We recently reported about a code snippet that gave away that Google was apparently working on implementing raw capability in the Android camera. In an interview with CNet, Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano now confirmed that Google is indeed working on improving the Android photography experience. According to the interview, the raw capturing capability is now part of Android’s hardware abstraction layer (HAL), which also supports a burst mode as is already implemented in the camera of the Google Nexus 5 smartphone.
In a future Android release, the company aims to implement an application programming interface (API) that’ll make it possible for developers to create their own camera apps with raw capture capability. At the moment, we have no idea as to whether Google will go for the universal DNG raw file format, or whether they’ll use a proprietary format (or even moreso, whether the file format will depend on the phone’s manufacturer.) Scigliano also didn’t mention a schedule for the implementation of the new API. But judging from her remarks, it’s entirely possible that we’ll see raw shooting go live sometime within the lifespan of the Nexus 5.
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