Japanese Consumer Electronics giant, Sony, has announced that it has developed a 12.25-megapixels CMOS sensor for camera phones (and will certainly find their way into entry level digital cameras) called the Exmor IMX060PQ.
The company also announced two other sensors capable of 5.15 and 8.11-megapixels which will be implemented next year in cheaper camera phone (ed: seems entry level camera phones for 2009 will be at least 5MP).
Expect the sensors to appear in Q2 2009 in Sony Ericsson cameras first.
Akibaharanews has one picture taken using the 12.25-megapixel sensor and it appears to be sharp and colours appear well balanced with a pixel pitch of 1.4 micrometre.
Measuring just 7.5mm, the sensors will cost up to 2,500 yen, that's about £18 but it would be quite interesting to see how it holds its own in low-light conditions.
Current high end camera phones now reach 8MP and have pushed the prices of stand alone digital cameras down to £60.
Furthermore, Sony will start selling the IU060F camera module which comes with a built-in lens and an auto-focus function but won't make it to the market until September 2009.
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