With the launch of the Mac compatible eyeplate, FujiFilm is the first original equipment manufacturer to bring a version of the Ultra-Pocket to market.
In the partnership between the two companies, SMaL supplies FujiFilm with the reference design and major components, including SMaL’s proprietary CMOS image sensor and ASIC. FujiFilm will manufacture, market, and distribute the eyeplate.
The SMaL ultra-low power imager chip set, its optics, and its 0.8mm thin, USB-rechargeable, lithium polymer battery, makes the eyplate’s 6mm (0.2 inches) size possible, according to Maurizio Arienzo, president and CEO of SMaL. The company’s color CMOS image sensor has VGA resolution and consumes six times less power than typical VGA imagers, he said. The chip set also features SMaL’s proprietary Autobrite technology, which greatly enhances the dynamic range and automatically adjusts the exposure so that details in both bright and dim areas of a picture are clear, Arienzo said.
The eyeplate is due for release in Japan first (on April 1). No target date has been given for its arrival in North America.