Hate Your Cell Phone Photos? HP Aims To Up QualityHate Your Cell Phone Photos? HP Aims To Up Quality

Think your cell phone takes crappy pictures? You're not alone. But there may be something better on the horizon.

Hewlett-Packard is teaming up with Flextronics to develop a mobile phone camera that captures photos with the same high quality users get from their digital still cameras. The two companied signed a five-year collaborative agreement.

As part of the agreement, HP will provide an exclusive license for its image processing technology to Flextronics for use in camera modules, in return for a royalty, according to a release.

"This agreement is a breakthrough for the booming camera phone market because it will transform photos into higher quality images [and] into keepsakes to share and print," said Tara Bunch, VP of HP's Imaging and Printing Group.

Originally designed for HP's Photosmart digital cameras, HP's image processing technology will correct and enhance digital images in Flextronics-designed and manufactured camera modules, according to HP. Flextronics' Components Group, one of the world's largest camera module designers and manufacturers, will embed the technology into mid- and high-range camera-enabled mobile devices.