Telephoto lens zoom has been a big innovation in smartphone tech over the last few years, with the iPhone XS range sporting one of the best on the market, but it looks like Samsung has a plan to keep pace with Apple's impressive tech.
It likely won't be ready for the Galaxy S10 (which is set to be announced in February), but Samsung is now rumored to be looking into buying a company that Chinese phone manufacturer Oppo has previously been using to improve its own zoom tech.
The company is called Corephotonics and according to Israeli website Globe, the company is worth somewhere between $150 million and $160 million to Samsung.
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Oppo previously used Corephotonics technology to provide 5x lossless zoom in a prototype device shown off at MWC 2017. We tested out the technology at the show back then, and it was some impressive stuff that later featured in the Oppo Find X.
Oppo is also rumored to now be working on similar technology, which uses a prism to achieve the high quality picture, but this time up to 10x zoom.
Corephotonics has around 150 patents as well as its powerful technology that we've seen partnered with previous Oppo devices, and if a purchase goes ahead it may mean we see better lossless zoom in upcoming Samsung phones.
Whether this deal goes ahead remains to be seen, and it may also be quite a long wait even if the deal does go ahead. It may mean we see the technology in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 later this year, or even further along the line in devices such as the Galaxy S11.
No matter what happens here though, it's great to see some of the most innovative companies in the smartphone game putting pressure on the camera zoom and taking the battle directly to the iPhone.
