A couple of years back camera manufacturers went barking mad and started installing ridiculous, double digit megapixel sensors in entry-level compact cameras.

The scheme seems to have worked, as most average consumers like big numbers, so the megapixel race continued in the mobile phone arena. We thought 3MP was nice, 5MP more than enough, while 8MP was a taking it a bit too far on a mobile, but Sony just went overboard with 12.25MP on their latest mobile phone imaging sensor.

The IMX060PQ Exmor 1/2.5 CMOS sensor offers 12.25 megapixels and the smallest unit cell size (1.4µm) in the industry. Sony also announced a 1/3.2 8.1MP and a 1/4 5.15MP CMOS image sensor. The company plans to launch two lens modules, a 1/2.5 unit with 12.25MP and a 1/3.2 module with 8.11 megapixels.

More at Sony, here.