Apple could be looking to vastly improve the quality of the iPhone's camera, and has bought an Israeli company called LinX, which specializes in advanced camera technology.
The acquisition is significant because of LinX's technology. In fact, the company announced last year a new miniature camera that was only half the height of current mobile cameras and was able to deliver stunning image quality.
"The image quality of mobile cameras has reached a dead end. Device makers are striving to differentiate using imaging capabilities but the pixel size race has ended and next generation cameras do not reveal any dramatic improvements. LinX cameras revolutionize mobile photography and broaden the usability span and user experience, allowing us to leave our SLRs at home," says LinX.
LinX says that its goal is to eventually allow users to ditch their SLR cameras, making for a far more portable professional quality camera.
Apple has consistently kept the camera in the iPhone at the forefront of mobile camera technology, boasting images that look far better than most other mobile devices on the market.
LinX itself says that in using a smaller sensor rather than a larger one, it is able to make cameras far more light-sensitive, which is especially ideal in low light situations. LinX cameras are essentially built using systems of sensors that are able to detect different depths of field in one image. It then uses an algorithm to put all the different information together into a 3D photo. The company was first founded in 2011 by an ex-Samsung employee along with an optics specialist in Israel.
"The engineers at LinX have solved all problems associated with combining multiple images captured from different points in space such as registration errors and occlusion related artifacts which are seen on competing technologies," continued LinX.
Apple has, in the past, released major camera improvements in its "S" releases, of which one is upcoming. Apple's next smartphone will likely be called the iPhone 6S, in keeping with the tradition that Apple has put in place ever since the iPhone 3GS.
It is unknown if Apple made the acquisition for the technology itself, the personnel from the company, or both. Only time will tell how Apple implements this move. Apple has remained silent apart from its standard response to acquisitions.
"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," said an Apple spokesperson in a statement.
