One of the selling points of the Huawei P9 and the P9 Plus is that their dual cameras are co-engineered by Leica, a name synonymous with premium photography-related products. Now the two companies have announced another partnership, and this time, it’s with the aim of creating more ground-breaking technology and products to for better mobile photography. They are partnering to create a research and development lab that will look into the fields of “new optical systems, computational imaging, virtual reality, and augmented reality.”
This new center will be called the “Max Berek Innovation Lab”, named after the German inventor who created the first Leica lenses. It will be located in the global headquarters of Leica in Wetzlar, Germany, and the main purpose is to develop optical systems and software-based technologies in order for the two brands to still be at the forefront when it comes to mobile photography. They will also be including research into computational imaging, virtual reality, and augmented reality solutions.
According to Huawei CEO Res Zhengfei, the industry is expecting that data traffic will probably be 90% images and videos in the very near future. And so this lab is expected to be able to “deliver the most advanced innovations in the smartphone camera market and bring greater value to consumers.” Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, majority shareholder and chairman of the advisory board of Leica Camera AG, says this is the chance for the two companies to unite their resources in order to come up with “game-changing technologies” when it comes to this market.
The dual camera lenses that they partnered on for the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus have proven to be a hit with mobile photo enthusiasts, at least when it comes to reviews. Let’s hope it translates to sales in order to support more projects and partnerships like this.
SOURCE: Huawei
Looks like I’m going to be a Huawei smartphone owner in the future – as long as the screen size is no smaller than 5.7 inches.