definitely agree with ya here, it’s so silly how things are strategically crippled…Apple is still trying to do that with their “funnest” iPod =_=

Meh?

Megapixels means nothing when it comes to picture quality, you can pack as many in there as you like, but as long as the lens is poor, the images will continue to be terrible. Junk in, Junk out.

My old Kodak 2 megapixel digital camera produces brilliant pictures. Better than any camera phone I’ve ever seen. And it’s at least 6 years old… to give you an idea, it came with an 8MB (or was it 16) compact flash card… — that was pretty fancy then!

Given the generally poor quality of the images produced by these cameras, you’ll probably never print the images. As most screens now and for the near future are still lower resolution than a 3.2MP (or even 2MP) camera, where do you need the extra pixels? Even if you did want to print, the 6×4 prints of the old Kodak I have are pretty respectable.

The 5MP is probably not there because of space and layout considerations more than anything else. Regardless of what you believe the phone ought to have, if there’s no room, there’s no room. 3.2MP is still better than most of the market anyway.

James

I agree, James. megapixels on a camera phone is probably not the biggest consideration. In my mind, the lens and processor are the biggest concerns. And HTC has consistently failed with both.

Let’s be honest. If someone came out with the perfect smartphone, they wouldn’t be able to sell us the next perfect smartphone, 6 months later. The whole business model these companies pursue – cranking out incremental changes and a myriad of phones with little differences (here and there), in order to sell us the “next big thing” – is completely screwed up.

Case in point: Watch what happens when Nokia releases a version of their top-end E71, except with Feature Pack 2. Will existing owners of the E71 get a firmware upgrade, to match? Don’t bet on it.

Premium product, premium obsolescence. The assumption is, once a user’s on the cutting edge, that user will cough up to remain there.

3.2 MPx is ok. As stated previously, sub-prime optics give sub-prime resolution regardless of sensor size. Further, mobile phones with cameras that aren’t the top of the range Nokias or Sony Ericssons are phones with cameras – nothing more.

That said, I just spent two days at a trade show. During less busy time there, I was taking pictures of the business cards I had collected, exporting their data into Outlook via WorldCard Mobile and setting follow-up priorities, dates and strategies on Pocket Informant with my Fuze.

What I will miss on the TP2 is the flash LED! For a business traveler like me, it means capturing data in low light AND having a flashlight (Torch Button is the app) to help me find my way to the bathroom in whatever strange hotel I find myself @ 3am. Oh! I find myself at home this 3:00am! How cool is that?

So, HTC – to heck with the 5 MPx sensor. How the about the LED?

How thick do you want your phone? How much do you want to pay? 3.2 – 5mp with mechanical autofocus should be sufficient. Some of my best looking pics were taken in Vancouver with only a 2MP Kodak digicam in like 2000.

Dave, in fact the unit’s for larger mega pixel cameras are not responsible for making phones bigger!