“Xiaomi is one of the most innovative smartphone device manufacturers with an incredible pedigree, and we’re excited to enter this partnership with them,” said Dave Grannan, CEO and co-founder, Light. “Light’s computational imaging is forever changing the way our devices see the world, and we look forward to applying our pioneering multi-camera technology and empowering their devices with the imaging solutions of the future.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Light to leverage their advanced imaging solutions for our future devices,” said Zhu Dan, VP, smartphone division, GM of camera department, Xiaomi. “Xiaomi works tirelessly to remain at the forefront of smartphone innovation, and perfecting smartphone photography is a key focus for us. We are excited to work on devices using Light’s technology so our users can produce even more amazing photos.”
quite some news from Light in short time... Nokia, Sony and Xiaomi agreements within few days
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good deal for everyone... expected for Apple and Huawei which will both struggle to maintain any product differentiation based on the imaging leading edge capabilities of their smartphones
DeleteSeems expensive. dollars, handset real estate, camera modules, computation, power, delay time. Also, I wonder if each of the handset makers knew about the other deals?
ReplyDeleteThat's the right approach for Light. Doing complex hardware, computational photography by one small shop is not sustainable.
ReplyDeleteNEED MORE COWBELL!
ReplyDeleteLOL
Bringing even exciting camera features (arguable in the case of Light) to substandard mobile platforms will not sell handsets. Sony is happy to put more wafer-fraction into any handset and their interest is understandable because it's low risk. The other guys are desperate for differentiation, but it's not going to result in significant sales. Bit to mention that the Light technology still needs to prove itself.
ReplyDeleteLow risk? Quite an investment to develop and manufacture a few million units and then observe they don't sell... I'd say that's quite a risk
DeleteSome years ago Samsung actually put a TI DLP (digital light projector) into a phone - for like projecting stuff on a screen, I guess. They ran like 100K units and dropped it.
ReplyDeleteThe first back facing 3D sensor for Google Tango was the Asus Zenphone - 2 plus years before the rear facing launches by Samsung and others this week at MWC. They did a production run, and it did not catch on, then dropped it. They were just too early in this case.
There are a score of other features where announcements were made, initial launches made in the 10s or low 100s of K, then quietly shelved. That is the nature of the phone business - to quickly cycle and throw tons of stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
The main issue is even for a test-run is the test technology mass produceable? That has stalled more than several projects I know about.