March 16, 2008 – Seiko Instruments Inc. is now offering a cost effective option for a new kind of auto focus lens for cellular phones: Varioptic’s Liquid Lenses. Plans were announced for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of this new camera lens. Cost effective advantages for manufacturers and users alike will be felt in terms of cost of course, size, robustness, power consumption, silent operation and speed. This type of lens will offer new innovations in the field of camcorder phones and their ability to offer continuous auto focus.

With the agreement signed between Varioptic and Seiko Instruments Inc. marks the integration of two leaders in their respective fields. Seiko is the mobile leader in Backup button battery and capacitor supplier to leading mobile phone manufacturer while Varipotic will soon become the leading supplier of high quality image solutions for cellular devices.

There are several possible advantages to this type of lens for a camera phone. Because of the way this type of lens is built, it should be more durable and less likely to be damaged during regular phone usage and wear and tear. Along with decreased power consumption, this type of lens could also be made smaller, making it much more convenient to incorporate into small cell phone designs.

Seiko Instruments Inc. plans to increase their production to .5 million units per month in the near future with more increases possible depending on the needs of the market. This will follow their already existing agreement for the production of Arctic 314 and Arctic 416 lenses with 5.0 mega pixel, 1/3 inch and 1/4/ inch cameras.

Source: mobiledia.com; primidi.com