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Pop-Up Cameras Could Soon Be a Mobile Trend (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the eyes-peeled dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: There's an interesting concept making its way around Mobile World Congress. Two gadgets offer cameras hidden until activated, which offer a fresh take on design and additional privacy. Vivo built a camera into a smartphone concept that's on a little sliding tray and Huawei will soon offer a MacBook Pro clone that features a camera hidden under a door above the keyboard. This could be a glimpse of the future of mobile design. Cameras have long been embedded in laptops and smartphones much to the chagrin of privacy experts. Some users cover up these cameras with tape or slim gadgets to ensure nefarious players do not remotely activate the cameras. Others, like HP, have started to build in shutters to give the user more control. Both DIY and built-in options require substantial screen bezels, which the industry is quickly racing to eliminate.

With shrinking bezels, gadget makers have to look for new solutions like the iPhone X notch. Others still, like Vivo and Huawei, are look at more elegant solutions than carving out a bit of the screen. For Huawei, this means using a false key within the keyboard to house a hidden camera. Press the key and it pops up like a trapdoor. We tried it out and though the housing is clever, the placement makes for awkward photos -- just make sure you trim those nose hairs before starting your conference call. Vivo has a similar take to Huawei though the camera is embedded on a sliding tray that pops-up out of the top of the phone.

12 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Moving Parts by nwaack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm all for privacy, but this just sounds like another thing that could break on my phone.

    1. Re:Moving Parts by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I suspect that's why manufacturers didn't initially include them, that and the additional cost.

      I'd pay extra for a phone with real physical switches that interrupt current flow to things like the camera, microphone, GPS, radios, etc. Software based buttons can't be trusted.

      Even something simple that prevents button presses while the phone is in my pocket would be welcome. Back in the day things like portable CD players had lock switches on the back of the device for exactly that reason.

    2. Re:Moving Parts by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

      I suspect that's why manufacturers didn't initially include them, that and the additional cost.
      I'd pay extra for a phone with real physical switches ...

      I feel the same way about the growing trend toward key-less (aka wireless) only entry and ignition in cars.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    3. Re:Moving Parts by Moof123 · · Score: 2

      If my fob gets lost it takes a trip to the dealer and about $250 to get a new one. My other car can get a spare made for a few bucks at the local hardware store.

      On that basis alone I have vowed to either gets cars with no keyless crap, or require a third fob up front as part of the deal.

    4. Re:Moving Parts by the+phantom · · Score: 2

      On the other hand, car theft is almost a non-issue anymore, thanks in large part to the technology that you decry.

      --
      Rhapsody in Numbers
  2. Nokia 6650 by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a Nokia 6650 still kicking about some place.

    Not the clamshell 6650. The very first 6650 that not many were made of. Nokia's first attempt at making a phone for the brand new UMTS network at the time. It has a lense cover, when you slide down the lense cover the camera app automatically opens. Brilliant feature and much better than the smartphone of today where you have to first get rid of the lock screen then navigate to the camera app .. your opportunity to take a photo could be gone at that stage.

    There probably won't be another phone like that though, because unlike the 8110 it wasn't in any popular film and nobody remembers it to the extent that they saw it fit to reuse the model number for two completely different phones.

  3. How cute! by m2shariy · · Score: 2

    And each of them little pop-up cameras will have it's own tiny pop-up flash, aww..

  4. Nostril Cam! by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the biggest complaint about the Dell XPS 13 laptop is the camera is at the bottom of the bezel instead of the top (where it is on most laptops). This results in a camera taking photos at less than flattering angles, notably, your nostrils.

    This camera, being hidden in the keyboard, has the same issue - it points upwards from the computer, leading to everyone seeing your face and being distracted by your nostrils.

    Hope you trimmed your nose hairs, because that's all anyone you're going to be chatting to will be seeing.

  5. That is pretty cool by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    That is a pretty cool idea: a camera that slides out on a sliding tray. Another cool idea would be to make a phone where the keypad/keyboard slides out. That way you have the whole screen open, without having to type on an on screen keyboard that is obscuring the bottom part of the display.

  6. Old School Red LED by Moof123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd settle for a hardwired red LED whenever the camera was active. It needs to be truly hardware connected and not software bypass-able. I believe we all deserve to know when any camera is active, so I'd rather it not be bypass-able without a soldering iron.

  7. Known Feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If it collects lint, that's not a port cover, that's a belly button!

  8. So.... by BitztreamNotARealNam · · Score: 2

    How's life in the hypocrite lane?