Toshiba has just unveiled three camera modules designed to work with the build-a-phone Project Ara handset.
Two of the modules are designed to work as rear-facing cameras, boasting sensor resolutions of 5-megapixels and 13-megapixels respectively (via Modular Phones Forum).
The 13-megapixel sensor will be able to shoot 1080p footage at 120 frames per second, and 4K footage at 30 frames per second.
The third camera module is a front-facing sensor, touting a resolution of 2-megapixels.
Project Ara, for those unaware, is Google’s wacky smartphone brainchild that lets consumers swap out components or ‘modules’ of a handset to customise its specs on the fly.
Swappable parts include displays, sensors, batteries, processors, storage, and, of course, the camera.
Shardul Kazi, Senior VP at Toshiba America, said: “We’ve been engaged in Ara program for more than a year now.”
“We took some of Toshiba technologies and our chips, and developed some module reference designs. We can open these designs out for everybody, so people can use it for their own technology and developing modules.”
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Kazi went on to detail other planned modules coming in 2015, including a wireless charger module, NFC, and external memory.
Project Ara will be launching as part of a pilot test program in Puerto Rico later this year.
Eventually Google hopes to roll the modular smartphone out across the world, which means it’s working hard to bring down the price of the basic handset frame.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
