[arrrg]

Look at the lens of those devices … I mean, really, it’s a basic physics problem.

The device itself can obviously be very, very small. Obviously. No one is disputing that. But the lens is the issue if the sensor gets larger and a smartphone with Sony Nex sensor size (APS-C) is impossible.

There is nowhere to go with the available space. Not if you want to keep the smartphone actually smartphone sized.

[e12e]

I was thinking about something like:

http://www.kurtmunger.com/sony_nex_20mm_f_2_8id345.html

Sure, we're definitely talking something bigger than a standard iphone. So maybe not possible in a general market smart phone (I'd love to have the possibility of changing lenses on my phone, even if it wouldn't quite fit in the smallest pockets any more...).

The only other option would probably be some kind of lightfield tech, say a grid of 8x10 VGA resolution cameras that feed into a single software or ASIC processing unit...