Phones Shoot Better Photos Than iPad 2

Days after the iPad 2 announcement, many are wondering just how powerful the new iPad 2 cameras will be -- and they may be disappointed to learn that both are likely less than 1 megapixel each.

The numbers were crunched over at Wired, where the 720-pixel playback will work for video, but take low-quality still images. For example, it would be the same 1-,megapixel photos that my 2003 Motorola Razr could take. (None of this is certain until an iPad 2 makes its way into someone hands first, so expect the teardown some time next week.) My Droid 2 -- which has one of crappiest cameras known to smartphones -- takes 5-megapixel still shots. The iPhone 4's camera is 5MP and the iPhone 3G is 3MP.

OK, I know it's probably not that big of a deal for most would-be iPad 2 owners, plus anyone running around taking photos with their iPad 2 will look like a complete dork, but it's more about the idea that Apple installed a crappy feature. It makes the iPad 2 seem like a rushed, sloppy product created to make a deadline. Perhaps it was.

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