You know all those Droid reviews that heaped glowing praise on everything except the camera? All those reports of issues with getting it to focus?
Many sources are reporting that Droid owners awoke to cameras that suddenly worked perfectly today. Â Was it a silent patch? Did the lens just need a cleaning?
Nope. Google's Dan Morrill explained that the camera issues have been pinned down to a date-related bug:
There's a rounding-error bug in the camera driver's autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it'll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.
The 17th is the start of a new "works correctly" cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.
So, Droid owners, enjoy your cameras while you can, and hopefully you'll see the issue permanently resolved soon.
24 Responses to “Droid’s Camera Issues Resolved! (For Now)” Leave a reply ›
Fascinating
Shouldn't we wait for something a little more official than a comment in the middle of Engadget?
Dan Morrill is a pretty reliable source, but that it's not particularly official is the reason this post is filed under "rumors and more."
I'm not disputing that he's a reliable source.
My problem is that, just like here, anyone can call themselves whatever they want when they comment on Engadget. How do any of us know who really made the comment?
Before posting, I cross-referenced it with a comment by him on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/morrildl/status/5799769494
That is definitely his real twitter account.
I did a little digging myself and found the Twitter account too.
So, I'll take it for what it is. It appears to be a date bug. It doesn't explain why mine will now focus no matter what date I put in, when it couldn't focus at all before today. I guess I'll just accept that mine is the exception to the rule.
wait....so the droid gets pms.....shit
lol...so much for being more masculine than the iPhone... (I still love mine, even if he get's pms)
Best comment ever...I am stealing this one!
awesome...lol
@Nate: it is the actual bug, really.
I know there's a bug. I own the phone and have been dealing with the camera issues from day one.
However, when I set the date back on my Droid, it still focuses. Going back in time doesn't recreate the original problem.
the exact cycle is 24.855134814814814 days
= 2 ^ 31 milliseconds.
You're able to set the date on a Droid? Doesn't it just pull it from teh interwebz?
You can set the date yourself under the Date and Time settings, or you can have the network define it.