It has been reported that Steve Jobs met with the founder of Lytro, a camera technology firm, allegedly to discuss bringing Lytro photograph technology to Apple devices.

Lytro Light Field Cameras work on a “take now, focus later” principle by taking a snapshot of an entire light field and allowing users to choose a focal point later. The process would make still photo shoots even faster than traditional “point, focus, shoot” cameras in mobile phones and tablets.

Advancing camera technology is a major point of competition between mobile device manufacturers, and Apple would present a distinct advantage if Light Field technology was included behind the Apple symbol.

One of the big selling point of the iPhone 4 S last year was its wide-angle, 5-lens system that could allow a large intake of light. The Lytro Light Field technology is both different and apparently more advanced than a simple wide-angle capture.

Whether Apple and Lytro came to an agreement for inclusion of Light Field camera technology in later versions of iPhones and iPads, we do not know at this point. Apple is infamous for safeguarding future development plans.

We do know, however, that Apple has not purchased Lytro nor its Light Field patent, so Apple won’t be pursuing that particular “pay or hands off” venue in courts around the world.

Lytro does have its own, small range of cameras, and so far, that’s the only way to experience the Light Field capture technology.

Compact camera sales have suffered as mobile phone cameras and digital camera sales have escalated. With international attention on Lytro now, how much longer can the point-and-click compacts hang on? Can digital cameras compete much longer as well?

As to the former, we found no reliable forecasts. Regarding the latter, the research shows that there is still a growing market for the independent gadgets to extend marketing projections into at least a decade or more ahead, for mobile photography extends beyond smartphones and tablets.