The Nexus 5 has been a mythical creature since we first saw it leak out in a video showing off Google’s new KitKat statue. Since then, speculation has been rife and a lot of it has been around the device’s camera and its battery capacity. Well, it seems that at least the rumor of the device carrying a MEMS camera has been debunked. How can we tell? Because this time around, we’ve got it from the horse’s mouth. The best kind of denial, if there is such a thing.
In a Press Release, DigitalOptics, the company behind the new modules set to revolutionize mobile photography had this to say:
There has been speculation on who would be the first to bring the significant benefits of mems|cam to the mobile imaging market. Last week, several technology news blogs reported that mems|cam was first being brought to market in another smartphone platform. Those reports were inaccurate.
We were one of those guilty parties, and we’ll hold our hands up to that. News and rumors move so quickly these days that it can be hard to keep up. So, just who is getting access to the first batches of these new tasty camera modules? That would be the new darling of the Android community, Oppo. While they might have just launched the Oppo N1, with an already impressive camera module, this doesn’t mean that they’re taking a rest.
John Thode, President of DigitalOptics had this to say:
“We are proud to announce that OPPO and DOC are exclusive launch partners. OPPO will be the first smartphone OEM to incorporate mems|cam products in volume. OPPO has an excellent premium brand in China as demonstrated by the September 23 launch of the innovative N1 Smartphone platform. Integrating mems|cam modules into OPPO’s best-in-class smartphones will bring an exciting computational imaging user experience that further delivers on OPPO’s brand promise.”
Much as we thought, the Nexus isn’t getting a much-needed shot in the arm when it comes to optics and instead, Oppo is going to be reaping the benefits of this new technology. Oppo has quickly become one of the better smartphone brands to come out of China and when you in take into account their excellent support for community projects like CyanogenMod, it’s no wonder why they’re proving so popular these days.