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Purple Haze While Taking Photos With iPhone 5 Camera

Have you noticed the purple haze while taking photos with your iPhone 5 camera? You're not imagining, as we've also noticed the issue and quite a few iPhone 5 users are complaining about it in Apple support forums.

The problem has been observed when you aim the iPhone 5 camera towards the sun or bright light source. If you then move the camera so the light source is off screen, a purple halo effect can be seen through the camera. If you take a picture under these conditions, the halo effect also shows up on the pictures.

This thread of AnandTech Forum indicates that the issue is affecting several iPhone 5 users. AnandTech Forum member Kaido who started the thread to discuss the issue writes:

This is a thread discussing the issue of excessive purple light flare on the iPhone 5. It has been determined that many cameraphones, including the iPhone 4S, share the problem of purple haze around bright light sources, especially when those bright light sources are just barely off-screen. The problem is that the iPhone 5 exhibits more light bloom with a purple tint than other phones, to the point where it is affecting image quality. 

He has posted some side-by-side photos taken using an iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and Nikon D300, which clearly highlights the issue:

You can follow these steps to see if you're facing this issue:

1. Aim your iPhone 5 camera towards a bright light source (CFL, incandescent, sun) 2. Move the camera so the light source is off-screen (especially on the shorter sides of the screen) 3. See if you experience a purple halo - either flare or haze (see sample pictures below)

Apple support told an Gizmodo reader that it's a normal behavior for iPhone 5's camera:

“Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures. The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behavior for iPhone 5′s camera.”

It definitely doesn't seem like a "normal behavior" as we didn't notice this issue on the iPhone 4S.

It is not clear if the issue is due to a software bug or it is a hardware related issue. There are speculations that the issue could be due to iPhone 5's new sapphire lens cover or due to a new coating on the iPhone 5′s camera. According to a TechCrunch reader and photographer the issue could be addressed with a firmware update:

As many others have stated, this kind of thing happens very frequently in cameras of all types. I actually remember there being a firmware update to my Canon 7D to address this issues with certain less and lighting combinations. It’s a result of certain light frequencies being reflected/refracted in the lens from the off-angle light source. It might look like lens flare on a larger glass, but on something this thin it’s probably always going to look like a purple haze. You simply cannot beat the laws of physics. High end DSLRs have whole image processors a hell of a lot more advanced than the one in a cellphone dedicated to removing this kind of thing. But it still shows up from time to time, especially with new glass.

Let's hope that Apple can fix the issue in the next iOS software update as it's quite annoying.

Here’s The Reason Samsung Wants The $1 Billion Verdict Favoring Apple To Be Thrown Out

Samsung has finally figured out the reason the judge should throw out the $1 billion verdict, and its not because software patents for things like "pinch and zoom," "double-tap to zoom," "bounce back" etc. shouldn't exist in the first place.

BusinessWeek reports that Samsung has filed a request to a judge for the $1 billion verdict favoring Apple to be thrown out as the jury foreman Velvin Hogan failed out to disclose a lawsuit and his personal bankruptcy.

Business Week reports:

Samsung said foreman Velvin Hogan was asked during jury selection whether he’d been involved in lawsuits and didn’t tell the judge that he had filed for bankruptcy in 1993 and had been sued by his former employer, Seagate Technology Inc.

Samsung has a “substantial strategic relationship” with Seagate and the lawyer who filed the complaint against Hogan is married to an attorney who works for the firm that represented Samsung in the trial against Apple, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a filing yesterday in federal court in San Jose, California.

“Mr. Hogan’s failure to disclose the Seagate suit raises issues of bias that Samsung should have been allowed to explore,” Samsung said in its request for a new trial. The company also said Hogan’s public statements after the verdict suggest he failed to answer the court’s questions “truthfully” to “secure a seat on the jury.” 

Hogan in a phone interview with Business Week said that the court instructions for potential jurors required disclosure of any litigation they were involved in, within the last 10 years. He clarified that since the bankruptcy and related litigation involving Seagate were back in 1993, he did not feel the need to disclose it.

“Had I been asked an open-ended question with no time constraint, of course I would’ve disclosed that,” Hogan said, referring to the bankruptcy and related litigation. “I’m willing to go in front of the judge to tell her that I had no intention of being on this jury, let alone withholding anything that would’ve allowed me to be excused.” 

Hogan said that it was a honor being selected as the juror, especially since the suit was related to his job as an electrical engineer. Jurors had elected him as the foreman based on his experience. He wonders whether Samsung let him in the jury just to have an excuse for a new trial if it didn’t go in their favor. 

It seems quite bizaare that Samsung is requesting the verdict to be thrown out for this reason. What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

T-Mobile CEO Speaks About Combined Company with MetroPCS

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Apple reportedly using its retail employees to improve iOS 6 Maps data

Apple got itself in a pickle with iOS 6 Maps. After ending its mapping relationship with Google, the company put together its own backend to Maps, only to have it universally panned. Misplaced landmarks, missing towns, and melted bridges are some of the more egregious examples of the app's shortcomings.

After CEO Tim Cook apologized to customers, it appears that Apple is trying a novel approach to the problem. MacRumors reports that the company is trying to improve the mapping data by tapping into its army of nearly 40,000 Apple Store employees.

Details are scant on Apple's methods, but participating stores will reportedly commit 40 hours of weekly staff time to the project. They will "manually examine" their respective areas' mapping data, and submit corrections to an internal Apple database.

Smart, but will it be enough?

Will Geniuses be piloting Apple Street View cars? (digitally altered)

Could using Apple Store employees be a stroke of genius? Unlike past issues Apple has faced (like antennagate or MobileMe), Maps' problems can't be fixed from an office in Cupertino. The data will improve gradually as more iPhone owners use iOS 6 Maps, but Apple would love to expedite that process. With nearly 400 retail stores spread across the globe, this approach could cover a lot of ground.

Apple still has its hands full with Mapgate, and it isn't clear whether creative solutions like this will change that. In the meantime, those having problems with iOS 6 Maps can try App Store alternatives like Waze or Mapquest, or simply use Google's HTML5 web app.

What do you think? Will an army of Geniuses significantly help Apple's Maps fiasco? Or is the problem too big for short-term results? Let us know in those comments!

Image elements sampled from Wikimedia Commons [1] [2] and Apple

Source [GizMag]