Techniques to automatically focus a digital camera

A method for operating a mobile device, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

• displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component;
• selecting a second focal point for the image in response to receiving a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;
• focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed;
• selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;
• and
• capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

• displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component;
• selecting a second focal point for the image in response to a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;
• focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed;
• selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;
• and
• capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input.

A mobile electronic device, comprising:

• a lens component;
• a touchscreen display to display an image having a first visual focal point, the image being a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component;
• a directional microphone component;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the lens component, the touchscreen display, and the directional microphone component, the one or more processors being configured to provide:
• a focal point selection module to select a second visual focal point and an audio focal point for the image, wherein the second visual focal point and the audio focal point correspond to different portions of the image;
• and
• a focus control module coupled to the focal point selection module to (i) provide focus control signals to the lens component in order to automatically change a focus of the lens component from the first visual focal point to the second visual focal point, and (ii) provide focus control signals to the directional microphone component in order to automatically focus the directional microphone component on a target, in the image, of the audio focal point, while continuing to display the image as the substantially real-time previous of the view through the lens component on the touchscreen display.

A method for operating a mobile device, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

• displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component as a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component;
• selecting a second focal point for the image in response to receiving a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;
• automatically focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed as the substantially real-time preview of the view through the lens component;
• selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;
• capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input;
• and
• cropping the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

• displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component as a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component;
• selecting a second focal point for the image in response to a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;
• automatically focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed as the substantially real-time preview of the view through the lens component;
• selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;
• capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input;
• and
• cropping the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position.