A camera that couldn't care less about focus: Introducing Lytro

"Remember cameras that would have to focus themselves before taking a snapshot? And how that could lose vital seconds, making a mockery of the term 'point and shoot'?

Oh, right -- that would describe every digital camera currently on the market. But if one Silicon Valley start-up has its way, the very idea of focusing, or adjusting light levels, or having to wait before you click the shutter, will be a relic of the early 21st century -- along, perhaps, with photos that only exist in two dimensions.

Lytro is the brainchild of Ren Ng, a Stanford Ph.D. whose dissertation on light-field technology five years ago was showered with awards. Now, with the help of $50 million in funding, most of it from Andreessen Horowitz, Ng has built a company that's preparing to launch a focus-free digital camera later this year."
via USATODAY.com/more