Apple hires Nokia Lumia's photography lead Ari Partinen hinting at possible plans to enhance camera tech in iPhones.
Apple, the second largest smartphone maker, has tapped in a senior level executive from Nokia's camera division, Lumia photography lead Ari Partinen. The announcement was made on Twitter through his official account. He confirmed he was joining the Cupertino firm in June. Partinen's arrival at Apple marks a significant move for the tech company that has been trying to remodel its iPhone's camera.
Partinen's expertise lies in "mobile imaging starting from camera module production all the way to the final image quality tuning and verification" and he has also worked as a commercial photographer, according to his Linked profile. He is also listed as a co-author on a paper detailing "Nokia's PureView oversampling technology" alongside head of imaging technologies Juha Alakarhu, senior benchmarking specialist Tero Vuori, and head of imaging Eero Salmelin, The Verge reports. His colleagues currently work for Microsoft, after the software giant completed the Nokia acquisition in April.
Partinen tweeted his departure from Nokia, reporting at his last day of work on Friday after working on Lumia camera modules since 2007. Though his first tweet only said he will be starting "a new chapter in Cupertino, California," a second tweet confirmed it was Apple,
Today will be my last day working for the amazing #Lumia family. In June I will start a new chapter in Cupertino, California. Much love!
— Ari Partinen (@Partinen) May 9, 2014
The latest hire comes at a time when reports show Apple's revived interest in boosting camera capabilities in future iPhones. Earlier this week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application that was filed by Apple in 2012 that showed the company was developing a "system and method for creating a super-resolution image using an image capturing device," Apple Insider reported, Thursday. It is, however, unclear if the super-resolution image technology will debut in the next iPhone, expected to launch this fall or involve any participation from Partinen.
Using Partinen's inputs on future camera tech for Apple can only be good news, after all he was a part of the company that was first to deliver optical image stabilization in Lumia 920 and use high sensors, up to 41-megapixels, in 808 PureView and Lumia 1020.
