When RIM showed off the camera enhancements built into BlackBerry 10, many in the tech community were impressed. After all, the technology takes successive photos, and allows you to pick parts of the image from each photo and merge it into one finished product, which can come in quite handy if one of the people in your photo blinked during the capture.
This wasn’t the first time we’ve heard of such a technology. Back in February, a company called Scalado demoed a similar camera technology, Scalado Remove, to major tech publications. Remove allows you to take out unwanted elements of a picture, such as a car or background person, with the simple touch of a finger, resulting in the perfect picture every time. While not identical to the technology found in BlackBerry 10’s camera, we had a sneaking suspicion Scalado had to be involved in some way, even though they weren’t on hand as on of RIM’s key partners at the BlackBerry 10 unveil.
We weren’t the only ones suspicious about a possible relationship between RIM and Scalado. TechCrunch also noted that the technology felt eerily familiar, dug up old stories on Scalado Remove (and Rewind), and reached out to RIM for comment. RIM’s Sr. Public Relations Manager Patti McKague confirmed that RIM is indeed licensing Scalado technologies in the BlackBerry 10 camera, adding that RIM is seeking a unique implementation of the technology to provide an “incredible user experience.” McKague’s full statement to TechCrunch reads:
“RIM has been working with Scalado on camera technology and has licensed some of the Scalado technology for the BlackBerry 10 platform. As shown during the BlackBerry World Keynote, RIM is planning a unique implementation of the technology on BlackBerry 10 to provide an incredible user experience, allowing for more customization by the user and enabling them to easily capture and share their perfect moments.”
I was able to score some hands-on time with Remove when it was previewed back in February, and came away greatly impressed with the innovations coming out of Scalado. RIM’s decision to include Scalado technology in the BlackBerry 10 camera software is a great move and shows that RIM truly wants to innovate with BlackBerry 10, at least in some key ways. We hope to see more companies implement Scalado’s technology into their smartphones, as the technology has the potential to truly change the way we take photographs for the better.
[via TechCrunch (1), (2)]