by a long shot. With a bit of lateral thinking using folded optics via a mirror or prism, the optical path requirements could be accommodated I am sure.

There are camera modules of 2mp which use liquid lens systems with autofocus only 8.1mm deep.

The idea that you can not have a decent camera in a phone was disproved 4 years ago. Apple have few excuses IMO.

Has anyone else noticed that in the first photo demonstrating the camera, the blue box denoting the autofocus area (presumably) is not central?

That seems to imply the focus point can be manually designated. If that is so, I think the camera in the new phone might be very good, as there is no point providing features like that if the end result does not justify the bother involved in providing and using them.

[freediverx]

The difference in the two speedometer photos has more to do with color balance and exposure than with autofocus. They're both in focus but the fuzzier one seems to have a longer exposure.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by hiimamac

Apple cmon. Lame marketing. Every pro marketing firm knows these so called rumors are from apple and a pr spin really. Blurry Chinese??? Why do people fall fir this? It's all apple controlled. It always starts out as a Chinese or Russian blurry image.
Then talked about and over the silly things.

Don't be an idiot. It always starts out as a Russian or Chinese "blurry pic" because those are the two places where people can get their hands on the latest tech but also places where the law doesn't reach. It's been that way for a while.

There are people in North America right now with demo models of the new iPhone, they are just trustworthy, law-abiding types who are within reach of the Apple legal department. If Apple could stop the guys in the Chinese factories ripping off their stuff they would. If Apple could stop the Russian mob from stealing everything before it even comes to market they would.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by palegolas

Cool update. Most important update in terms of the camera must be instant start up. Now it takes like 10 seconds or more until you can take your first image. Kodak moment long gone....

I know the thing is a little slow, but this is a gross exaggeration.

It takes two seconds for the camera to be ready, not "ten or more."