Japanese chip maker Renesas, which merged with electronics maker NEC in 2010, has announced it will be integrating 16MP cameras in future handsets.
The CE150 image-processing system chip “will make it possible to produce 16MP phone cameras for the first time, up from the maximum 13MP that are currently available,” explains Crunch.
Users will also be able to use the cameras to shoot 1080p Full HD video.
Renesas showed off a phone camera processor capable of such a feat in December 2008.
The company will begin mass-producing in March, with up to 1 million units being produced each month.
Sample units are available to handset makers for $48, now.
Result for: handsets
T-Mobile has finally released the Android 2.1 software update for the Motorola Cliq smartphone today, meaning Android 1.5 may finally be gone.
Until this week, about 8 percent of all Android handsets available were still running 1.5, which launched in March 2009.
The update is not available OTA yet, so users will have to download it manually. The instructions link is posted at the bottom of this article as the process is somewhat complicated.
With 2.1 comes turn-by-turn navigation for Google Maps, voice search, updated Media Gallery and Connected Music Player apps, and speech-to-text.
There will now be six more home screens, widgets can be rearranged and resized, quick actions are added, and favorites can be given a space on the homepages.
The Exchange server has been updated, as well as battery-life saving widgets such as the Power Control toolbar. Users will also get a built-in Task Manager.
More importantly, Cliq users will finally be able to download most of the apps in the Android Market. There were very few still fully compatible with 1.5.
Result for: handsets
Google has said today that 55.5 percent of all Android smartphones are now running 2.1 Eclair.
22.1 percent of Android users are still running 1.6 Donut and 18.9 percent are still using a variant of 1.5 Cupcake.
The numbers are moving quickly, however, as in May in the figures were 37.2 percent for 2.1, 28 percent for 1.6, and a huge 34.1 percent for 1.5.
Although it has not officially released the latest software update, 2.2 Froyo, to any device besides the Nexus One, Google says 3.3 percent of all handsets are running the advanced update, likely meaning a decent portion of Droid, Incredible, EVO 4G and other owners are running rooted devices with Froyo.
Froyo has been promised, officially, for the above mentioned devices, and others like the MyTouch 3G Slide and Samsung Galaxy S by the end of the year.
