If this report from DigiTimes is true, the next iPhone will use one of these 3-megapixel CameraChip sensors from OmniVision, capable of (but not necessarily guaranteed to use) autofocus and zoom.
My guess has been and remains to be that the next iPhone will be the “iPhone Video” and will be Apple’s attempt at fighting the Flip camcorders.
It is pointless to speculate, since, of course it will be teh greatest camera evah!!! In fact when the photos taken with it do not match reality it is reality itself which is at fault:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/01/13/photon-gating-makes.html
I don’t think Apple can play the same game as Flip. I don’t mind letting my niece and nephew tear around with a cheap Flip. And it’s really hard for them to screw it up.
Ain’t no kid running around with my iPhone. Plus, the few times I do let kids touch mine, they inevitably press the Home button when they’re unsure what to do next. That won’t work well.
If it is any of the chips on that list, it had better be able to do a proper (25/30fps) frame rate at a decent resolution. Otherwise it’s a fail for me…