Aptina unleashes 1080p and 4K mobile sensors, entire point-and-shoot segment cringes

Hear that? That's the sound of the entire point-and-shoot camera industry bracing for yet another blow. As smartphone cameras mature, it's becoming ever more difficult to convince consumers to use anything other than their phone outside of special occasions where ILCs or DSLRs are necessary. Aptina has a lot to do with that. Here at Mobile World Congress, the sensor outfit has announced its 12 megapixel and 13 megapixel mobile image sensors, aimed squarely at next-gen flagship phones that ought to be coming out in Q2 or Q3 this year. The smaller 1.1-micron pixel construction is the standout feature, with the AR1230 capable of capturing 4K video at 30fps as well as 1080p video at up to 96fps. The AR1330 throws in electronic image stabilization support at 1080p, while snagging 4K UHD and 4K Cinema formats at 30fps.

Over on the tablet PC / TV front, the AR0261 is a new 1080p-capable sensor that's destined to redefine what a front-facing camera can accomplish. It relies on a 1.4-micron pixel, and should have no issues capturing faces at up to 60fps when using its 720p mode. Furthermore, Aptina promises that this guy can work with applications involving gesture recognition and 3D video capture, but sadly, no OEMs are coming forward just yet with concrete plans to include it.

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Sailfish SDK released

With the beginning of MWC 2013, Jolla released their Salfish SDK along with a revamped sailfish.org website. Currently those developer tools are available to Linux users - Mac and Windows users need to have some more patience. The new website contains a lot of information about Jolla's mobile system, it's design & navigation principles and vision behind the project.

"We believe there is a clear need for a modern and independent mobile OS that enables free competition and innovation, without predominant control by a single player." - sailfish.org

Sailfish OS will be a system which focuses on the interaction between user and device. Instead of many small buttons, Jolla's main focus is on gestures and feedback in form of vibrations, pictures and sound. Fans of MeeGo Harmattan multitasking won't miss out: Sailfish OS comes with true multitasking allowing the user to interact with running applications even when they aren't in the foreground. Similar to the N9, Jolla phones will have a system with many inbuilt services. Therefore developers can create plugins instead of independent applications for every single service as known on iOS.

A difference to MeeGo Harmattan is the arrangement of Lockscreen, Application-launcher and Multitasking view. Those are arranged vertically instead of horizontally. Swiping the screen upwards displays Events screen, a swipe down closes applications.

A great innovation by Jolla is the so called "Pully Menu". Within an application you have a visual glow on top of the screen which indicated that you can pull down a menu list. Option are selected by releasing your finger from the screen once the desired option is chosen.

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Apple airs a new TV ad

Apple aired a new TV ad called “Hollywood,” which debuted during The Oscars, but just recently was uploaded to its YouTube channel. It follows the same theme of its previous iPad TV ads, focusing on the App Store’s 300,000+ apps.

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