Dubbed Mobicast, the system requires two sets of software, one for the phone and one for the server receiving the footage. When two or more phones are in the same place capturing the same scene, the software synchronizes their clocks so the framing lines up correctly. Image recognition technology on the server then figures out how the footage should physically mesh, using features of the landscape or scene to recognize parts of the images that match. It then blends the images to create a wider, more detailed view of the scene, sort of like PhotoSynth for video (but without the 3-D – for now).

The coolest part, of course, is that Mobicast can do all this in real time, so an event can be captured and broadcast live to the Web by several cameras at once. Users also receive feedback to their phones showing stills of the stitched video with their contributions highlighted, helping them to see how they can better position themselves for the best contribution.

Before going public, there are some issues to sort out, like how to tell if several phones are in the same vicinity filming the same scene (GPS?). Until then, all we can do is keep on filming and dream of the day that celeb scandals break in full 360-degree 3-D.

[New Scientist]

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

Watching your continuing coverage of the people of Iran continuing their fight for freedom I was struck, and touched, by the presence, in every picture, in every piece of footage, by the universal presence of cellphones and cameras. No matter how chaotic, no matter how frightened they may be, the protesters held their phones high. Not a brave few but a brave many pressed into the violence, stood right next to the regimes thugs and pointed their cameras. It seems like the ultimate act of defiance; no matter how you try to shut us down or shut us up, we will expose you. You can kill us, but the world will know that we never stopped fighting.

I urge you to continue to use your platform to show us this incredible fight. Before this started, the people of Iran seemed alien and vaguely threatening. Now, I see a young woman, veil shoved back and cellphone in the air, and this lefty atheist woman sees a sister clear across the world.

I sometime imagine that what we write about here is not important, but then a post like this comes along and reminds me that gadgets are more than toys and corporate tools for some in this world. And it makes me very happy.
[The Daily Dish]

As a camera, the AMOLED 12M also has 720p video recording (30fps), image stabilization, face detection, and a Xenon flash. But Samsung hasn't said too -much about the phone side of things-even though it now says it will hit Korean stores next month.

From all reports, it's likely the phone will use the TouchWiz UI, and have UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a slot for microSD cards.

Samsung hasn't mentioned any plans for the phone outside of Korea, but it's early days yet. [Sony Hub and Crave Asia]

We can get nervous about the potential quality of such high-res photos and video coming from such a small sensor all we want, but on paper, the GC990 does well: the camera shoots through a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, gets lighting help from a Xenon flash module, and shoots up to ISO 3200, though I can't imagine the noise levels being anywhere near tolerable.

As for the phone side of this brick, we've got a 3.2-inch touchscreen showing LG's interesting S-class 3D UI. Wi-fi, DLNA streaming, TV-out and GPS (with geotagging for video and photos) are also included. The rest of the specs are a mystery for the time being, and LG tells GSMArena that the GC990 may well never make it to market, instead living out its life as a trade show tech demo—the saddest of phone fates. [GSMArena via Slashphone]

First, the Techcrunch take:

Apple has placed an order for a massive number of camera modules of the type that they include in the iPhone. These are inexpensive cameras, in the $10 range. And the size of the order, our source says, means they can only be used for one thing - the iPods.

That, and this report of a suspiciously perforated upcoming iPod Touch case. Not a terribly huge amount of information, but even so, such a move's objectives are immediately obvious: to enter, eat away at, and eventually obliterate the cheap camcorder space. Here's how it goes: Apple puts a camera in their iPod Touch; customers already eager buy an iPod are suddenly more eager; customers looking for a cheap pocket camcorder suddenly have a new, price-competitive option with a ton more features than the typical video-recording bricks of the genre.

The iPod Touch has always had near-parity with the iPhone in terms of features, barring the obvious cellular features. The other, non-cellular differences—lack of camera, microphone, and for a while, GPS—disturbed this parity, though one assumes they were necessary for reasons of price. Adding a camera would close the gap, mostly eliminating the annoying penalty of buying a Touch over an iPhone.

Techcrunch goes so far as to say the order is big enough to expect cameras in all iPods except the shuffle—a rumor we've heard bits and pieces of before. That'd be fine, I guess, but the Touch seems like a much more obvious (and practical and functional) choice: it's already got the screen, the software and connectivity it needs to be a competitive camera product; Apple just needs to give it eyes. [Techcrunch via GadgetVenue, Macrumors—Thanks, Matt!]

New Scientist says these researchers are attempting to develop software which can take an image of Mars' terrain, and identify any geological structures which might house organic matter. The software hopes to accomplish this by analyzing the color properties of images, breaking down the color, hue and intensity, and pointing out anything that seems irregular in comparison to its surroundings.

All the image processing is done on a computer, which receives the cameraphone images via laptop. The Mars Society says they don't expect cameraphones to be the weapon of choice in space. As for the locale, the Utah desert was picked as a locale, because like Mars, it's extremely dusty.

But not everyone has faith in the project. Researchers in the Netherlands claim that algorithm-based imaging software could never replace real geologists because texture matters as much as color. But Mars Society leader Patrick McGuire thinks future versions of the software will be "superhuman." I guess we'll see. [New Scientist]

Most phone cameras don't have shutters for the simple reason that there isn't any room. Instead of relying on a traditional shutter exposure system, the tiny sensors simply activate for short periods of time, "scanning" a scene and returning a passable, if often blurry, image. That's fine for certain uses, but makes capturing moving objects or shooting in low light nigh-on impossible.

In an effort to sidestep these concerns altogether, Samsung is developing a micro-shutter, built with 36 pieces of curled film that can be opened or close by applying or withdrawing an electrical charge. The concept is just 2.2mm wide and easily compact enough for use in cellphones.

Samsung doesn't mention when (or even if) it will commercialize this tech, but for the sake of our poor eyeballs, please, guys, make it soon. [Tech-on]

One of the Loomis & Fargo guards servicing the public ATM threatened to tackle Becker if he tried to leave the store—apparently snapping a photo of the inside of one of these machines constitutes a security threat (although detailed images and data can be found easily online). In fact, one of the arresting officers even pulled the 9/11 card:

Officer Debra Pelich (#5976)
Remember 9/11? I saw pictures of those buildings. One time when I was in Florida I was wandering around taking pictures. A security team came up and told me it was a high security restricted area. I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures there. I explained that I didn't know that, was a police officer, showed them my ID and complied with them. We cleared it up and I left.

Me (totally baffled)

Since you managed to pull the 9/11 card somehow, does that mean that everyone that took a picture of those buildings-

After spending around 30 minutes handcuffed in a cell and being unsuccessfully grilled about why he snapped the photo, Becker signed a REI trespassing form that instructed him not to come back to the store for a year. In the end, the authorities never asked to see the photo, much less for Becker to delete it from his iPhone. Naturally, this raises questions about the real motivation behind the incident. Was it just a power trip? Either way, with camera phones being so common these days, incidents of harassment like this one are bound to escalate. [iamshane via Crunchgear]

The module measures 10 x 10 x 8mm and has a moving blade-style shutter that prevents light from entering the lens until you've press the shot button. It also has an autofocus feature.

Of course, problems may very well arise when you try to stick moving parts like that onto a phone that's going to be sharing pocket space with your keychain, but it's good news that they've shrunk a physical shutter module down to a size that would be reasonable on a smartphone. It's advancements like this that are going to kill the point-and-shoot market. [Reg Hardware]

The phone also comes with a full suite of photo-specific features, such as Flickr Uploadr, ShutterSmile (snaps when it detects a smile) and BestPic (takes 9 rapid-fire photos, keeps the best) enhancements, as well as Photo and Video Blogging apps. The geotagging uses aGPS to carry out it's function, has an auto-rotating screen and dedicated camera buttons, but the phone only makes use of an HSPA cellular radio.

The C903 is essentially a lesser-equipped version of the 8.1-megapixel C905, but I prefer the look of the the C903, personally. The phone is expected to hit stores in Q2 2009. [Sony Ericsson via BB Gadgets]

Details are slim about the handset, which is telling—if the most notable and leakworthy feature of this phone is a noisy, pumped-spec camera then we probably aren't going to be treated to anything revolutionary. It'd be reasonable to expect something like the Innov8, Samsung's 8MP cameraphone (pictured above, slightly 'shopped by Unwired) but a touchscreen handset like the about-to-drop 8MP Memoir isn't out of the question either.

Either way, the point remains that the cameraphone megapixel battle is a ridiculous one, driven by marketers instead of engineers—until there's a truly great 3.2 megapixel cameraphone, milking more pixels out of these phones' already strained sensors shouldn't be a priority. [UnwiredView—Thanks, Kurt!]

The press release doesn't get any more specific than that, but seems to lend authority to the previous leak, which indicated that the 18th would be the day. [BGR]

In case you missed it, here is a rundown of the features:

•3.2 MP AF camera and LED
•Face detection
•Smile shutter
•Auto rotation when viewing
•Cyber-shot™ UI 2.0
•3.2 MP AF camera
•Active lens cover
•2.2” QVGA display
•QVGA video
•Picture light
•160 MB in-built memory
•Dedicated shutter key
•Illuminated imaging shortcut keys
•Face detection, Photo fix
•Direct blog short cut key
•Smile shutter
•Illumination by different theme/mode
•Print service Snapfish
•Blue illuminated imaging short cuts
•Download and upload to YouTube

It doesn't appear to be a huge jump from the K770 series, apart from a bigger screen and a bump up in internal memory. Still, it should be a decent lower-end Cybershot handset when it is released in February. [Daily Mobile]

The SnaptureFlash product is roughly the size of any other iPhone case, which is to say its pretty slim and light. It adds 3/8-inch or so of length to the bottom of the phone, but they included passive speaker amplification down there so it's not a complete waste of space.

As far as hardware goes, it packs in a xenon flash, which can provide 50,000 lux brightness ( vs the 500 lux of an LED "flash"). It also has an additional LED bulb that can be used for video recording or a really dim photo flash. Unlike other flash products, it works directly with the Snapture software. Getting the timing down between the phone camera, Snapture app and SnaptureFlash was the trickiest part, according to Bowei Gai, one of Snapture Labs' founders.

But here's the catch. For the time being, the SnaptureFlash will only work with the Snapture app and any other jailbroken apps that have the proper drivers—no official apps could support the hardware without breaking the app store agreement. Jay "Saurik" Freeman, the man behind the Cydia Jailbreak community and Cycorder video app, was ecstatic about the potential of the Snapture Flash, and the numbers of jailbreak supporters that would be potentially interested, but still wasn't sure how apps like these could be officially approved.

In terms of performance, the SnaptureFlash is still a mixed bag as it's a work in process. When I saw the SnaptureFlash in action, the quality of photos tended to be inconsistent. The photos above were taken with the hardware (one without flash, immediately followed by one with flash) Sometimes the photos looked really good, especially if it was really dark. But if the camera managed to pick up another light from somewhere, sometimes the photos would come out blue, or overexposed. Granted, since this is still in development, it can be fixed with proper calibration and programming, but it's worth noting.

SnaptureFlash is promising, but it runs into three hurdles: It's external hardware, it currently lacks app store support, and at the moment, Snapture Labs is still hunting for more funding to mass produce the product. They say they can't do it on their own, but they wanted to get the product out there so they could generate some interest. I'll be curious to see what happens from here. [SnaptureFlash]

Asia and Europe have been enjoying the C905 since the summer, but the FCC report lists the 850/1900 WCDMA banding, which means it will support 3G on AT&T. It also packs in a Xenon flash, LED video light, image stabilization, face-detecting autofocus and video recording.

Since you're reading Gizmodo and you're smart, you already know that blowing out resolution to 8MP doesn't mean squat when you're dealing with a tiny cellphone-chip sensor, but if you need to be able to take three-megabyte JPGs with your cameraphone, one of these two will do you you right. [FCC via Boy Genius]

If you're thinking eight megapixels on a cameraphone is a bit much, you're not alone. But the Pixon's camera was fairly well received online, so if a Samsung feature phone (think the Behold with a 'roided up camera) tickles your fancy, keep an eye out here. No word of course on price or availability yet. [TmoNews]