Under-screen cameras & network free phone calls – Oppo had a lot to show at MWC Shanghai

Oppo have never been afraid to experiment a little when it comes to mobile phones. They were the first to introduce pop-up selfie cameras and play around with notches on smartphones. Now less than a month after teasing an under-screen camera (USC) they’ve put it in the hands of the public at MWC Shanghai.

The USC works using a redistributed arrangement of pixels under a custom transparent material that Oppo promises preserves full touch controls. With no need for a notch or pinhole in the display the USC’s sensor can be much larger and more powerful leading to a higher quality camera likely to arrive with any implementation.

While Oppo admit the addition of a screen will affect the quality of the image to some degree they’re confident they’ve developed algorithms that are tuned to the hardware, which will address the issues.

MeshTalk: A decentralised, ad-hoc communications network

In addition to the USC’s first public viewing Oppo also announced a new infrastructure free ad-hoc networking system. Called “MeshTalk” the proprietary tech allows people to make phone calls and send messages over a decentralised system up to 3km away. That distance can grow, with other Oppo devices within the area that contain the custom-developed low-powered hardware the network has no theoretical limits beyond land mass.

The new tech is said to have little no affect to the phone’s battery life and whilst not designed to replace cellular networks could be used in areas that have no internet access or traditional networks are too crowded to communicate.

There were no details given on when MeshTalk is likely to hit market or even what phones, if any already, from Oppo will work with it. Regardless the idea of a truly ad-hoc, decentralised network could eventuate into quite the disruptor and traditional telcos should be shaking in their boots if it ever does take off.