Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[Ron Kral]

Camera phone vs. digital camera

re the article's "As the resolution of camera phones reaches 3 mega pixels, they will rapidly undercut the digital camera market"

As I'm planning to soon purchase either a camera phone OR a digital camera, I'm wondering if anyone is willing to offer advice on a couple of concerns I have. All the phone vs. camera articles seem to concentrate on the resolution, the megapixels. I don't recall ever seeing any mention of optical qualities.

First, do camera-phones have optical zoom?

Second, my impression is that camera phones use CMOS image sensors .. instead of CCD .. because of power considerations. It is also my impression that image quality of CMOS is not as good as CCD. Are these impressions correct? If correct, is it likely to matter to me? (Hint: Unfortunately, I tend to be a perfectionist about other matters. )

Third, errr ... just took another sip of wine and forgot number 3. Please pretend I asked another question, one relevant to you.

TIA, Ron