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> An end to "jittery" cell phone photos?
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A shaking hand can ruin a mobile phone photo. More megapixels won't solve the quality problem they just guarantee better resolution of a jittery photograph.
The answer? Image stabilization technology based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices.
Invensense, a startup in Santa Clara, Calif., believes it has a breakthrough image stabilizer technology with its two-axis gyroscopa MEMS device that detects and measures vibration or motion and then gives a signal that counterbalances it.
CEO Steve Nasiri, a MEMS industry veteran who has been involved with five other startups, says that typically 80% of MEMS costs have been in package and test. Invensense's approach is wafer-level package and test, reducing that to 20% of total cost.
"It's all integrated into the wafer," Nasiri says. "We don't spend time and have yield problems by doing finished packages and calibration at the end of the line."
Invensense's device has a packaged die dimension of 6 x 6 x 1.5mm, and the company anticipates that high-volume demand for the image stabilization chip will bring the price down to $2 per unit.
The nearest competitor is Japan's Murata . But its piezoceramic-based gyro is more than double the price of and five times bigger than Invensense's device, says Richard Dixon, MEMS analyst at Wicht Technologie Consulting , a research firm in Germany.
"Pricing below $3 passes the pain point for consumer applications, especially in cell phones," Dixon said. "This is a question of cost and size."
Invensense is working with undisclosed module makers, which supply the major cell phone manufacturers on prototype devices for 3-megapixel phones, Nasiri says. He expects practical results by year's end and commercial entry in 2007.
The market is potentially big. Camera phones are catching fire. Gartner estimates that 300 million mobile phones with cameras were shipped in 2005. By 2009, about 750 million or more than 70 percent of total mobile phones sale are expected to have an embedded camera.
Dixon says the low cost and small size of Invensense's gyro has introduced a new phase, spotlighting the spread of MEMS into high-volume sweet markets.
'Jitters' always irritated me.Many of my 'perfect shots' got messed up because of untimely shakes.Good to see that someone has finally come up with a solution.What u say?
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[ This Message was edited by: deepsme on 2006-08-17 10:30 ]
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Posted: 2006-08-17 10:46:39
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I never realised that it was so cheap to implement. I'd pay $2 for extra clarity.
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Posted: 2006-08-17 11:54:13
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Most definetly.
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Posted: 2006-08-18 13:23:12
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thats innovative and cheap! Certainly worth paying for....
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Posted: 2006-08-18 20:59:00
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If they're catching fire, why hasn't there been a recall?
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Posted: 2006-08-19 03:03:13
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