An 8 megapixel, 28mm wide-angle...camera phone?

[David Rasnake]

The folks over at Engadget caught a whiff of FCC compliance testing being performed on a new cellphone from Sharp.

Presumably intended for the Japanese market, the Sharp SH-01A is clamshell-design phone that sports, among other features, an 8 megapixel CCD sensor and a 28mm wide-angle lens.

Beyond its imaging prowess, the phone is also rumored to support Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound.

This latest move away from cellphone manufacturers' reliance on low-cost, poorly performing CMOS sensors and to CCD imager technology roughly equivalent to what you'd fine in a budget compact camera probably won't make it to the U.S. in the form seen here, but it's yet another example of just how near on the horizon compact-rivalling camera phone technology really is.

Engadget has the full scoop.

[jetstar]

8MP? Dolby sound? In a phone?

[David Rasnake]

8MP? Dolby sound? In a phone?

It's a crazy world we're living in. I figure it's only a matter of time at this point before someone comes out with a phone-integrated camera that's a serious competitor to the performance of an ultracompact. Samsung's moving strongly in that direction; Sony has the resources to pull it off. There are others.

Ultimately, the fact that the overwhelming majority of under-25 users don't ever print their photos opens up even more space for a decent quality, high-function camera to encroach on the ultracompact market. It will take better image quality and, perhaps more importantly, better interfaces than the current camera phones provide to really make a dent in this market, but I think we'll get there.

Plus, the integration of data networks then makes getting the pictures from your camera/phone to Facebook, Flickr, or wherever simple.

dr