Sony: Providing Apple with a New Image Sensor? : New generation SPAD for LiDAR
Sony:
“We will sign a three-year contract with Apple to provide a new generation of near-infrared (NIR) CIS.”
The new image sensor is equipped with a SPAD array for dToF LiDAR scanners.
Apple:
This suggests that “Apple will adopt the new LiDAR scanner for the iPhone by 2023.”
DigiTimes tells the story of a source.
DigiTimes Information:
Mobile phone vendors other than Apple are expected to “incorporate a large amount of dToF technology into new models in the first half of 2022.”
Sony is likely to redesign the CIS for use on Android and mobile phones.
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese III-V partner said, “We can start shipping VCSEL chips in the latter half of 2021.”
ITmedia NEWS
https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2101/06/news043.html
Apple: Asked Sony to increase LiDAR production and install it in all iPhone 13 models
Taiwanese tech media DigiTimes
On January 4, Apple posted an article saying that it had signed a three-year contract with Sony and requested an increase in production of LiDAR scanners.
Apple
Currently, this technology is installed only in the Pro series of Phone 12.
All iPhone 13 series released this year will be equipped with LiDAR cameras to improve their functions.
LiDAR scanner potential
It’s obvious when you watch the video released on YouTube by Laan Labs, which handles computer vision.
In the video, an example of using a LiDAR scanner for 3D modeling and AR (augmented reality) is introduced, and the number of views has exceeded 4 million times.
Forbes JAPAN