Optical image stabilization camera tech probably won’t come to the Galaxy Note 3

By Andy Boxall Updated October 1, 2013

Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro Review back camera closeup

Check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phablet.

A report suggests Samsung is hard at work on a new camera for its next generation smartphones, and that in addition to having 16-megapixels, it’ll also feature optical image stabilization technology. This has become a mainstay of high-end camera phone’s spec sheets, thanks mainly to its adoption by Nokia.

According to the article, Samsung may have wanted to add optical image stabilization to the Galaxy Note 3, and it has been connected to the device in several rumors. However, production levels haven’t been great enough to meet the target, and the Note 3 will probably be announced next month without the feature onboard. Instead, the camera’s launch has been pushed forward to early next year, which could mean only one thing, Samsung is gearing up to add a 16-megapixel camera with OIS to the Galaxy S5.

So, what is OIS? It help steady the camera’s image so you can record the sharpest pictures possible, and it has been fitted to the Lumia 920, Lumia 925, Lumia 928 and most recently, the Lumia 1020. Samsung’s arch-rival LG has also just added it to the new LG G2 smartphone, perhaps providing a reason for Samsung’s heightened interest, and need to tell the world.

The Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel camera, so the bumping up the megapixels and also replacing the digital image stabilization with an optical system all makes sense. Samsung already uses a 16-megapixel camera with OIS on the Galaxy S4 Zoom, but it’s all encased inside a hybrid compact camera/smartphone body, and it’s not expected to be a big, mainstream seller. Whether this new module is a tweaked version of the S4 Zoom’s camera isn’t stated.

If it is headed for the Galaxy S5, we’re unlikely to find out much until next year, as the Galaxy S4 has only recently hit stores. The phone was announced at a lavish event in New York on March 14, so look out for something around the same date in 2014.

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Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

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