By Slash Lane
Published: 08:00 AM EST
Apple has placed orders with a local component supplier for new parts that suggest it will upgrade the iPhone's camera to 3.2-megapixels when it introduces new models a bit later this year.
Citing its usual 'market sources,' Taiwanese rumor site
DigiTimes claims Apple has tapped Sunnyvale, Calif.-based OmniVision to
supply it with 3.2-megapixel CMOS image sensors for the next iPhone, which is expected in the coming months.
The report adds some corroboration to an earlier
AppleInsider report, which similarly cited sources as saying the iPhone maker was due to
include a higher-resolution camera with its upcoming handsets that would also be capable of capturing video.
Both the
original iPhone and the
iPhone 3G shipped with a 2-megapixel camera and neither version supports video recording.
There has also been some anecdotal, albeit unintentional,
evidence provided by Apple that hints at iPhones with new video features. In particular, a MobileMe control panel that shipped as part of the first beta of iPhone Software 3.0 included a screen labeled "Publish Video," presumably to facilitate uploads of videos captured with the upcoming device to users' MobileMe websites.
Separately,
DigiTimes claims that OmniVision "is also said to have secured 5-megapixel CIS orders for another Apple product expected to be launched later in the year." The fabless CMOS image sensor designer reportedly beat out STMicroelectronics and Aptina Imaging for the orders.
