Huawei Introduces Dual Camera Smartphone with Refocusing and Improved Low Light Performance

[Michael Scrip]

I don't know what to comment here exactly, but the point was that obviously dual cameras systems are becoming a mainstream from now on. And while Apple will be playing their favorite game of hardware crippling "oh, we're reserving that feature for the most expensive iPhone Plus Mega Pro and maybe we'll rollout it to other models in 3-4 years" other manufacturers will make leaps leaving Apple behind. If Huawei could make something so quickly and looking decent then others like Samsung, HTC, Xiaomi or whoever is the king in China tonight will make it even better and pretty soon.

Huawei needed just a few months since the rumors of Apple using two cameras in their phones to come up with something real. And I'm sure that insider info was the key factor behind those phones. Apple will release it (and again a single model of iPhone Pro) this autumn. It has to move faster. Once they switched to yearly upgrades of OS now they probably need to do the same for iPhones. It's impossible for Apple to keep new features/product secret anymore and be ahead of competition. So if they can't keep it secret then at least they should release it faster.

I don't know if releasing iPhones more often is a good idea.

People are already complaining that Apple's product lines are "crowded" and/or "confusing"

Companies like Huawei, Samsung, Xiaomi have 30-40 models at any given time. Apple doesn't.

And if you think EVERY iPhone should have EVERY feature... no one else is doing that.

Huawei just released 2 models with dual-cameras... but that's not gonna trickle down to their other 33 models.

It's OK to have a flagship with flagship features... which is what the Huawei P9 series represents. But their Y-series or G-series are entry-level or mid-range or whatever. Those won't get every feature. Even Huawei wants to offer the ability up upsell people to a better, more expensive model.

Again... Huawei has tons of models... while Apple only has a few models. It's different philosophies.

BTW... Huawei announced the P8 in April 2015. They announced the P9 today... one year later. Seems they are on a one-year cycle too

 

[carrrrrlos]

In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue developed an efficiently designed light bulb. That was DECADES before Thomas Edison created a practical light bulb.

Edison is remember as the inventor of the light bulb because he was the first one to make a practical application that actually worked.

I'll let you connect the dots who is Edison and who is Warren de la Rue in regards to Apple/Huawei.

Edison was no more than an opportunist. The generations of people who remember Edison as an inventor were also taught how the heroic settlers defeated scores of savage ’Indians’. But since you like dots to connect here is a nice info graphic by the onion on your inventor Thomas Edison: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

 

[RockSpider]

haha! Yeah I remembered mine (blue). I had it on the night stand at a hotel with one of those split unit air condition. Water dripped directly onto the phone all night while I slept. Was in a boot loop for 3 days until it finally worked.

I don't see what the big deal is with copying as long as it is not a direct rip off (iphone clones). If companies didn't copy, BMW, Mercedes and Audi would still be offering A/C as an option instead of standard. It became standard when Lexus made it standard on all models.

As far as I know its only Apple lovers that get upset when someone dares to make the same color phone as their beloved iPhone. I mean lets face it do you ever hear Android lovers crying over the fact that Apple has copied Samsung, we actually love it.

 

[BvizioN]

Wow, I never realised Apple was the first ever to make different coloured mobile phones!

Oh, please. There are millions of colors perceived by human eyes. Yet, somehow by a strange "coincidence" these guys have to pick the identical colors Apple does, for the phones. You have to be blind or ignorant (or both) not to see it.

 

[Neodym]

I want quad cameras now, dual camera is for suckers.

I actually hope that this will indeed become reality!

From what has been written so far about dual cameras, it seems that they focus (pun not intended) on both cams complementing each other in terms of focus, aperture, lowlight conditions, resolution etc. This is probably nice for normal 2D photos.

In order to allow for (really good) 3D photos and videos, though, it would be beneficial to have another cam at the bottom of the phone. By holding it in landscape orientation, the distance between both cams would be roughly(!) similar to the eye distance of an average human, allowing for good 3D shots.

Such a feature would probably be offered in the top-of-the-line model first. And chances are that that will be on dual-cam already, hence with two cam openings and a dual-cam each you have your quad cam

Looking at the coming trend for Virtual and Augmented Reality and wearing headmounts (which will eventually evolve into rather normal glasses), you could even play back 3D videos directly on or from the phone.

 

[GadgetSN]

The real story: let's slap a Leica brand and sell something for a premium.
That's pretty much about it. Huawei is pricing these at iPhone-level prices, meaning they are trying to gain Apple-like margins without doing the hard work (eg. actually provide support, etc).
The Nexus 6P is the only exception as it is a Google product.

Really? Only a mug would buy these at iPhone prices. At half the cost I personally wouldn't but them but at the same cost, that is madness.

 

[dampfnudel]

Or, will it now be the iPhone 7 Pro..

Possibly, I can see Apple using the word 'Pro' with the iPhone.

 

[Gudi]

Article is about dual lens smartphone cameras, with the Leica name, that is allowing for some really impressive shallow depth of field. 1.1 aperture is quoted...on a smartphone... The first response is about the phone's color. The sad state of Apple and Apple fans in 2016.

I don't care about better cameras, at 4K video they are good enough already! Nothing to get overly excited about. I have an iPhone SE with a 1.5mpx selfie cam shipping in my direction. By the time I buy my next iPhone, dual lenses will be on every toaster except for Apples iToast Pro.

 

[jkruehne]

WOW, looks like they pretty much stole Apple's colour pallet.

haha, my guess,too, but little different: "Looks like they copied Samsung who copied Apple before ;-D"

 

[Gudi]

You may be right but, honestly, the average user couldn't care less about bezels. Same for the camera bump. These are complaints that are in heavy rotation in comment threads on tech blogs, and not many other places.

The average user complains about screen sizes (too small) or phone sizes (too big). Between those two there are the bezels. Minimizing bezels is a necessary step to give all users the best compromise of what they want collectively. People who comment on tech blogs should know so much geometry.

 

[jkruehne]

Oh no. Another Android martyr.

(…) Android is free to pick the exact same colors as iPhones but it just reinforces the idea that all they do is copy Apple. And looking at the posts here that is exactly how people feel.

its not about coloured smartphones – but are these the only possible colour palette (grey, gold rose..)?
in combination they really copy apple (even samsung did have a gold phone decades (?) ago … but those combinations..?)

anyhow, cars are also equal in many ways and no one cares ;-)

 

[billy the fish]

WOW, looks like they pretty much stole Apple's colour pallet.

Because no one ever had those colours before apple did they.. jeez.....
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You may be right but, honestly, the average user could care less about bezels.

For the love of God , this isn't hard. THEY COULDNT CARE LESS!!!! Is a) what you mean and b) the exact opposite of could care less!!!
[doublepost=1460016854][/doublepost]

Is it me or are those colours very familiar?

You suggesting a colour can only be used once then that's it? Really..

 

[Gudi]

You mean like how Apple waited to see what Nokia did with Live Photos before pretending like they invented them?

I hope you don't think nobody had the idea before Nokia? Nokia failed to popularize Living Images, because you needed a separate app to view them and you couldn't set them as your Home and Lock Screen. It was futile anyway, because Windows Phone is not a viable platform. Maybe if Nokia would have switched to Android instead of selling itself to Microsoft, the fate of Living Images would have been another one.
[doublepost=1460020393][/doublepost]

We had gold 'phones' for years, Apple just copied them, as for white and black please don't even go there as you'll look ridiculous attempting to claim any other black or white phone is copying Apple as they've been around even longer. As for Rose Gold: link Yeah Apple were never first with that colour either.

Recall your math class on set theory. When are two sets of numbers equal? Then try to apply this knowledge on pallets as if they were sets of colors. Got it now? This phone comes in all the colors the iPhone comes in and it comes in no color the iPhone doesn't have. They are the same four color sets.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Oh, please. There are millions of colors perceived by human eyes. Yet, somehow by a strange "coincidence" these guys have to pick the identical colors Apple does, for the phones. You have to be blind or ignorant (or both) not to see it.

Well one does have to have an serious eyeproblem to even consider buying a pink or brownish-yellow phone, so that does seem like a good guess.

 

[L_dorado]

go cry somewhere else. my Apple products employ tremendous innovation and offer me tremendous value. I willingly and enthusiastically give them my money. millions of other folks do too.

How in earth are your apple products more innovative than mine?

i am not saying that the products doesnt offer everyone of us a tremendous value.. but simply that apple went crazy, everyone of us can see that its not about the products or users anymore but on $$$$.

i am still using my apple products with a big joy.. except for my iphone & ipad (but thats mostly hardware, since in my opinion like i said iOS is the best operating system)

 

[apolloa]

Recall your math class on set theory. When are two sets of numbers equal? Then try to apply this knowledge on pallets as if they were sets of colors. Got it now? This phone comes in all the colors the iPhone comes in and it comes in no color the iPhone doesn't have. They are the same four color sets.

Ah I see, exactly like Samsung who had all these colours in use before Apple, so using your logic Apple used the exact same colours as Samsung and then everyone else copied Apple, because they don't know Samsung exists.

 

[Jimrod]

If you use a case, why would you even care about a bump?

Maybe he doesn't suffer from the usual "Appleogist" syndrome of forgiving Apple's premium devices design flaws that seem to be becoming more common?

People used to buy Apple products because they were pieces of design art that worked exceptionally well (iPhone 3G, 4 and 5 for example) but now we have naff antenna lines, near "retro" screen-to-bezel ratios and protruding cameras to which people say "So use a case" when questioned. Things people would always have criticised in Apple's competitors - who have arguably overtaken Apple now in the design stakes in many cases.

One thing I'd really like to see is accurate dimensions on future products - so when Apple say a phone is "6.9mm thin" journalists respond with "No Jony, it's 7.1mm thick because the camera sticks out", I can't say I've got a 10" waist because that's what my ankle measures...

 

[BvizioN]

Well one does have to have an serious eyeproblem to even consider buying a pink or brownish-yellow phone, so that does seem like a good guess.

People buy all sorts of colored products if you provide them with it.
But hey... Apple does not do these other colors so let's not do them, because otherwise they won't look like the Apple ones.

 

[Klyster]

Exactly.

Apple bought Isreali Camera company that does dual cameras last April

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/14/apple-acquires-linx-imaging/

So Huawei goes out and makes their own version.

So apple buys someone elses technology but Huawei creates their own and you're bagging Huawei?
Not only did Huawei make their own but they, according to your insinuation, did this between Apple buying it from an Israeli company and got it to market before Apple, just to copy Apple, who don't have a twin camera yet.....
Seriously?

Anyway, love your posts , your enthusiasm is amazingly hilarious if not a little disturbing.

 

[Lemon Mac]

I do hope these things are made in Hawaii.

 

[rendyr]

The hardware looks good, just need to see how is the implementation now.

I don't really want to see Apple be the first to use the tech, since it is not really great when they to it the first. For example is 3D Touch, not really useful now, unless you jailbreak it and force touch bottom right to return to last open app, which is very useful. Other than that I don't see the use case.

 

[actinide]

Oh, please. There are millions of colors perceived by human eyes. Yet, somehow by a strange "coincidence" these guys have to pick the identical colors Apple does, for the phones. You have to be blind or ignorant (or both) not to see it.

Apple copied iphone 5C color pallet from Nokia and HTC. Nobody complaining about that. Heck, because it's apple.

People buy all sorts of colored products if you provide them with it.
But hey... Apple does not do these other colors so let's not do them, because otherwise they won't look like the Apple ones.

This just doesn't make sense. Probably, you have no idea how business works. Ignorance is a bliss I guess, but maybe if you were more open you wouldn't post such complete nonsense.

 

[BvizioN]

This just doesn't make sense. Probably, you have no idea how business works. Ignorance is a bliss I guess, but maybe if you were more open you wouldn't post such complete nonsense.

Oh, I think I get it. There are 3 possible colors that can be used on phones, and they are the ones that Apple use. And by the way, it makes sense using them only after Apple has used them (like that rose gold thing) Because we know these are the only acceptable colors in the smartphone industry!!! Sorted, case closed lol.

 

[zone23]

hmm... hard to say. of the top of my head maybe some shades within lillium, or maybe schefflera for the rose gold. there's always a genus to choose from or discover.

I actually hope that this will indeed become reality!

From what has been written so far about dual cameras, it seems that they focus (pun not intended) on both cams complementing each other in terms of focus, aperture, lowlight conditions, resolution etc. This is probably nice for normal 2D photos.

In order to allow for (really good) 3D photos and videos, though, it would be beneficial to have another cam at the bottom of the phone. By holding it in landscape orientation, the distance between both cams would be roughly(!) similar to the eye distance of an average human, allowing for good 3D shots.

Such a feature would probably be offered in the top-of-the-line model first. And chances are that that will be on dual-cam already, hence with two cam openings and a dual-cam each you have your quad cam

Looking at the coming trend for Virtual and Augmented Reality and wearing headmounts (which will eventually evolve into rather normal glasses), you could even play back 3D videos directly on or from the phone.

From what I have seen 3D is dead. If you go to the big box stores and look for 3D movies its pretty slim pickings. People don't want to wear 3D glasses.

 

[NT1440]

I actually hope that this will indeed become reality!

From what has been written so far about dual cameras, it seems that they focus (pun not intended) on both cams complementing each other in terms of focus, aperture, lowlight conditions, resolution etc. This is probably nice for normal 2D photos.

In order to allow for (really good) 3D photos and videos, though, it would be beneficial to have another cam at the bottom of the phone. By holding it in landscape orientation, the distance between both cams would be roughly(!) similar to the eye distance of an average human, allowing for good 3D shots.

Such a feature would probably be offered in the top-of-the-line model first. And chances are that that will be on dual-cam already, hence with two cam openings and a dual-cam each you have your quad cam

Looking at the coming trend for Virtual and Augmented Reality and wearing headmounts (which will eventually evolve into rather normal glasses), you could even play back 3D videos directly on or from the phone.

If you have two cameras that are offset, why can't all of what your describing be implemented in software? You get depth from having two cameras....why in the world would it be beneficial for the cameras to be roughly the distance apart of human eyes when that can all be done in software?
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So apple buys someone elses technology but Huawei creates their own and you're bagging Huawei?
Not only did Huawei make their own but they, according to your insinuation, did this between Apple buying it from an Israeli company and got it to market before Apple, just to copy Apple, who don't have a twin camera yet.....
Seriously?

Anyway, love your posts , your enthusiasm is amazingly hilarious if not a little disturbing.

I've yet to see anywhere that Huawei has done this in-house. Do you have any more information on that?

I ask because this kind of stuff has been in development for years, I think it's more likely Huawei either acquired a company (like Apple) or they've simply licensed out tech from the several companies working in this field.