High-resolution camera phones 'will become the benchmark'

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High-resolution camera phones 'will become the benchmark'

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By Editorial Team (Friday, 3rd October 2008)

Mobile phones with eight-megapixel cameras could soon become commonplace, a market expert has predicted.

LG recently announced its new KC910 phone would have such a camera, while Samsung has unveiled two handsets with the same feature - the i8510 and M8800 Pixon.

The manufacturers have understandably made a lot of the advancement in camera technology they can now offer to customers, but Thomas Newton of Mobile-Phones.co.uk forecasted they will not be ahead of their rivals for too long.

"I think that either eight or ten megapixels will become the eventual benchmark standard resolution for camera phones in the near future," he explained.

A recent survey conducted by the website found that 70 per cent of mobile users considered the ability to take photographs as the most important secondary function of a handset.

That strongly suggests that manufacturers will be focusing much of their development work on cameras, even though the secondary function which currently grabs the headlines is music downloading.

Mr Newton would be surprised to see the "megapixel arms race" continue for too long.

"At a glance, there would be no real difference between a picture taken on a 12-megapixel camera or a 120-terapixel camera," he explained.

Instead the technical developments are likely to be functions which help consumers to take higher-quality photos, such as ambient light-responsive flash and better auto focus.

Samsung has already headed down that route by equipping the Pixon with face detection, x16 digital zoom and fast shutter, while marketing it as a mobile phone capable of producing photos which look like they have been taken by a regular camera.