An investment by a Japanese giant in a small US firm promises that we could soon find fluid optics of the non-alcoholic kind in our digital cameras and mobile phones within a few years. Itochu of Tokyo and Osaka has decided to work with Holochip of New Mexico to commercialize the US developer's adaptive polymer lens (APL), which swaps glass for liquid to create a smaller, more powerful optic. This optic will set a new standard in portable optics as it claims to be operational under rough weather, and temperatures of -20 to +60C. liquid lenses aren't a new concept its prospects had been hampered by freezing at cold temperatures.

Liquid lenses focus by changing shape under pressure from moving parts around their circumference. This allows manufacturers to either create an array of lenses to give a longer focal length or ultra-thin units for even smaller gadgets.

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