Mobile

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has recently published schematics for a pyramid-like smartphone camera design that stacks multiple lenses on top of each other in a unique telescoping camera mechanism.

A group of women journalists and activists have shown how and why, in an attempt to intimidate and silence them, authoritarian governments hacked into their phones, stole their private photos, and posted them on social media.

Apple has released a brief shoot-along online educational class where the company shows how to capture -- and edit -- unique and interesting photos using the iPhone's Night Mode.

Huawei has announced two of its latest flagship smartphones -- the Huawei P50 and P50 Pro -- which will have a 50-megapixel main camera and be the first major phone series to launch with the company's own HarmonyOS.

Canon has filed a patent for a new "image pickup-up device and adjustment mechanism" that appears to be a high-powered clip-on-style telephoto camera accessory for smartphones.

Derrick Lin is an iPhone photographer who captures intricate miniature sets that can take him up to a week to perfectly stage.

Corning has announced a new Gorilla Glass brand glass composite that is designed specifically for use in smartphone cameras and claims it has a unique combination of advanced optical performance, superior scratch resistance, and durability.

The iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS) -- the first and longest-running iPhone photography competition -- has announced the winners of the 14th annual international competition. The photos show the incredible work that can be captured with just an iPhone and an eye for the extraordinary.

Instagram has launched what it calls "Sensitive Content Control" which will allow users to decide how much sensitive content shows up for them in Explore. The goal is to allow users to have a hand in the kind of experience they want to have on Instagram.

Dropbox has announced a set of interface and performance upgrades to its platform that are aimed to make it easier to organize and upload photos, give users faster access to content, and allow users to do more in the cloud storage platform through new file conversion tools.

Several governments including Mexico, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates stand accused of using spyware called "Pegasus" to infect and hack into both iPhones and Android smartphones. Once installed, it can fully access the device including remote and secret activation of the camera.

In a bid to compete in a growing market, Facebook has announced plans to pay $1 billion to creators to incentivize influencers to join and use its platform and products.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for a compact camera that uses a set of prisms to "fold" light and compress the amount of space needed for a telephoto lens. This type of lens is typically referred to as a "periscope" lens in smartphones.

As part of an industry presentation on nanotechnology in Seol, Korea, Samsung executives revealed that the company is researching metalens technology, which refers to a flat lens system that instead uses nanoparticles to align light rather than relying on curved optics.

Multiple manufacturers are currently attempting to solve problems with a smartphone's front-facing camera. Current devices generally use a notch or hole-punch, but to keep a display seamless some are trying to hide them under the display itself. Xiaomi thinks there might be a better way.

VSCO has announced three new infrared filters -- two color and one black and white -- that were originally shared with the VSCO community in early June but are launching publicly today.

Apple's iPads aren't small, but some believe they're not big enough either. A new report alleges that Apple engineers are "exploring larger iPads" for future development beyond 2022.

Samsung made waves with its Galaxy S21 smartphone launched last year thanks to notable improvements to its camera system. Multiple rumors have speculated the smartphone manufacturer would partner with Olympus in the S22 Ultra, and a new render of what that might look like has renewed that speculation.

More supposed details have emerged about the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup. A new report suggests that the high-end models of the lineup are likely to feature an upgraded ultra-wide camera with autofocus, unlike the fixed-focus ultra-wide camera on iPhone 12 models.

Wristcam, an accessory strap with two built-in cameras, has announced expanded functionality through its new Wristcam Messenger app. Users can now send and receive live video with anyone with an iPhone, even if they don't have a Wristcam or an Apple Watch.

Samsung has filed a patent for a folding smartphone with a rotating camera as well as another for an under-display camera as well as other sensors such as an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Honor, a smartphone brand that was spun off Huawei, has announced its new 50 series devices. As part of the announcement, Honor confirms that Google's apps will run on the devices, effectively skirting around the ban that crushed the floundering Huawei.

OnePlus has merged with Oppo in a move that the company says is designed to integrate and streamline products thanks to shared resources. Both brands were already owned by the same parent company, but the move further tightens development operations between the two.

According to a report from LetsGoDigital, the Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi has patented three new smartphone designs with huge camera arrays developed in a collaboration with Samsung.

Profoto has been slowly adapting its products to work more seamlessly with mobile devices and it has built on top of that with the launch of the Profoto Camera app. Separate from the Profoto Control app, the Profoto Camera app is both for lighting control and photo capture that includes a new RAW format.

Researchers from the University of Washington have developed a way to use smartphone photos to identify potentially harmful bacteria on skin and in the mouth. The method can visually identify microbes on the skin that contribute to acne as well as those that cause gingivitis and dental plaques.

Minutiae coins itself as the "anti-social" social app. It challenges conventional design by restricting users to just one minute of usage per day and anonymizes shares in an attempt to encourage users to "embrace the boring and mundane."

A reporter from a Univision affiliate in Arizona has accused police of illegally seizing his phone and threatening to access its contents by "brute force" during an incident in April.

Samsung has announced that it is beginning mass production of what it claims has the smallest pixels in the industry: 0.64μm-pixels. The 50-megapixel sensor is called the ISOCELL JN1 and is equipped with ISOCELL 2.0, Smart-ISO, and "Double Super PDAF."

South Korean designer Paeng Minwook has invented a forehead-mounted camera that is meant to criticize the modern-day smartphone user who spends an inordinate amount of time looking down at their phones and not at possible obstacles in their path.

Most social media platforms shroud the idea of "the algorithm" in mystery. Instagram appears to be breaking that mold as it has published a detailed blog that explains what its algorithm is and how it ranks feeds, Stories, Explore, and Reels.

Google has announced that Night Sight, its low-light photography feature that is commonly used for astrophotography applications, is getting video support. While it is technically a video, more accurately it is a stitched animation that is generated from a burst of still photos.

Announced today at the WWDC 2021, Apple has added "Live Text" to photos with the forthcoming iOS 15. This feature will enable Apple devices to recognize text and numbers within an image and let users copy that text from the image and paste it into other apps like Mail or Messages.

Apple has announced the latest updates for FaceTime which opens up more opportunities for users to share media with each other in a way that looks very much like what Zoom and Microsoft Teams offer, but with the signature Apple touches.

Capture One, which recently announced an update for native support on Apple M1 computers, has announced that it is currently developing an iPad app. In a note on its website on Instagram, the company says to expect the app to become available in early 2022.

Although detailed information about the Huawei P50 smartphone line wasn't revealed during the HarmonyOS 2.0 online launch event, Huawei did share a brief sneak peek of its upcoming "spring flagship."

Money Shot is a new photography app available for iOS that is designed to help photographers land the perfect photo of specific places: Just set a notification based on a location and the app will monitor the weather and alert you when conditions are prime.

Following a rumor that the iPhone 13 would possibly feature sensor stabilization in some capacity on all of its models, a new report alleges that looks more and more likely as it appears Apple will be purchasing the necessary parts for the feature in large quantities in the next two months.

Over the last several months, Samsung has published several detailed and easy-to-understand videos that discuss specific aspects of its imaging technology. Its most recent video combines many of these topics into a succinct and informative overview of its 108-megapixel ISOCELL HM3 sensor.

Efforts to reduce bezels and notches at the top of smartphones are impeded by one major must-have feature: the front-facing camera. While many Android devices have adopted the "hole punch" over the iconic Apple notch, Google may be headed towards a unique under-display camera.