solutions, today announced that it’s SiimpelFocus™ SF9x MEMS-based silicon camera technology is now shipping in Motorola’s recently announced MING™ A1600 cellular handset, which integrates the industry’s first MEMS-based, continuous autofocus camera, enhanced GPS capabilities, and a suite of mobile business applications. Motorola Inc., a leader in delivering high-performance handset products to the mobile market, selected Siimpel’s technology to provide consumers with a next-generation cellular phone with reliable autofocus capabilities similar to those found in standalone digital cameras.

“We’re applying our expertise in MEMS technology to deliver high-quality camera phone solutions with fast, precise, and repeatable, autofocus capabilities,” said Chee Kwan, Siimpel’s chief executive officer. “We are proud that Motorola has selected our MEMS technology to deliver digital camera-like performance in their new cellular phone while reducing the power consumption by over a factor of two compared to legacy camera solutions.”

Motorola’s A1600 handset includes advanced imaging features which are supported by Siimpel’s continuous autofocus solution. The A1600 features include photo stitching to create panoramic images; a talking dictionary which uses the camera to recognize and translate English and Chinese characters into audio simply by scanning the text; and geotagging which enables the user to tag photos with the appropriate location information.

“Our unique silicon MEMS-based design approach allows manufacturers to integrate key digital camera features such as autofocus, shutter, zoom, and image stabilization into mobile handsets without increasing the size of the camera,” added Kwan. “The SF9x is the first in a family of products Siimpel is developing. Our product roadmap includes silicon-based designs that will further drive down the size and power constraints associated with the development of cellular phones and other mobile devices, while meeting manufacturers’ high-performance and reliability requirements.”

The MEMS Advantage

MEMS technology enables the fast, repeatable, and accurate movement of mechanical structures such as digital camera autofocus and shutter within one micron. This is important because the performance of an optical system is largely dependent on the alignment tolerances of the optical elements. As the optical system is reduced in size, these tolerances must be proportionately reduced in order to maintain the same optical performance. Currently, manufacturing and alignment technology constraints prevent product developers from significantly reducing the size of cameras integrated into consumer products such as mobile phones. Siimpel’s proprietary MEMS-based solution solves this issue, enabling manufacturers to develop mobile handsets and other consumer devices with higher-performance, integrated cameras.

About Siimpel Corporation

Siimpel is a leading developer and manufacturer of silicon MEMS-based solutions for mobile imaging applications. The company’s innovative products set new standards for the size and performance of digital cameras in mobile platforms. Siimpel is a privately held company with investors that include Motorola, QUALCOMM, and Micron Technologies. Founded in 2000, Siimpel has approximately 60 employees, and is headquartered in Arcadia, Calif.

Information Source:    Business Wire

Image courtesy of Motorola website