Now this is a strange bit of news–apparently a group called Silicon Image has recently developed the camera processor IP core by which even a mobile phone can take still photographs at a quality of eighteen megapixels.

Here’s the basic explanation, courtesy of Reuters:

…a leader in semiconductors and intellectual property (IP) for the secure distribution, presentation and storage of high-definition (HD) content, today introduced the camerIC-18, the newest member of its family of camerIC camera processor IP cores. With its high-quality 18 megapixel (MP) image signal processing (ISP) technology, the camerIC-18 is targeted for integration into digital still camera (DSC) and video System-on-a-Chip (SoC) application processors for mobile devices such as cell phones, portable multimedia players (PMPs) and netbooks.

This is, frankly, pretty exciting stuff.  The thought that within the next few years, a cell phone could be taking sharper pictures than just about every camera you see on the shelves right now is exciting to say the least.  But like everything else just getting started, there’s no way to be sure how long it’ll take to boil down to market.

Related posts:

1. Mobile Phone Telescope – For That Extra Zoom!
2. LG -SV280 Mobile Phone
3. Hi-Tech S116 Mobile phone powered by light
4. Casio Exilim C721 5 Megapixel Camera Phone
5. SanDisk 60-Second Summer Mobile Phone Video Contest Announced