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OmniVision to Provide Front and Rear Cameras for Second-Generation iPad?

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Apr 12, 2001
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Barron's reports on a new research note from research firm Detweiler Fenton claiming that OmniVision Technologies has won the contract to supply image sensors for both a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and front-facing VGA camera for the second-generation iPad. The report claims that the revamped iPad will debut in the first quarter of 2011, likely relatively late in the quarter.
The research firm contends the new iPad will ship with two cameras, a 5 MP camera and a VGA camera, and likely will support Apple's FaceTime video chat software. Detweiler says their early read is that Apple will build 2.5 million units of the next iPad in calendar Q1, providing an incremental 5 million units of demand from Apple for OVTI, which also supplies sensors for the iPhone.
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A front-facing camera for the next-generation iPad has been a solid assumption considering the proliferation of Apple's FaceTime video chatting capabilities, but a rear-facing camera has been less of a sure bet.

Rumors dating back a number of months have also pointed to the possibility of a 7-inch iPad to join the existing 9.7-inch form factor, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent criticism of tablets in the smaller size coming from competitors strongly suggests that the company is not pursuing such a release.

Article Link: OmniVision to Provide Front and Rear Cameras for Second-Generation iPad?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/29/omnivision-to-provide-front-and-rear-cameras-for-second-generation-ipad/
Not too surprised to hear this we all knew that cameras were inevitable in the iPad's second iteration. I might consider buying one if this does infact hold to be true.
 
I think we all knew this was coming. :D

We got our first gen iPad for free (contest ala shopping.com via facebook) but I doubt we will buy the 2nd gen just because we all have iPhones now as well.
 
I know many will disagree, but I see plenty of value in a rear camera on the iPad. I doubt I would use it for photographs very often (hell, I barely take pictures on my iPhone), but I think there is a lot of potential for sweet augmented reality apps on the iPad's larger screen. So I hope this rumor is true. A VGA front cam seems obvious at this point, but I am less interested in this as I find video chatting to be highly overrated.

Still, I'm pretty happy with my current gen 3G iPad, so if these are some of the only major new features, I probably won't upgrade this year.
 
Can someone tell me why you need a rear image sensor on an ipad? I can understand about having one in the front. But does it really make sense to have one in the rear especially when the iPad is 9.7 inches.

Now, if you had a 7 inch or 5 inch ipad, having a rear image sensor does make sense. But not on an iPad 9.7 inch.

I personally think OmniVision will be producing the image sensors for the 7 inch ipad and not the 9.7 inch.
:)
 
Satori said:
I'm still not sure what use a rear facing camera on an iPad would be.
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Same as the iPhone: to take pictures (that you are not in) with a preview of the shot on the screen available before you take the picture. And Nausicaa brings up a good use above.

It won't be anyone's primary camera, but it will be nice to have it available. It's not like it takes up that much space (like the optical drive in a MacBook Pro, something that I don't want to see go away but I understand why others would)
 
chaosconan said:
Can someone tell me why you need a rear image sensor on an ipad? I can understand about having one in the front. But does it really make sense to have one in the rear especially when the iPad is 9.7 inches.

Now, if you had a 7 inch or 5 inch ipad, having a rear image sensor does make sense. But not on an iPad 9.7 inch.

I personally think OmniVision will be producing the image sensors for tie 7 inch ipad and not the 9.7 inch.
:)
Click to expand...

Video chat: when you want to show peeps something.
 
Nausicaa said:
Still, I'm pretty happy with my current gen 3G iPad, so if these are some of the only major new features, I probably won't upgrade this year.
Click to expand...

I'd imagine more RAM is pretty much a given. Throw in a faster A4 processor and that'd make an upgrade pretty compelling for me.
 
I'm still slightly shocked it did not come with a camera in the first place.

The only way I'd upgrade if two of these is in it
1. Camera(s)
2. MiniDisplayPort out - so you can use DP, DVI, HDMI, VGA...
3. 4X screen resolution
 
Satori said:
I'm still not sure what use a rear facing camera on an iPad would be.
Click to expand...

chaosconan said:
Can someone tell me why you need a rear image sensor on an ipad? I can understand about having one in the front. But does it really make sense to have one in the rear especially when the iPad is 9.7 inches.
Click to expand...

It seems some people here aren't spending enough time browsing around the app store.

As for me, I'm just waiting for more RAM and a front-facing camera. I'll buy it the day that happens. Anything more than that will just be a nice bonus as far as I'm concerned.
 
Satori said:
I'm still not sure what use a rear facing camera on an iPad would be.
Click to expand...
holding up the ipad to take a picture using a rear camera seems low class as far as tech is concerned. Awkward! And you know how picky people are about how they do things.
For me, having the iphone 4 as my camera is awesome. Take my pictures and then use the camera connection kit to down load the info to the ipad.
The Galaxy Tab has a rear camera but the damn thing doesn't have a flash on it. So what the hell is it good for overall? Not an effing thing. That crap will be DOA anyway.
 
A rear facing camera—for “camera use,” unlike a front-facing cam for communication use--would be really weird on a device so much bigger than a camera.

I don’t expect that to happen. But it wouldn’t be harmful either, so I won’t complain if it does! The only harm would be in restricting case options, but you could always ignore the camera and just cover it if you don’t want it.

If I didn’t already have an iPhone or Touch, then I could see myself using a rear cam sometimes, not for photography/video so much as for barcode reading, or with that app that turns your iPhone into a photocopier. (By correcting perspective to make clean “scans” of text docs. Wireless printing is coming soon to complete that process.) I forget the name but it has an orange icon.
 
Hell no. I like the idea of a camera on an iPad as much as I liked the video camera on the 5th generation Nano! Sorry, but not everything needs to have a camera on it. The one on the phone more than covers those impromptu moments in which a camera is useful. I think it'd be awkward holding up a 10" tablet just to snap a picture. Nope. Don't like it. Front-facing one, yeah, I can see that and understand its purpose. Although, FaceTime is something I've used all of twice, since buying my phone in June and, from what I've noticed, MOST people rarely ever use that feature. And to think that people were apocalyptically lamenting over its absence on the 3GS!!
 
Full of Win said:
I'm still slightly shocked it did not come with a camera in the first place.

The only way I'd upgrade if two of these is in it
1. Camera(s)
2. MiniDisplayPort out - so you can use DP, DVI, HDMI, VGA...
3. 4X screen resolution
Click to expand...

A Mini Display Port output would be pretty cool, as would be 2048 x 1536 resolution (assuming you meant this and not 4096 x 3072!), but I can't see them happening.

Personally, I'm pretty ambivalent towards cameras on the iPad - I can understand why they're adding them (FaceTime is becoming omnipresent), but I don't care that my 1st Gen doesn't have them and wouldn't upgrade just to get them
 
With the changing of the rotate lock switch to a mute switch in iOS 4.2, Apple seems determined to unify the user experience across all iDevices whether we like it or not.

So, maybe they'll put a rear camera on the iPad if only to ensure that FaceTime is the same across all iOS devices (I realise that doesn't tally with the Mac experience). A secondary function, therefore, will be a camera that can be used for taking photos. However, its primary function will be the 'show your caller what you're seeing' function.
 
Salacion said:
Video chat: when you want to show peeps something.
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Exactly. Apple (Steve Jobs) likes to keep features 'in sync' as much as possible even if they're in different devices. Look at how they're changing the orientation lock on the iPad to be a mute switch in iOS 4.2 - so the 'mute' and 'orientation change' features work the same on iPad/iPhone, etc.

They will want Facetime on iPad to work in the same way as Facetime on iPhone and iPod touch - which means front and back cameras.

I'm still hoping they introduce a camera 'dongle' that connects via the dock connector for us first gen iPad users. Wouldn't see it being too expensive and would sell like hotcakes...
 
RodThePlod said:
I'm still hoping they introduce a camera 'dongle' that connects via the dock connector for us first gen iPad users. Wouldn't see it being too expensive and would sell like hotcakes...
Click to expand...

Chance of Apple retro-fitting a hardware feature and stop people from upgrading to a new model?

Zero ;)
 
That's my cue... I'm not sure how one would use a rear facing camera on an ipad but I'm happy to hear it's on the way. This is what kept me from jumping on the first generation, lack of front facing camera
 
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