Unveiled in October 2011, Lytro's light-field camera took the photography world by storm after showcasing how a user could focus a picture even after it had been taken. This revelation didn't go unnoticed by Apple's Steve Jobs who, according to a new book by a Fortune writer, reportedly expressed an interest in utilising the technology for the iPhone. What's more, a recent interview with Lytro's Executive Chairman revealed the company could work with smartphone manufacturers in the future.
Adam Lashinsky's new book, Inside Apple, states that in Jobs' final months, he met Lytro's CEO Ren Ng at his Palo Alto home to discuss the technology. After talking about product design and possibly applications, Jobs asked Ng to send him an email listing three things he'd like Lytro to do with Apple.
While Ng's wants remain unclear, Steve Jobs clearly wanted to reinvent the way we take photographs with the iPhone being integral to that. In fact, in Walter Isaacson's biography, Jobs said he wanted to revolutionise three things; television, textbooks and photography. With Apple reportedly developing its own Smart TV and its recent foray into digital textbooks, Jobs' ambitious wishes are seemingly coming to fruition.
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Adding fuel to the fire, Lytro's Executive Chairman Charles Chi has told PCWorld that even though the smartphone market is extremely competitive and very complex, it was open to partnering with a major manufacturer.
“It's an industry that's very different and driven based on operational excellence. For us to compete in there, we'd have to be a very different kind of company,” said Chi.
“So if we were to enter that space, it would definitely be through a partnership and a co development of the technology, and ultimately some kind of licensing with the appropriate partner.”
While Chi admits that Lytro is focused on developing its own product and building a solid footing in the photography market, the possibility of having a smartphone, perhaps even an iPhone, featuring a light-field camera is exciting news indeed.
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