The primary uses for this camera are video calling and self-portrait photos. While 16:9 is great for movies and pictures of landscapes, 4:3 makes more sense for photos of faces. The majority of the "new pixels" won't carry any useful information if the user's face is in the centre of the image.
Thanks for expanding on our original post. I've been meaning to give SimpleCV a spin for a while, we're big Python fans in Fixational. What's the best way to contribute?