Since the release of the incredibly cool Lytro camera, the big question has been when we will see this kind of technology in our existing mobile devices. According to Toshiba, we need only wait until the end of 2013 to see this tech in smartphones and tablets.
The way we take photos with smartphones, it stands to reason that most of us could benefit from a camera that allowed us to adjust focus after the image was captured. That’s the power of the Lytro camera, being able to shift focus even after the photo has been taken. Some have even used this to create images that reveal more when you shift focus, placing some items out of view intentionally for fun. Lytro cameras, however, are roughly the size of a can of Red Bull. It can’t be easy to shrink that experience down and maintain even close to the same quality. Toshiba seems convinced that they can fit the technology into a 1cm cube to replace the rear camera on smartphones being released late next year.