The Evolution of the Camera Phone

Released back in 2006, the Grundig Mobile X5000, a hybrid flip-phone and video camera, was notable for its interesting form factor. The display half flipped up and could be twisted around in much the same manner as the flip-out display for a standalone video camera. With a 6-megapixel image sensor, the camera was able to shoot 640 x 480, 30fps video to a mini-SD card. A few images of the X5000 in action can be seen at the NewMobile site.

By 2007, the first cell phones and other consumer products appeared using the Tardis technology to make the move from still cameras to full motion video

On January 17th, 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to encourage people to use their camera-phones to capture crimes happening in progress or dangerous situations and send them to emergency responders. Through the program, people will be able to send their images or video directly to 911.

In 2008, Nokia sold more camera phones than Kodak sold film based simple cameras, thus becoming the biggest manufacturer of any kind of camera.

The Samsung Memoir, released in 2009, was a good example of how a mobile phone camera can be implemented in an intriguing way. Instead of a being a phone with a minimal camera added, this was a point-and-shoot camera with an Android-powered phone added.

In 2010, the worldwide number of camera phones totaled more than a billion. Most mobile phones, even inexpensive ones, were being sold with a camera. High end camera phones usually had a relatively good lens and high resolution, but a small sensor.

The Nokia N8's camera specs are striking, closer to a standalone point-and-shoot than a phone: 12 megapixels, a genuine glass Carl Zeiss lens (f/2.8, 5.9mm focal length) and a Xenon flash instead of the usual LED. (It only shoots 720p video, however.) What's less clear is if Nokia will produce another device to follow in its upscale footsteps: The N8-00 was released in October 2010, and all the following models in Nokia's N series have only had 8-megapixel cameras.

The HTC Evo 3D (released in June 2011) packed two different imaging innovations into one phone. Not only did it shoot 3D images and movies (up to 720p for movies and 5 megapixels for stills), it played back 3D content on its own stereoscopic display (and you didn't need separate glasses).

Many of the incremental revisions that Apple made to the iPhone 4 when it was revised as the iPhone 4S revolved around the camera. It was bumped from a 5-megapixel to an 8-megapixel sensor, with a larger f/2.4 aperture (to admit more light) and an infrared filter to allow better color reproduction. The iPhone 4 shot 720p video; the iPhone 4S shoots 1080p video. (The makers of the Camera+ app did their own side-by-side comparisons.) One feature that's not new (it was in the iPhone 4) but still noteworthy is back-side illumination for the image sensor, for even greater light sensitivity.

Polaroid, struggling to reinvent itself in the digital era, has produced its own variation on the Memoir's camera-with-phone concept. With 16 megapixels, a 3X optical zoom and 720p video recording, the SC1630's camera specs are more than competent. The "phone" side is essentially a touch-screen Android device sans cell access (at least, as of this writing) but with Wi-Fi connectivity (and with access to the Google Play market, so yes, you can run Instagram).

Sony's forthcoming Android 2.3-powered Xperia Ion will sport a 12-megapixel sensor and Carl Zeiss glass optics; it will also be capable of 1080p video. The images will be viewable on a 4.6-in. high definition, 1280-x-720-pixel display. The AT&T phone is expected to ship sometime in the second quarter of 2012.