An iPhone with a DSLR-like camera would remodel the market

Oct 9, 2015 14:35 GMT  ·  By

Apple is on a roll lately, acquiring companies left and right, the most recent acquisitions happening last month, when it bought Mapsense, VocalIQ, and Perceptio, bringing the total number of purchased tech businesses to nine.

As usual, Apple did not provide any details about their intentions regarding the newly acquired technology, but considering each company's focus it's quite clear.

Mapsense's tech will be used to boost Apple Maps' capabilities, VoicalIQ's machine-learning-based conversational voice-dialog technology to improve the Siri virtual personal assistant, and Perceptio's artificial intelligence-based image recognition system will most probably be used to enhance iOS' image recognition capability.

The 52-megapixel Light 16 Camera would be a perfect replacement for Apple's 12-megapixel iSight camera

So, why did I mention these companies and what do any of them have to do with a future iPhone sporting a 52-megapixel camera? Absolutely nothing, besides helping me establish a trend that makes it obvious that Apple will pay up if it finds technology that it needs to improve one of their products or services.

Now, let's get to know the company that would allow Apple's iPhones to compete with any DSLR on the market.

A couple of days ago I read an article in The Wall Street Journal, showcasing a slim camera dubbed Light 16 Camera and designed to capture 52-megapixel photos with the help of 16 lens-sensor modules.

The Light 16 Camera will capture images using a broad range of focal lengths which, according to The Wall Street Journal, range from "35mm wide-angle to 150mm telephoto—plus an infrared-laser range finder for good measure."

The Light 16 Camera is actually capable of capturing 130-megapixels of data

The image is actually constructed from up to ten different images using a proprietary algorithm capable of combining the 130-megapixels of data capture by the camera into a single photograph.

What's more impressive is that the camera will also allow the user to adjust each photo's focus, exposure and depth of field after the shot is rendered.

The even bigger advantage is that the "multi-aperture computational" Light 16 Camera (as its creators describe it) is capable of grabbing DSLR-quality snapshots and it has a form factor small enough to fit in anyone's pocket.

Now, what if Apple would acquire Light, the company behind the Light 16 Camera? What if they added the technology used to build the Light 16 Camera within their own iPhones, iPads and iPods touch?

A 52-megapixel DSLR-like camera would make any future iPhone a hit, even more so than record selling iPhone 6s and 6s Plus

I think that if Apple really wanted to, they would most probably be able to acquire Light's IP, and use the tech to make their iOS devices capable of capturing DSLR-quality pictures while their competitors devices would still struggle with depth of field, zoom, and low light problems.

Since the Light 16 Camera has not yet been launched officially, and the only way to make sure that you get your hands on one is to pre-order it from the company's store, there's still time for Apple to get their foot in the door and try to charm the Light founders to leave the dark side (just take a look at Light's website if you don't believe me) and join the light side.

Apple might not have the cookies ready, but I'm sure that they would be able to make some arrangements. In the end, if they won't be able to convince them, I would chip in a cookie or two just to make sure that the next iPhone comes with the camera it deserves.

Wouldn't you?

The Light 16 Camera (3 Images)

The Light 16 Camera
An iPhone 6s Plus with a Light 16 CameraThe Light 16 Camera
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