Eight megapixels seems to be the norm at the top end of the smartphone market (for example in the Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 4S) with the occasional phone using 12MP (Sony Xperia S) and one or two with 16MP (HTC Titan II). But now that could all change as a company called OmniVision Technologies, who make camera sensors for phones, tablets (like the Asus Transformer Prime) and video equipment, has released a new 16MP chip. The OV16825 (don’t you just love part numbers?) is capable of full resolution 16-megapixel burst photography and can record 30 frames per second video at 4608 x 3456. For 3840 x 2160 video the frame rate jumps to 60 FPS, and 1080p HD video is at 60 FPS with extra pixels for electronic image stabilization (EIS) on top!

The actual sensor is fully programmable and handset manufactuers will be able to uses its inbuilt image processing functions, including defective pixel and noise canceling, image scaling, frame rate, exposure and gain. “The OV16825 provides top-tier imaging and video recording capabilities for flagship smartphones,” said Devang Patel, senior product marketing manager at OmniVision in a statement.

The sensor should enter into full production during Q4 this year which might equate to some interesting 16MP phones being available in time before the end of year!

Do you need 16MP?

But the question that begs to be asked is this – do you need a 16MP camera in your phone? Don’t get me wrong, I love smartphones with decent cameras. Many times I’ve wanted to take a picture of the kids or of a lovely view and the only camera I had with me was my phone. Yes to 4MP, yes please to 8MP… But 16MP? Is that too much? Putting it into context, Apple’s new iPad has a 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution display at 264 pixels per inch (ppi). Such a screen can show only one quarter of a 16MP picture. To put it simply: the average 16MP image needs to be shrunk down 4 times to fit on the screen. Ok, what about my desktop PC? The average screen resolution will be around 1600 x 900 and even top end monitors are only around 2560 × 1920. HDTV is 1920 × 1080 and so on. The question remains: how am I going to view these 16MP pictures in a non-awkward fashion?

I am sure there are some advantages to using 16MP over say 8MP in terms of quality and I am sure that there is a place for such high definitions in video equipment, but this is a phone we are talking about.

What do you think? Am I wrong? Do you crave a 16MP camera in your phone? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

We all know how competitive the network carrier market is in the US. Apart from network coverage (including LTE availability now) and pricing, another major factor for US subscribers in choosing carriers is device options. For example, the iPhone was released exclusively locked to the AT&T network, leading to T-Mobile losing big in the race for network dominance, almost reaching the point of being bought out by AT&T.

Even if a device is available on multiple networks, carriers still attempt some form of differentiation, and in some extreme cases, as seen with the HTC One X (for AT&T) and the HTC EVO 4G (for Sprint), creating a seemingly completely new device (both devices are essentially the same, with minor internal differences, but major design changes).

The good news for US residents eagerly awaiting the release of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is that it looks like Samsung’s latest flagship device is heading to all 4 major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile). Of course, whether the Galaxy S3 will go the way of the HTC EVO 4G is yet to be seen, with Samsung and all US carriers going back into the wildly successful (as seen with the S3 launch) “ninja” mode.

The US release of the Galaxy S3 is slated for June this year, but to satiate your S3 fix until then, below are the first tests of the 8MP camera featured in the device, courtesy of PocketNow. Granted, these aren’t the best pictures that could have been taken to test the camera out, with a few of them looking like the images were taken by mistake, but anything is good that helps pass the time until we can get our hands on the device.

 AT&T (SGH-I747)

Verizon (SCH-I535)

T-Mobile (SGH-T999)

Sprint (SPH-l710)

NEXT: All we know about the Samsung Galaxy S3 in the United States: Prices, availability, versions, and release date

Samsung Galaxy W Shown in New Press Shots; Heading to T-Mobile as Samsung Exhibit II 4G iPhone 4S Gets Demolished in Drop Test, Samsung Galaxy S2 Lives to Android Another Day

The One X is HTC’s new flagship and, even though it hasn’t yet been made available in the United States and most other important markets, is one of the hottest Android handsets around.

With a Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood, a very thin body, and a sophisticated and stylish look, the One X is certainly one of Android’s biggest  hopes in the everlasting battle against the iPhone.

But aside from the awesome performance and cool looks, the guys at HTC are also confident that they’ll make a difference with the rear-facing camera on the One X, a camera that is supposedly “better than the iPhone 4S’ shooter”, according to official claims.

That’s a very bold statement, considering Apple’s very popular and capable cameras, but it might not be as far from reality as it sounded the first time, if we are to trust a CNET review from a couple of days ago.

The guys at CNET took both cameras for a quick spin and, after looking at seven photographs delivered in the same conditions, they reached the conclusion… that it’s impossible to reach a clear conclusion right now.

If you are a bit confused, it’s understandable, but let’s take a hard look at the photos, one by one, and see what we can say about the two cameras.

The first one (above) is a sample shot of a CNET staffer’s desk, clearly showing that the iPhone 4S is capable of producing warmer colors than the HTC One X. I think that there’s no question here about which one of the two cameras produced with the brightest, clearest image, so let’s move on.

The second pic (the first one from the gallery at the end of the post), which is a close look at the first images (at 100% crop), brings the first good news for HTC. While it’s practically impossible to set the two images apart, the One X’ shot seems just a tad sharper and clearer if you look at it closely. The guys at CNET are claiming that HTC’s camera was a “bit noisier”, but, in my opinion, the difference is to small to count.

The third face-off  (the second pic in the gallery) is probably the most important one, being CNET’s standard test shot and probably the one thing that interests all technology users. To be honest, I am not that artistic and don’t usually take pictures in low lighting and with all sorts of effects, so I am primarily interested in how normal, regular photos look on a smartphone’s camera.

The iPhone 4S seems to have more natural colors and a slightly better exposure, but then again, for me personally, both these pics look darn good, so I’ll call this battle a tie.

The next CNET photo (the third in the gallery below) is another 100% crop, but I’m not going to insist on it, because we commented on the 100% crop close look earlier, so it’s only natural to reach pretty much the same conclusions.

The lowlight test (the fourth pic in the gallery), on the other hand, is probably the first clear victory for One X. The image on the left is clearly sharper than the one on the right, so, after all, it might seem that the guys at HTC  were on to something when they boldly stated that the One X has a better camera than the iPhone.

HTC’s flagship continues to impress in terms of HDR (high dynamic range) imaging, where there are very notable differences and a clear upper hand for the One X (the image below).

Finally, the close-up section of CNET’s comparison (the last pic in the gallery) seems to be another win for the HTC One X. Once more, we have a sharper image from the One X, but the differences are not that significant and we must admit that iPhone 4S’ pic looks pretty good as well.

All in all, even though I haven’t been on the same page with CNET’s editors on all the seven face-offs between the HTC One X and iPhone 4S, I must say that I agree with them on the conclusion. Neither of the two cameras can be clearly called the better one right now, as they are both pretty great and have their own set of upsides and downsides.

However, although HTC’s claims seem to be only partially backed in reality, we have to admit that it’s not easy to come close to Apple’s performance in terms of cameras, let alone to defeat them.

Congrats, HTC! The One X, with its beautiful screen, high processing performance, and excellent camera shapes up to be one of the best mobile devices of  2012.

NEXT: Camera Wars: iPhone 4S vs the Android Elite

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If you talk about photo-editing applications for Android, there are already so many of these on the market, ranging from the most complicated and the most sophisticated down to the simplest and the easiest to use.  Adding to the already long list of photo-editing apps is Pix: Pixel Mixer, which features a simple and effect-packed photo editing interface. While other photo-editing apps can beat Pix: Pixel Mixer in terms of sophistication, in terms of simplicity and quality, there’s no doubt that this app can deliver to you finely edited photos.

Most photo editing apps are designed to be used by the pro and the hobbyist or enthusiast, leaving beginners intimidated.  In such cases, beginners need to invest some time just to learn the functions of those apps, yet even that won’t guarantee that one can optimize the app’s functions and come up with great photo edits. This is precisely why easy-to-use photo-editing apps like Pix: Pixel Mixer are in demand.

Using Pix: Pixel Mixer

Pix: Pixel Mixer is the way to go if you want a photo-editing app that is both very versatile and user-friendly. This app also lets you edit photos quickly by using several photo effects, layers, filters and frames. But, that’s not just plain editing. The great thing about this app is that it lets you apply several effects to your photo at the same time.

The app allows you to create your own custom effects to add some personal touch to your photos. Or, if you’re in the mood for something wanton, there is also a random effects option that lets you apply various effects in  just a tap.

Pix: Pixel Mixer also has a built-in camera function, so you can use it to instantly capture photos before apply effects on the photos.  A sharing function is also available so that you can send your photos to your contacts on your favorite social media.

As soon as you launch the app, you can start editing right away.  No registration is needed. You can import photos from your gallery and edit them using the app.  Or, if you don’t have any in your gallery, you can always snap an image and edit it.

At the bottom of the app’s editing interface are the five main buttons that will help you do most of the tasks you need to do on a photo.  The first three buttons (Wand, Film Reel, and Border) are for applying various effects.  Tapping on any of the three buttons will bring up a strip of thumbnails showing the various effects that you can apply to the photo being currently edited.

If you have a filter or effect that you like so much and frequently use, simply add it to your favorites by tapping the Star button.

If you’re in for surprises, you can apply random filters to your photo by tapping the Flash button.

As if the app’s features aren’t amazing enough, the app’s performance is also worth noting.  Some photo editing apps apply multiple filters and effects with noticeable lag or wait time.  But, in the case of Pix: Pixel Mixer, we did not notice any lag.  Arguably, however, the processing speed may also depend on the hardware of your Android device.

Try an easy-to-use photo editor that lets you sit easy and comfortably with just tap-tap photo editing.  You can grab Pix: Pixel Mixer free from the Google Play Store.

NEXT: How to Capture Photos with Vintage, B&W, Film Scratch Effects

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If there’s ever been a nit to pick with most smartphones, it was usually related with the phone’s camera.

In this area, Nokia (regardless of its dwindling market share) has been far ahead of the competition, with the 12MP Carl Zeiss-lensed camera on the Nokia N8 blowing the competition out of the water. Now, the Finnish company managed to raise the bar even higher with the introduction of the Nokia PureView 808 phone, that features an unheard-of 41MP camera!

About the Nokia Pureview 808

The Nokia PureView 808 was introduced at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. Before moving on to the device’s most distinctive feature – the camera – let’s take a few minutes to talk about the phone itself.

The PureView 808 is primarily aimed at camera enthusiasts, so, as with any niche phone, Nokia had to do a few compromises in other departments. First and foremost, considering Nokia’s intense promotional campaign for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5, it’s a little surprising to find that the PureView 808 runs Symbian Belle OS. This is even more confusing when you consider that Nokia announced that Symbian will be “sunset” in the US market in 2012. (Even though there’s been no official announcement, is this a sign that the PureView 808 will not reach US shores?) Secondly, the phone is of a decidedly chunky design, which is further emphasized by the large camera pod on the back. The phone looks and feels more like a regular digital camera than most of the smartphones found on the market today.

Nokia PureView 808 specs include:

• 4-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, with ClearBlack technology
• 640×360 resolution (184 ppi)
• 1.3 Ghz ARM 11 processor
• 512 MB RAM
• 16GB in built memory, expandable with microSD
• HDMI out port, mini USB port
• 1400 mAH battery
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• NFC enabled

The whopping 41MP camera on PureView’s 808 back

The camera

Nokia has always been eager to push the boundaries of hardware, and it really outdone itself with the camera on the PureView 808. The 1/1.2 inch (largest size of any current smartphone) camera with Carl Zeiss lens boasts an incredible sensor resolution of over 41MP when capturing stills (34MP when shooting in a 16:9 aspect ratio), with a 3X lossless zoom.

It also shoots continuous-focus 1080p video, with 4X lossless zoom. At lower resolutions, zoom capabilities increase at 6X for 720p and 12X for nHD (640×360) resolutions. With the PureView 808, Nokia sets new standards in audio recording, as well. It’s the first video recording device to offer distortion-less audio recording even in the harshest environments, giving users CD-like audio quality.

How does it work?

Packing a huge sensor with almost four times the resolution of other phone cameras does not necessarily translate into better pictures. In fact, smaller pixels collect less light and reduce image quality. The trick employed by Nokia to solve this conundrum is to use only a part of the full resolution of the sensor, especially when shooting small pictures. As a result, the PureView’s 808 camera defaults to a 5MP setting. Through a process called over-sampling, Nokia combines seven pixels into one super pixel. This reduces image noise in low light conditions and makes noise non-existent in good lighting.

Over-sampling also allows for lossless digital zoom. As you zoom out, the over-sampling reduces until you reach the limit of the actual resolution. So, if the setting is at 10MP, you can continue to zoom out until it uses a 10MP area of the sensor. Unlike the digital zoom on most cameras, which only “blow up” a picture, reducing image quality, in the case of PureView 808, there is no upscaling, leaving a pure 10MP image. Reducing or increasing the resolution has the same effect on the lossless zoom, i.e. at 5MP, the zoom is 3X, but at 10MP, it will be lower. Nokia has also added a new Slide Zoom feature which allows you to zoom in and out by moving your finger up and down anywhere on the display. Since there are no moving optical components, you will not hear the zooming, which can be important when you record video.

The bottom line, even if it’s possible to change the setting of the PureView 808 to take pictures at 41MP, that is not Nokia’s primary reason for using such a large sensor. Instead, the huge sensor size is needed to provide the advanced zoom and the noise reduction feature we’ve described above.

Sample image taken with the PureView 808

Performance

The 1400 mAh battery provides 11 hours of talk time over 2G, 6.5 hour over 3G, and an impressive 465 hours of standby time. We don’t have yet information on how will the powerful camera of the PureView 808 affect battery life, especially when doing HD video recording. Answering this question will require us to put the device through a hands-on session, which will be able to do once the Nokia PureView 808 is released, in May 2012.

The Future

With the announcement of the PureView 808, a popular phrase comes to mind, adapted to say “one small step for Nokia, one giant leap for mobile camera technology.” Nokia was already leading the pack with the 12MP camera on the N8 (where most high-end Android devices feature 8MP), and has now upped the ante to new limits. It’s difficult to say whether Android device manufacturers will adopt similar technologies in the near future. But in a highly competitive market, with manufacturers striving to one-up each other with every new device, it’s not inconceivable to imagine a future where your next Android device will feature the brilliant camera technology we see in the PureView 808.

Here is a video to help you further understand the technological marvel that is the Nokia PureView 808.

NEXT: Enjoying the ICS Camera on a non-ICS phone

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Whether you’ve given in to the Ice Cream Sandwich craze, or you’ve been trying to resist it, you can’t deny the temptation. When Ice Cream Sandwich arrived on phones, it brought more with it than just a sleek new look.

It also packed a stock camera app that was equipped with a user-friendly interface and functions that got everyone crazy over their cameras. With built-in file sharing options,  zero shutter lag,  tap-to-focus, integrated support for 180 degree panoramic shots, and face detection to name a few, shutterbugs loved their phones more than ever.

Thanks to Moblynx, even users of Froyo and Gingerbread will get to experience what shooting pictures on Ice Cream Sandwich is like.  Say hello to Camera ICS, a port of the stock camera app on Ice Cream Sandwich devices.

Camera ICS practically replicates the stock app’s look and carries over many of its features for non-ICS devices. You get access to camera features such as multiple color effects, picture quality settings, custom focus and the ability to grab panoramic shots.

Need to snap a candid shot? You now have access to silent mode which turns off the shutter sound. You can even select video bitrate and toggle video stabilization for some versions of Android.

Can’t wait to get home to share your newest shot? Tap on the thumbnail of your photo and you’ll be able to preview and share it through a compatible app.

Camera ICS has even included support for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets which allows them to capture time-lapse videos.

If your device sports a front facing camera, you’ll now find it easier than ever to switch to rear-facing cameras. Adjust zoom levels using a slide and launch the app’s extended settings menus that carry options like scene mode.

At the time of this writing, Camera ICS versions for Froyo or Gingerbead are missing a few features such as tap-to-focus, face detection and zero shutter lag. Hopefully, these little glitches, together with some reported compatibility issues with some phone models, will be smoothed over in future versions. Despite these snags, the app looks good as a handy alternative to stock camera apps and should inspire users to unleash their inner photographer.

If that’s got your mouth watering, you can get the ad-supported Camera ICS app free on the Google Play Store. If you would like to support the developer, as well as remove the ads, you can also purchase Camera ICS+ on the Google Play Store.

NEXT: Duarte Demoes Android 4.0 Camera Tricks

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The funny thing about technology that many in the tech world don’t fully understand (or don’t want to understand) is the fact that a product doesn’t need to be perfect to be successful. There are many concepts that show that “good enough” is, at least sometimes, all the users are asking for.

The MP3 format removes much of the original information in a recording for the sake of a smaller size, but users don’t seem to mind, although music luminaries regularly argue against lossy formats. The same thing for JPG vs. RAW. And let’s not start analyzing why users love the Kindle Fire, with all its flaws and inconsistencies.

Which brings us to the problem that point-and-shoot camera makers are facing these days. People don’t seem to care that the average camera is better than the average smartphone in terms of megapixels, sensors, or lens quality. What they do care about is the fact that a smartphone is more convenient to use than any camera.

While Smartphone Usage Skyrockets, Cameras and Camcorders Stagnate

Even at resolutions of 3MP, the average Samsung or Motorola smartphone is “good enough” for most consumers. According to a report from IC Insights, an Arizona-based market research firm specializing in the semi-conductors industry, the market for PaS cameras and camcorders will grow by a mere 2.1% through 2015. Not exactly a race to the bottom, but consider that the PaS market grew by a yearly 37% until 2005, and it screeched to a 9% rate since 2005. It’s no coincidence that around 2005 we saw the first smartphones to deliver 3MP resolutions, which appears to be the “good enough” threshold for most consumers.

Meanwhile, smartphones are rocketing, with huge growth rates year over year. comScore recently announced that there are more than a 100 million smartphone users in the U.S., and, with no slowing down in sight, it won’t be long until feature phones become a dwindling minority.

Here’s a nifty graph that shows the huge discrepancy between smartphones and cameras.

Do PaS Cameras Stand a Chance of Survival?

Point-and-Shoot makers know that their business is heading to the drain, and try to slow the process down by integrating some of the benefits of smartphones into their PaS and camcorders. The most obvious problem of cameras is the lack of connectivity. With your average Point-and-Shoot, you can’t just hit a button to post your exploits to Facebook, or upload your snaps to the cloud. WiFi-enabled PaS cameras are nothing new, but the smartphone’s killer feature is the 3G connectivity, which, currently, few cameras have.

Although some camera-makers have tried to create Android phone/cameras hybrids to address the issue of connectivity, they are fighting a losing battle. Once they go on that path, they’ll compete with the Galaxy S3, the HTC One X, or even the 41MP Nokia PureView 808. Needless to say, they won’t stand a chance.

The truth is smartphones are not only more convenient than Point-and-Shoots, they are also getting better at making pictures, by the day. Camera makers better have a good exit strategy.

How about you? When did you last time use your Point-and-Shoot camera?

NEXT: Android Quad-Core Smartphones!

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There’s nothing more exciting than traveling to different places around the world with your friends and taking great pictures of amazing and breathtaking views. To do that you can use special cameras, but they are too uncomfortably bulky for carrying.  Why not use your Android phone instead?

Your Android device, with the help of some app, can be a more portable substitute of a regular digital camera. There are quite a lot of photography apps in the Android Market, but not all of them let you capture panoramic pictures.  Thankfully, there are apps like Panorama Pro that would let you capture panoramas without using a special camera.

Using Panorama Pro, not only can you capture panoramic pictures using your Android device but also apply photo effects on your pictures and share your photos to your favorite social networking sites instantly.

What Is Panorama Pro?

Panorama Pro is simply a photography app for Android devices whose chief feature is the ability to snap 180-degree, high-quality panoramas.   Aside from that, you can enrich your panoramic photo with special effects that can give them a more dramatic look.  Just set the effect beforehand, capture the photo in one sweeping motion, and voila! Panoramic photo with effects.

The app also allows easy photo sharing so you can instantly share your photos to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  The app includes its own photo gallery feature, which you can use to view, organize, manage, or share the photos you captured using the app.

Capturing Panoramic Pictures

Whether you are a professional photographer or a newbie, it doesn’t really matter that much.  The app makes panoramic photography as easy as a walk in the park.  The interface itself is extremely intuitive and easy to work around in.

When you first launch the app, you are immediately introduced to its features through some help screens. If you choose to take some pictures, the app switches to its image capturing mode. At the same time, the sides of the screen also displays various controls.

Once in the image capturing mode you are ready to capture panoramic photos. You just need to constantly move the camera horizontally either from right to left or left to right. The slider at the bottom of the screen will guide you in your progress in capturing the panorama. All you need is some steady hands to capture great pictures but you can always practice until you get the perfect shot.

Great Effects

You can also add some effects to your pictures.  Using the on-screen controls, you can use various photo effects and switch the flashlight on or off.  For now, Panorama Pro offers only three photo effects: old photo, color sketch, and black and white. Though, one can be pretty sure that more improvements and more photo effects will be added in future versions.

Once you have captured your panoramic photo, the app takes you to another screen where you can preview, discard, or share the photo that you have captured. Using the one-click sharing feature, just tap the share button to share your photo to your social networking site. You can also add captions to your photo before you share it.

Shoot panoramic photos now using your Android phone.  Download and install Panorama Pro free from the Android Market.

Are you fond of panorama shots?  What app do you use for taking panoramas?

NEXT: On-the-go Photo Editing and Sharing with Lightbox Photos App for Android

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Historically, HTC smartphones were well-known for their design and hardware, but in one important aspect, they lagged behind the competition, and that is cameras. While over the last years, models such as the Sensation 4G repaired some of that bad reputation, HTC just couldn’t claim that it offers top-notch cameras on their smartphones.

But that’s about to change. To promote the freshly launched One series, including the One X, One S, and One V, HTC put emphasis on two major attributes – the authentic sound (the phones integrate Beats Audio technology) and the amazing camera. And from what we’ve seen so far, HTC has finally nailed it when it comes to cameras.

ImageSense – a Leap Forward for HTC

A part of the new Sense 4 UI overlay, ImageSense is HTC’s new camera and imaging features suite. With ImageSense, HTC tries to finally provide an imaging experience that can differentiate (in a good way) HTC’s devices from its competitors. So, what does HTC ImageSense bring to the table?

Here’s a quick rundown of the camera and imaging features of the new HTC One series:

• Super-fast capture – the 8MP HTC One X can take a picture from standby in just 0.7 seconds. By comparison, the average blink of an eye takes 0.4 seconds. Pretty darn impressive. Auto-focus is supposed to take just 0.2 seconds (who can measure it?), which makes it possible to take several pics per second. The new HTC One devices don’t even have burst mode – why would you need it, when you can just keep the shutter button pressed and take as many snapshots as you want? The guys at Phandroid even pitched the One X against the Galaxy Nexus, and the winner at speed, was the HTC, hands down.

• Better low-lighting photos – with an aperture of f/2.0, the devices in HTC’s new One series are able to capture more light than other smartphones, allowing you to take great pics even in low-lighting conditions or even no-lighting at all. For those bad lighting situations, the new HTCs also boast a single-LED Smart Flash that is tunable on five levels of brightness. During the press event at MWC, the Taiwanese also showed off the HDR technology in their new One phones. Here’s a screenshot from a DigitalTrends video that shows precisely how the One X does in terms of HDR processing, contrasted to an iPhone4.

• Simultaneous video recording and photo snapping – this one’s cool – you can take high-res photos while recording HD video on your HTC One smartphone, without interrupting the shooting. Just tap on the shutter button and the device will capture a photo in the background.
• Integrated Dropbox and simple sharing – while not exactly an imaging feature, the Dropbox integration makes photo management and backup much easier. With a good WiFi connection, your photos will automatically be synced to the cloud, and they’ll eventually find their way to your computer. No more manual syncing. The new HTCs give you 25GB of free Dropbox storage space (for two years) and you’re not limited to photos, so you can save your other docs in the cloud, as well. Another neat trick – with the HDMI wireless accessory, you can instantly display your photos on any HDMI-enabled TV, no cables required.

The new HTC ImageSense surely seems promising. HTC worked hard to wipe off the bad reputation that its devices had when it came to cameras, and ImageSense shows that the clean slate strategy might just work. From early hands-on reviews, it appears that HTC did deliver what it promised, so kudos to them. It’s great to see that manufacturers move away from the megapixels race (except for Nokia) and focus on making smartphone cameras easier to use and better at taking beautiful snapshots.

What about you? What’s your experience with HTC cameras? Do you look forward to giving the new HTC Ones a shot?

NEXT: Huawei Diamond Series to be Revealed at MWC?

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A recently posted article on PCWorld discusses the reality as to whether the the new iPhone 4S can capture still images and videos better than the latest and best Android smartphones. The iPhone 4S was put to the test against the Samsung Galaxy S II, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide, the Motorola DROID Bionic, the HTC Sensation 4G, and the Nikon Coolpix P300. How do they stack up?

To compare the camera of the smartphones, each device was fixed on a tripod and used to capture three images and videos from the same location and under the same lighting conditions After the photos and videos were taken, they were shown (unlabeled) to a panel of five judges.

The criteria or basis of the judging were as follows: exposure — 25%, color — 30%, sharpness — 30%, and distortion — 15%.  The results were tallied for the overall rating and score of each device.

Image Quality Results (courtesy of PCWorld)

In the results for overall image quality, the T-mobile myTouch 4G Slide ranked on top of the other phones, but the Samsung Galaxy S II was not far behind with a differential of only 0.7 points followed by the Apple’s iPhone 4s which is only behind it by 0.3 points.

Image Quality Category Results (courtesy of PCWorld)

The images were also evaluated based on quality categories for still image quality. The T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide had the sharpest and most accurate shots; the Samsung Galaxy S II had the most evenly exposed pics (without using flash), and  the iPhone 4S captured photos with no distortion and has balanced scores in other criteria. This proves that the automated white balance feature of iPhone 4s is very accurate.

Video Quality Results (courtesy of PCWorld)

Also here’s some 1080p video comparison:

(iPhone 4S, Galaxy S II and Droid Bionic 1080P test from Matthew Panzarino)

Video Tests from PCWorld

Samsung Galaxy S II

Nikon Coolpix P300

HTC Sensation 4G

Apple iPhone 4S

Motorola DROID Bionic

Apple iPhone 4

T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide

In the Video Quality test, the Samsung Galaxy S II beat the other phones to the top followed by the HTC Sensation 4G. The iPhone 4s has been consistent though, as it still in the third place, as it had solid scores for bright-light and low-light video. Even though the iPhone 4S did not top the categories, it was consistent in its ranking–whether in video or image quality.

Yet, the Samsung Galaxy S II is definitely better than the iPhone 4S in both aspects, leaving the iPhone just behind it.

So, if you are to choose between a Samsung Galaxy S II or and iPhone 4s what would you choose?

NEXT: Samsung Goes After the iPhone 4S With a Chart Highlighting the Differences

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