iPhone Video Recording Interface, Digital Compass, Voice Control and Auto-Focus Camera

[Donz0r]

Ah, just more reason why I cannot wait for June.

Now, They need to add a FLASH to the camera. Something that MOST phones have, even my brother's crappy LG flip phone has one.

I really hope Steve comes back. I'm betting he will.

Apple doesn't add anything to the iPhone unless it meets their high quality standards. That's why there's no video (and will not be any video in 3.0) on the original and 3G iPhones.
I had an LED flash on my SE W810i which was a great cameraphone- but it didn't do much. It did, in some dark situations, lighten up things close to you but it only worked within 3 feet of the object.
If apple adds a flash to the iPhone it will have to be truly effective and worthwhile : that's just the way they make products.
I don't think they will add one purely based on the fact that it would make the iPhone less 'pretty'.

 

[Cander]

Your iPhone must suck. I take mine camping and it lasts all weekend, at least in standby. Nobodies saying to watch a stolen copy of Wolverine and drain your battery. I just meant, you could use it in that scenario. Granted, by Sunday, my charge is pretty pathetic, usually in the Danger Will Robinson arms flailing 10% range.

That was just a joke. >.<

 

[Donz0r]

Your iPhone must suck. I take mine camping and it lasts all weekend, at least in standby. Nobodies saying to watch a stolen copy of Wolverine and drain your battery. I just meant, you could use it in that scenario. Granted, by Sunday, my charge is pretty pathetic, usually in the Danger Will Robinson arms flailing 10% range.

with 3G off right?

I've noticed that the big difference for me is whether 3G is on or not.

I go to school in an area without 3G but in the summers I work in an area with 3G. I have no problems with my iPhone battery using edge/wifi. I'll do heavy internet usage and the iphone will easily last all day. But using the 3G network it kills the battery so much faster.

 

[binaryskies]

Apple doesn't add anything to the iPhone unless it meets their high quality standards. That's why there's no video (and will not be any video in 3.0) on the original and 3G iPhones.
I had an LED flash on my SE W810i which was a great cameraphone- but it didn't do much. It did, in some dark situations, lighten up things close to you but it only worked within 3 feet of the object.
If apple adds a flash to the iPhone it will have to be truly effective and worthwhile : that's just the way they make products.
I don't think they will add one purely based on the fact that it would make the iPhone less 'pretty'.

That is true. A flash would take away from it's beauty in their eyes. I had the LG VX-9800 with a nice flash on it. It wasn't anything like a Speedlight, but it did make a difference. And thinking about it.. I would rather have something that is totally awesome and works great, then something I have to be ashamed about while using it.

 

[Stormbringer]

That is true. A flash would take away from it's beauty in their eyes. I had the LG VX-9800 with a nice flash on it. It wasn't anything like a Speedlight, but it did make a difference. And thinking about it.. I would rather have something that is totally awesome and works great, then something I have to be ashamed about while using it.

No, I rather have a LED-flash than video-recording. Not for the photos (because that's useless) but for the light-function. I use the 3-LED light of my K850i very often, and I think it's extremely handy.

 

[Donz0r]

No, I rather have a LED-flash than video-recording. Not for the photos (because that's useless) but for the light-function. I use the 3-LED light of my K850i very often, and I think it's extremely handy.

Well if that's your preference then so be it.
I used to have an LED on my old phone that I used all the time as a flashlight, now I dont have one on my iPhone 3G, no big deal. But I would looooovveee video recording.
I would have to say that 90% of people would choose video over an LED

 

[ipoppy]

Question...do you think that everyone in UK at least, will be able to upgrade their iPhone from previous 3G to next one V3? The same way like that happened last summer just pay for handset and restart 18 months contract again? Is that mean I can keep old iPhone etc?

 

[primod808]

here's hoping...

i hope apple will add the geo tagg camera feature just like the sekai camera does now that it has a magnetometer (digital compass)

 

[0309385]

Any ideas on how to enable this stuff in 3.0 already people?

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Apple doesn't add anything to the iPhone unless it meets their high quality standards.

Where did you hear that? Apple is a company like any other. They'll add a feature when they know it's the most economical idea. They hold back features so people will buy into them later. Since when has Apple had a single .0 release that met anyone's standards?

 

[DSG]

Question...do you think that everyone in UK at least, will be able to upgrade their iPhone from previous 3G to next one V3? The same way like that happened last summer just pay for handset and restart 18 months contract again? Is that mean I can keep old iPhone etc?

Pretty obviously, no.

The original iPhone cost £269 upfront - there was no requirement for the hardware cost to be subsidised by 18 months' worth of monthly payments. The 3G phone is heavily subsidised at the point of purchase by the monthly payments. Any early upgrade is bound to require the payment of a fee as a result. Hence I kept my original iPhone, for which the 18 month contract will expire in the next few weeks and I should be free to upgrade, hopefully, for little or nothing.

 

[zombitronic]

I think you guys are missing a major point regarding the inclusion of a magnetometer: It will allow the device to calculate yaw, which the accelerometer is unable to do. This will provide another useful method of physical input for applications.

Don't forget about augmented reality... Anyway, I wasn't quite sure what "yaw" was, so I looked it up. Wikipedia has a very simple picture explanation. If you were holding your iPhone straight up in portrait mode, tilting it towards or away from you would be pitch. Tilting it clockwise or counter-clockwise would be roll. Rotating the direction while still holding it upright would be yaw. As you've said, the compass will handle yaw and the accelerometer handles pitch and roll.

I'm wondering, however, just how many magnetometers the iPhone would need to be completely "self aware" of its position. When in portrait mode, everything works as indicated above.

When held upright in landscape mode, however, pitch becomes what was formerly yaw, roll stays the same (since you basically "roll" from portrait to landscape), and yaw is the movement that was formerly pitch in portrait mode. So would you need an additional magnetometer to operate yaw in landscape mode? I would think so.

Finally, if you're laying your iPhone flat on your hand as you would with a regular compass, you'd need one more magnetometer to operate yaw in this position. (This was previously roll in both portrait and landscape mode.)

So, is this correct? In order for the magnetometer to operate in every orientation the iPhone would need 3 magnetometers.

 

[DSG]

Apple doesn't add anything to the iPhone unless it meets their high quality standards.

You think? So why is the camera so pathetic?

 

[bjornm]

...with a better quality camera hopefully.
what were the rumours? 3.1 and 5 MP (possibly for some future 'product')

Definately. I'm hoping, though it is not realistic, for a 0.61 MP camera.
It would allow for 960x640 images; perfect for video chat, display photos on iPhone and postings on the web.

As we all know, as long as you don't use the extra resolution, it is only doing you bad.

 

[Goona]

You think? So why is the camera so pathetic?

Actually it's not pathetic, it's actually good, sure it's not pushing numbers like 12 megapixels but it takes good pics, go and check some of the photos taken on this forum from it.

 

[DSG]

Actually it's not pathetic, it's actually good, sure it's not pushing numbers like 12 megapixels but it takes good pics, go and check some of the photos taken on this forum from it.

Yep - good pictures in spite of the camera. Doesn't mean that there couldn't have been something a hell of a lot better. Not in terms of pixels, either. The camera was chosen, I imagine, because it looks neat and disrupts the design as little as possible. Such considerations are, at Apple, paramount.

 

[freddiecable]

my hopes are:

3.2 MP for the iPhone Nano (2.8 or 3.0")

5 MP for the iPhone (3.5")

They have to release an alternative size.

 

[ipoppy]

Pretty obviously, no.

The original iPhone cost £269 upfront - there was no requirement for the hardware cost to be subsidised by 18 months' worth of monthly payments. The 3G phone is heavily subsidised at the point of purchase by the monthly payments. Any early upgrade is bound to require the payment of a fee as a result. Hence I kept my original iPhone, for which the 18 month contract will expire in the next few weeks and I should be free to upgrade, hopefully, for little or nothing.

I dont think 3G was heavily subsidised since Apple said before release that 3G will be much cheaper than original iPhone, which was. Plus Apple dont want left angry people, which will be a lot in this case, behind with 3G iPhone. That wouldn't be good marketing move anyway. I need to call O2 tomorrow; see what they got to say.

 

[dacreativeguy]

So far, it seems like its geared towards a future iPhone, and you won't see this functionality on current iPhones.

The rumor mill says that iphone 3 will have a more powerful processor than iphones 1 and 2. That may be why they haven't enabled video to this point.

 

[Donz0r]

Definately. I'm hoping, though it is not realistic, for a 0.61 MP camera.
It would allow for 960x640 images; perfect for video chat, display photos on iPhone and postings on the web.

As we all know, as long as you don't use the extra resolution, it is only doing you bad.

+1

Sooo many people buy into this megapixel myth! 2 megapixels is about 1600x1200 resolution!! A better LENS is needed for better pictures. More megapixels just means excess data to transfer. The only situation in which you would need more than 3 megapixels is if you going to blow up the image drastically, or zoom in really far.

 

[encephalon]

Don't forget about augmented reality... Anyway, I wasn't quite sure what "yaw" was, so I looked it up. Wikipedia has a very simple picture explanation. If you were holding your iPhone straight up in portrait mode, tilting it towards or away from you would be pitch. Tilting it clockwise or counter-clockwise would be roll. Rotating the direction while still holding it upright would be yaw. As you've said, the compass will handle yaw and the accelerometer handles pitch and roll.

I'm wondering, however, just how many magnetometers the iPhone would need to be completely "self aware" of its position. When in portrait mode, everything works as indicated above.

When held upright in landscape mode, however, pitch becomes what was formerly yaw, roll stays the same (since you basically "roll" from portrait to landscape), and yaw is the movement that was formerly pitch in portrait mode. So would you need an additional magnetometer to operate yaw in landscape mode? I would think so.

Finally, if you're laying your iPhone flat on your hand as you would with a regular compass, you'd need one more magnetometer to operate yaw in this position. (This was previously roll in both portrait and landscape mode.)

So, is this correct? In order for the magnetometer to operate in every orientation the iPhone would need 3 magnetometers.

I am not familiar with the technical abilities of digital magnetometers, but I agree that the ideal solution would allow the device to calculate its angle to magnetic north in every orientation. Anything less wouldn't give us a full implementation of determining yaw. I guess we will have to wait and see what Apple is able to accomplish.

 

[DSG]

I dont think 3G was heavily subsidised since Apple said before release that 3G will be much cheaper than original iPhone, which was. Plus Apple dont want left angry people, which will be a lot in this case, behind with 3G iPhone. That wouldn't be good marketing move anyway. I need to call O2 tomorrow; see what they got to say.

It was free at the point of purchase on the £45 plan. The 3G iPhone was sold with a business plan no different to that of any other phone. You'll be able to upgrade early, but only on the payment of a fee. And O2 definitely won't answer any questions about future iPhone hardware. Save your time.

 

[BohoTrash]

Well, summer 2009 = Party Time!

 

[lshaner]

Wow! Such blatant violations of the NDA!

 

[Stormbringer]

Don't forget about augmented reality... Anyway, I wasn't quite sure what "yaw" was, so I looked it up. Wikipedia has a very simple picture explanation. If you were holding your iPhone straight up in portrait mode, tilting it towards or away from you would be pitch. Tilting it clockwise or counter-clockwise would be roll. Rotating the direction while still holding it upright would be yaw. As you've said, the compass will handle yaw and the accelerometer handles pitch and roll.

I'm wondering, however, just how many magnetometers the iPhone would need to be completely "self aware" of its position. When in portrait mode, everything works as indicated above.

When held upright in landscape mode, however, pitch becomes what was formerly yaw, roll stays the same (since you basically "roll" from portrait to landscape), and yaw is the movement that was formerly pitch in portrait mode. So would you need an additional magnetometer to operate yaw in landscape mode? I would think so.

Finally, if you're laying your iPhone flat on your hand as you would with a regular compass, you'd need one more magnetometer to operate yaw in this position. (This was previously roll in both portrait and landscape mode.)

So, is this correct? In order for the magnetometer to operate in every orientation the iPhone would need 3 magnetometers.

I'm nearly 100% sure the magnetometer will work in all directions.

I don't know how the accelerometer works though, is it able to detect if the device is in regular position or upside down? It's completely flat, and in the same direction (so the magnetometer doesn't detect a change), only difference is that the display is facing upwards or downwards.

Does anybody know this?