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First US Camera/Phone

Ch_Omega writes "According to this article over at Infosync, Sprint has announced that the Sanyo 5300, the first US phone with a built-in camera, will be available on their PCS Vision network in mid-November. It's still only 640x480, but unlike Nokia and Sony Ericsson's models, it will have a built-in optional flash as well. The official press release from Sprint is here."

130 comments

  1. Camera/Phone? by LittleBigScript · · Score: 5, Funny

    So what does it do? Take pictures of your ear?

    "I don't have to read the article, just give me gist of it."
    -Homer Simpson

    1. Re:Camera/Phone? by McFly69 · · Score: 3, Funny

      In the article, it say it will have Zoom: X4 (when QVGA), X4 and X16 (when QQVGA). Perhaps its to zoom inside your ear?

      Could make doctor visits more efficent. "Hey Doc, I am using my zoom in cell phone, do you see my ear infection?"

      --



      NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
    2. Re:Camera/Phone? by ArthurDent · · Score: 2

      I'm more worried about the obscene phone calls that could be possible now! :)

      Ben

  2. roll eyes by inteller · · Score: 2, Funny

    ok, now that you've mastered the japanese kitch phone, please develop something useful. no one wants grainy porn photos made from your cell phone.

  3. Uh oh by AriesGeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I guess the 1-900 sex lines will have to actually hire real women... and good looking ones at that! :)

    --
    Insert offensive troll-style sig here. Please mod or respond appropriately.
    1. Re:Uh oh by Palos · · Score: 0

      Wait a second, I've seen their commercials on tv, they are hot...! hrm...

    2. Re:Uh oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, I saw this on google news yesterday: A British company is working on delivering porn on demand to your phone, to keep you entertained as you ride the bus home from work. :) Personally, although I know the camera/phone combo has proven popular in Japan, I think adding cameras to cellphones is rather overrated. One is bound to be sacrificing features on the camera (here, it appears to be resolution) and creating an unholy clutter in the process, although I have to admit the image in the article looks pretty good...

    3. Re:Uh oh by McFly69 · · Score: 0, Offtopic
      --



      NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
    4. Re:Uh oh by cbreaker · · Score: 1

      No way, I think it's really cool. If they were affordable and lots of people had them (ie - all your friends) it would be a lot of fun.

      Too bad Sprint is the only one that is really pushing this stuff; Sprint offers terrible coverage around here (New England.) Lots of black holes.

      --
      - It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
  4. Sidekick by Syre · · Score: 5, Informative

    The T-Mobile Sidekick is out now and has a small camera that comes with it and plugs into the headphone port.

    Works pretty poorly and takes tiny pics (160x120 I think?), but it is a camera... not quite built-in but a camera nonetheless.

    1. Re:Sidekick by brianosaurus · · Score: 1

      Its actually 120x90. I have a sidekick and I'm dumping my sprint phone for it as soon as I get all the phone numbers onto the sidekick. The day after I got the sidekick, I made a quick email+php +mysql hack so I can post photos on the web from wherever I am (well, within T-Mobile's crappy coverage).

      I wish the sidekick camera had better resolution, and now I'm a bit jealous that the sanyo phone does 640x480 and has a flash. However, with T-Mobile, I get unlimited data (for the first year) for $40/month. Sprint's data pricing would make things like my "photoblog" prohibitively expensive.

      In a year, the Sidekick will have paid for itself by the difference between my current sprint plan and the t-mobile $40 plan. By then I expect the data plans from all providers to be more reasonably priced, as there should be many more users and much higher demand. So I'll shop around again next fall.

      (The downside to the T-Mobile $40 plan, which is the ONLY one for the sidekick right now is that you get only 200 anytime + 1000 weekend minutes. That's fine for me, since I don't use my phone very much (maybe 150-200 minutes a month total), but heavy phone users are pretty much out of luck with the sidekick).

      --
      blog
  5. Does not add up by essiescreet · · Score: 1

    This does not make sense:

    First US Camera/Phone

    Nokia and Sony Ericsson's models

    I assume you man cell phone?

    1. Re:Does not add up by Ch_Omega · · Score: 5, Informative

      The topic is Michael's. What i suggested as topic, was "First US phone with built in digital camera"(or something), something I also state in the text below. I am aware of the allready released Sidekick, Ericsson T68i as well as the Nokia 92xx series, but none of those have a built in camera, and none of them have or support any kind of flash, as far as I know.

  6. Talk about old by Apreche · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There were commercials on tv for this over a month ago. It's still cool though. It shows that someone in the us is trying to catch up and replace our old crappy wireless phone tech. I'm still waiting for the all-in-one handheld device. Until then I'm not buying anything.

    By all-in-one I mean I want a Digital Camera/Cell Phone/Pager/mp3 player/PDA with wireless networking all in one no bigger than palm-sized package. Yes, I know it will cost a lot of money, but I don't see it as an impossibility. We've already got combinations of the different parts, there just isn't something that encompasses all of them in one device. When someone finally does it, I'm there. Yes, I know about the treo and the clie, they come close, but not close enough.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    1. Re:Talk about old by LittleBigScript · · Score: 1

      you forgot a p2p network to download those mp3's with, and maybe a SNES or a C64 emulator to play some classic games with. Oh, a portable foot massager.

      "Do one thing and do it well, until you have time to add some Features(tm) to it and Bloat the interface until it is almost Unusable(tm)."
      -me

    2. Re:Talk about old by Ch_Omega · · Score: 5, Informative

      "By all-in-one I mean I want a Digital Camera/Cell Phone/Pager/mp3 player/PDA with wireless networking all in one no bigger than palm-sized package."

      Hmmm... the Sony Ericsson P800, will have a built in VGA-camera, MP3-player, 32bit OS(Symbian 7.0), bigger thouchscreen than most Palms(320x280x12bit), bluetooth(okay, not exactly WLan), and Sony Memorystick expansion slot. Ofcourse, it won't be released in a while, but it comes pretty close to what you want, doesn't it? :)

    3. Re:Talk about old by Alien+Being · · Score: 2

      I want GPS on mine.

    4. Re:Talk about old by Matthew+Weigel · · Score: 2

      Blockquoth Apreche:

      By all-in-one I mean I want a Digital Camera/Cell Phone/Pager/mp3 player/PDA with wireless networking all in one no bigger than palm-sized package. Yes, I know it will cost a lot of money, but I don't see it as an impossibility.

      I see. So you want to trust some software vendor to not introduce bugs in trying to get all that crap to work together? You're not worried about the extent to which they'll have to integrate it all, so that if one tiny little problem crops up your only real option is to buy a new one?

      I have a friend with a Kyocera 6035 phone/PDA - just a phone and PDA, no camera, no MP3 player, no wireless networking (other than dial up) - and oops, the digitizer has issues. Now he can't use it as a PDA, the screen is too custom for him to find replacement parts for... he just has to wait until the next model comes out, and his model gets cheap enough to buy a second one.

      And now you want them to integrate a bunch of other stuff that most vendors still get wrong all by itself?

      No thanks. I've become a believer in Bluetooth, myself. I don't need to have my phone be part of my PDA, I certainly don't need something as self-contained as an mp3 player to be attached to a number pad or a touch-sensitive screen. Only the camera might need to be attached to the phone, certainly nothing else.

      --
      --Matthew
    5. Re:Talk about old by Gruneun · · Score: 2

      By all-in-one I mean I want a Digital Camera/Cell Phone/Pager/mp3 player/PDA with wireless networking all in one no bigger than palm-sized package.

      Besides the obvious pain of not being able to talk on the cell phone while scribbling a note into the handheld, there's a greater problem in combining all those devices. When's the last time someone here bought an all-in-one motherboard? People blasted the ones in your typical desktop for years, because upgrading and repair/replacement was difficult or impossible. Even if inexpensive, fast repair was possible, you now have to forfeit your (essential) PDA, (essential) pager, and (essential) cell phone to get your (non-essential) mp3 player working. No thanks.

      Combining some of these devices would be fine. I've been bitching about an adequate phone + PDA for a while. However, to be able to comine both would require an earpiece/microphone or incredible dexterity on the part of the user. Even with the former, you're talking wires (bleh) or wireless... which means another device and thereby defeats the purpose. Again, no thanks.

    6. Re:Talk about old by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
      Yup, wireless is essential in my "ideal" toy as well. I don't want to be paying to use the device in my own home. My wish list is:

      Phone, PDA, camera and wireless.

      I wouldn't mind using a wire for the headphone, if you were doing videoconferencing you'd need to. Unless you had an ear fetish going on... ;-)

    7. Re:Talk about old by buck_wild · · Score: 1

      Take a look at the new IPAQ PDAs. I don't think they incorporate a camera, but they do have PDA, MP3 player, cell phone (works as pager with the right service), accepts Type II cards, so wireless is available. It also accepts memory cards, so you can have 1GB of ram too.

      So if you can do without a camera, here you go.

      --
      If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
  7. New Type of Spying? by cybrpnk2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Remeber the old belief (maybe true?) that telephones could be activated without a ring and so serve as covert microphones? With GPS and video cameras in these new cell phones, what sinister new uses could a covert turn-on enable? (Insert obvious p0rn reference here...)

    1. Re:New Type of Spying? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Just put the phone inside an empty potato chip bag when not using it. I'm sure if there's enough demand, a stylish "secure cell phone case" will be sold by someone (probably the Sharper Image) at a ridiculous price. Of course, you could just turn it off, or remove the battery. That works too, but doesn't project that "I'm super cool because I bought a $79.95 object on a whim from an airline catalog" atmosphere.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    2. Re:New Type of Spying? by dlkinney · · Score: 1

      I have ready several technical articles about ISDN, thought not the ISDN standards themselves. As the authors of the technical articles understood the standards, they allowed for remote activation of the speaker on ISDN phones. But we all know how well ISDN caught on as a replacement for POTS, so nothing more came of it.

  8. Surprised? by FortKnox · · Score: 2

    Uhh... they have had commercials out for this for a while now (I'm talking a few weeks). With the guy in the suit... the "Its the static, ma'am" guy. I'm surprised no one else has noticed before me (hey, I got a TiVo and FF through commercials). This isn't anything new.

    AT&T Wireless providing a whole new set of musical features, like d/ling song previews for new artists and stuff... that's new stuff.

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
    1. Re:Surprised? by demi · · Score: 1

      Look closer at the Sigfried & Roy commercial--that's an external phone. I think the camera/phone thing is kind of cool, but not if there's a large silver McNugget you have to plug into it.

      I'm waiting for the first "Beowulf Cluster of these things" post--how long will it be?

      --
      demi
    2. Re:Surprised? by sczimme · · Score: 1, Interesting


      One of these commercials features Siegfried and Roy, a pair of very popular Las Vegas performers; a woman in the store takes a picture of one of S&R's trained tigers and sends it to her friend. Another shows a guy in Chinatown (or perhaps actually in China) looking for a lavatory, but he is flummoxed by the language barrier; his wife saves the day by emailing him a picture of a toilet.

      One might think that these commercials were subtly making fun of the "average American", i.e. somewhat tacky; often ignorant of other cultures; and insisting on the application of technology when a book would serve just as well.

      Or am I reading too much into them? :-)

      --
      I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
    3. Re:Surprised? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I have noticed that here in Tokyo, there are phones that play a .WAV file for a ring tone. Some people set the ring tone to be the sound of a ringing telephone bell. Rather odd to hear...so long since I've heard a real bell activated by line current to mean "answer the telephone". It's all beeps and boops nowadays.

      My next dwelling will have a real Bell System telephone, one of the armored black ones.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    4. Re:Surprised? by zbuffered · · Score: 2, Funny

      If my phone could play .wav files, I would make all my friends record themselves saying something like "hey, it's Chris, pick up the phone!" I think that would be cool.

      --
      Synergy is your friend
    5. Re:Surprised? by GalionTheElf · · Score: 0

      You just made it :P

      --
      I'm going over here and I don't know why!
    6. Re:Surprised? by Cutriss · · Score: 2

      My girlfriend's Kyocera QCP-6035 has software available as part of its SDK that lets you convert 8-bit mono .WAVs to ringtones. I recorded the Chocobo music from Final Fantasy IV and made that a ringtone for her. Just record your .WAV, run the software on it (It's CLI), put the new .PDB in your sync folder, and sync. Just watch out for the filesizes, though, as they tend to be on the hefty size.

      Then again, this was about a 30-second clip I made...so a regular sound clip would probably take less than 100K.

      --
      "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
  9. GRreeeeat..."Hey, look at me!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm talking loudly in public about absolutely nothing! Are you looking?!?"

    "Yeah, this movie is pretty fantabulous, hey...hold on a sec, I wanna show you the assclown behind me that keeps tell me to "hush".

    1. Re:GRreeeeat..."Hey, look at me!" by Fred+Tourette · · Score: 1

      Really. Just what we need on top of the bunch of rude, f*cking idiots we already have talking on phones.

    2. Re:GRreeeeat..."Hey, look at me!" by plumby · · Score: 2

      Why do people seem to think that talking into a mobile phone is rude? It can be, if they are talking loudly, but then so are any conversations. I'm much more frequently disturbed on the bus by people talking loudly to the person next to them that by someone talking loudly on a mobile.

    3. Re:GRreeeeat..."Hey, look at me!" by buck_wild · · Score: 1

      I agree. Even people on cell phones in restaurants don't bother me, as long as their conversations isn't any louder than the gerneral ambiance of the room.

      Phones at the theater, or at a movie theater aren't ever cool, though.

      --
      If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
  10. Yawn by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Informative
    Japan has had these things for a few years now. It's rather odd at first to see people pointing their cell phones at the buddhas, shrines, etc. It doesn't elicit the same reaction as when you see someone pointing a camera (politely get out of the way, don't step in front of a picture-taker when walking, etc).

    It's also very popular for enabling teenage girls to find men willing to pay to have sex with them. You know the leading users of this will use it for pornography, right?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Yawn by ergo98 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It doesn't elicit the same reaction as when you see someone pointing a camera (politely get out of the way, don't step in front of a picture-taker when walking, etc).

      Completely offtopic, however as a personal rule I've given up on trying to avoid the pictures of tourists, etc. It is the picture takers responsibility to find a good location to take a clear picture (and to wait for a clear break in the traffic without impeding everyone else), not the random guy going about his business who needs to worry about it. Most touristy locations have set aside special "picture taking" locations specifically where they don't impede with the movements of everyone else, and if they didn't then too damn bad: Deal with it and find a picture.

      Why did this elicit this response? A couple of weeks ago in downtown Toronto I was outside on the side waiting for my wife to get out of a play, when the patrons started streaming out. Out came a family who proceeded to get on one side of a TREMENDOUSLY busy downtown sidewalk, while the photographer got on the other, and these anti-social, inconsiderate, tremendously selfish morons then actually scolded everyone who walked into their picture! A show full of several thousand people, apparently, should wait while they get their picture. Across the street was an empty park with all the same backdrops and more, but that would have required some effort on their part. I've seen the same scene play out in many different places, always with the photographer believing that pointing a camera yields some sort of magic barrier that shouldn't be intruded.

    2. Re:Yawn by adalger · · Score: 1
      It's also very popular for enabling teenage girls to find men willing to pay to have sex with them. You know the leading users of this will use it for pornography, right?

      The leading users of everything technological use it for pornography. Why should this be any different?
      --
      -- Robert Bunn, gun-toting neo-Nazi anarchist redneck freak
  11. Still no video, still no sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Until I can actually use these for video purposes (video calls), I am still not buying this service. There is absolutely zero excuses at this point. We have the bandwidth, we have the technology, but we're being restrained from using it for anything other than playing bland, shoddy Tetris clones (with no interactivity) and paying $20.00 a month to download Disney ring tones.

    You know what? You can count me out.

    Pay-per-kilobyte, indeed.

    1. Re:Still no video, still no sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you imagine how much a video phone would suck? Sure, I can see a place for them in the business sector, but at home? Please.

      The last thing I want to do while on the phone is be trapped in front of some screen. Think about all you do while youre on the phone now.

      Its quite obvious these phones would have an optional video button, because lets face it, you are not always 'presentable' when answering the phone. Think about bossman calling on the bedroom phone just after you get done giving it to sweety-pie. They have this shit on Max Headroom, and its ridiculous.

      In the business.....eventually.
      Mainstream home use......never. They will be novelty items at best.

  12. New Phone by pulski · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can you see me now? ...

    Good!

  13. What I would like to really see in a cellphone by suman28 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would like a regular GPS enabled phone. I don't really care for a camera in a phone mostly because I don't see the need for it. Now, if my phone had a GPS, then I wouldn't have to put up with my wife nagging me about stopping for directions when I am driving

    1. Re:What I would like to really see in a cellphone by OlaL · · Score: 1
      Been there, done that: Benefon Esc!

      Yeah, I know, the brand is not that well known outside Finland...

  14. At Last! by theBraindonor · · Score: 2, Funny


    At last I'll be able to prove to my friends that I saw Siegfried and Roy at the Quickie-Mart!!!

    1. Re:At Last! by vicarina22 · · Score: 1

      oh, does this phone allow you to go back in time too?

  15. Ahhh, Why by ZenBuddha · · Score: 1

    To me this falls into the same category of Screen Savers on a cell phone. Just because you can doesn't always mean you should.

    Ahhh, honey. Why did you just send me a photo of the mens room at your office. Doh

    1. Re:Ahhh, Why by mccalli · · Score: 2
      Ahhh, honey. Why did you just send me a photo of the mens room at your office. Doh

      Actually, this is a fair point. How many people here have unknowningly made a call because they've knocked their phone or dropped it? You don't want to be firing off photos by mistake...

      Cheers,
      Ian

  16. Crap by kenp2002 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I saw CNN demo of that unit, it was getting 2-4 FPS, was in !Craptacular! (copyright, 2002 you may use the word Craptacular only by giving me a $0.25 licensing fee for each time you read/or use it. That will be 50 cents please!) 256 color over a slow-as-ass (again copyright 2002, same as above but only a 10 cent fee) analog conntection. This product is what I call Craptastic-ware (again copyright 2002, sorry this one has a $10 viewing and $5 re-use fee).

    You bill is 10+5+.50+.10= $15.60
    Based on the number of people that will read this say: 5000 that means I make a cool $78000

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    1. Re:Crap by kenp2002 · · Score: 2

      Opps wrong model, I was thinking the Video-Phone model they recently had. My mistake. Oh well the previous post was still funny.

      --
      -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    2. Re:Crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      !Craptacular! (copyright, 2002

      Uhh sorry, prior art. A loser here at work has used that term for as long as I can remember.

      Please forward all earnings with interest..

    3. Re:Crap by GroovBird · · Score: 2

      You forgot to include payment details.

      Dave

    4. Re:Crap by dubiousmike · · Score: 2

      Or you simply (unwittingly?) stole it from the Simpsons.

      craptacular

      I believe that this is a case of prior art.

      See you in court.

  17. Immediate US Security Threat...Tempest Everywhere by cybrpnk2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    After thinking about this some more, I have gone from amused to extremely worried. A staple in the spy biz is sneaking in the tiny spy camera to photo the secret documents and / or the dead drop of the paper copies of those documents. As of this week, spies among us can just waltz in with their routine cell phones, zap the photos of the Iraq attack plan over the air, and nobody is the wiser. We have just gone from needing Tempest level security around just computers to needing that level of security whereever there is a safe.

  18. Battery Time by e8johan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Expected battery Life: The 5300 will come packaged with a standard battery and an extended battery providing 2.7 hours talk and 10.4 days standby and 3.8 hours talk and 15 days standby, respectively."

    And approximately 5 photos in full resolution with flash... :)

    Seriously speaking. The limiting factor today for wearable electronics does not seem to be the size or functionality that can be crammed into a palmsized shell but simply the battery time. Either you end up with something heavy, or you end up with something that only works for a couple of hours.

  19. Marketing idea by dcavanaugh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Cell phones are never going to be anything other than giveaways to sell the service. Once you start to charge real money, the phones have value and the theft rate makes the whole concept questionable.

    Have them distribute a few thousand phones with some prepaid minutes in the DC area, so if anyone sees the sniper, they can grab a photo and transmit to police. Even if nobody uses their phone to catch the sniper, the media will talk about it for a while.

    After that, they should have no problem finding real people for a "switch" campaign. "Sure I switched because it was a corporate giveaway, but then I discovered all these neat things I can do with the phone, so I'm keeping it."

    1. Re:Marketing idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact, maybe SprintPCS can convince the Sniper(s) to put the SprintPCS logo on the side of the van.

    2. Re:Marketing idea by Duds · · Score: 1

      Cell phones are never going to be anything other than giveaways to sell the service. Once you start to charge real money, the phones have value and the theft rate makes the whole concept questionable.

      And this is what precisely happened in britain.

      We started to have popular paid for phones, and even cheap phones with no line rental that you bought outright (pay as you go)

      The theft rate is through the roof to the point of large goernment campaigns to be careful using them in public.

      iirc, we had the first mobile phone theft murder recently.

    3. Re:Marketing idea by GalionTheElf · · Score: 0

      I always thought the English situation was rather interesting.

      I'm English, but live in Belgium, where we've had phones seperate from the operator since the early 90's (no sim-locking etc) and we have a _very_ low theft rate and I definitely haven't seen anything like the goverment campaigns I've seen in the UK.

      So maybe the problem is more English than anything else? (Not trying to flame, just thinking out loud)

      --
      I'm going over here and I don't know why!
    4. Re:Marketing idea by dcavanaugh · · Score: 2

      How about a "celebrity endorsement" after they get caught?

      "We were doing just fine until those people with their damn phones started taking pictures."

  20. IP by hatchet · · Score: 1

    About IP few articles back...
    ...so much for innovative U.S.

  21. Flash enabled ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the stress on the word "flash" is here to lay emphasis on the fact that this device's memory can be extended, then you're screwed..
    The Ericsson P800 has a memory stick Duo extension port that makes it the first I believe..
    Regards

    Xavier

  22. Misundastood by danger42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Overheard:

    "No, honey, I said put the phone up to YOUR _EAR_!."

    --
    -nd
  23. Built in Optional? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What exactly does that mean. It sounds like an oxymoron to me. Jumbo Shrimp, Big little, I don't see how it could be built in & optional.

  24. maybe not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Before Sprint offers a service like that maybe they should increase their coverage area slightly.. I live in the middle of a big city and sprint says the city is fully covered, but you wouldnt know it by looking at my cell phone or any of my roomates. It seems that they are doing things that should be secondary in nature to what they should be doing.. but alas such is the power of money i suppose..

  25. I've got one already :p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've actually got a phone with a camera on it (yeah, damn us pesky europeans) already, and I have to admit, it's been a damn good buy. The thing about a camera on your phone isn't that it's a particularly good camera, it's that you've always got it handy. The number of random snapshots I end up taking now at moments when I'd normally have said "Damn, I wish I had a camera" is amazing.
    (For the record, I've got a Nokia 7650 - http://www.nokia.com/phones/7650 - which I can wholeheartedly recommend.)

    Oh, and the camera faces the other direction from your ear. :)

    1. Re:I've got one already :p by Joel+Rowbottom · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For those interested, I put my Nokia 7650 pics up at http://nokia7650.fotopic.net - you should be able to get an idea of quality from there. It's... not very good ;)

      --
      Smegma.
  26. Utterly unimpressive! by Networkpro · · Score: 1

    I guess that's why PCS is trading at $2 and change. Bringing products to market that no one really wants to buy. Whats next ? Sprint Smell-O-Vision ? (Just as an aside "PCS" is a generic term specifying a suite of services...not a specific technology. Sprint got cute and coopted the term and uses it exclusively in thier context as thier service only) We built a nation wide network that only uses our format and we dare our customers to use our over priced phones on any one elses!

  27. The first US phone with a camera is Motorola T720i by nsushkin · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you're talking about phones made by a US company, Motorola T720i is probably the first one to come out. Eweek says that it's an 1xRTT Java phone that has an optional camera attachment. If's seems to be available for sale at Verizon's website, however no mention of the camera attachments there. Maybe Eweek confused T720 with A820... Anyway, the relevant links are below.

  28. Calls ... by ReidMaynard · · Score: 5, Funny

    from strip clubs will never be the same.

    --
    -- www.globaltics.net

    Political discussion for a new world

  29. Simpsons did it!!! by Torqued · · Score: 1


    Prior art, man.

  30. But what if most of us by Matey-O · · Score: 2

    are ugly?

    {This space unintentionall left blank for the filters}

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  31. Ericsson T68i by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  32. Reccomended Accessories: by matrim99 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Item #12043: CellCam Background Stand
    This background stand holds any of our 214 standard backgrounds, emulating scenes from a lonely hotel room to a custom poster-sized picture of your living room. Includes popular scrips like:
    "No honey, I'm really in the French hotel room, that's just a strip show on TV that you hear"
    and:
    "I'm in my living room; why did you think I was in an hourly motel room?"

    --
    Right. No, your other right. No, the other other right.
  33. Stupid services by Oakey · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I had the chance of using a 7650 and wasn't overly impressed. Cheap ass camera's incorporated into phones are just an excuse to charge stupid money for their latest mobile.

    What annoys me mostly about the whole mobile phone thing is the way new technology comes along and is thrown out the window before it even comes into use.

    Let's see, there was WAP. Slow, expensive, not around that long before GPRS came about. GPRS has been around for what? Just over a year? Again, too expensive to become mainstream and what happens now? We have Java and MMS. MMS is even more expensive than previous offerings and my guess is, before we get any chance to make use of it it will have been replaced by bluetooth and 3G in the next year or so.

    If they lowered the price of these services to a reasonable level, then maybe we'd actually get some use out of them, maybe my girlfriend would actually be able to use mobile internet through the Nokia 8310 I bought her.

    --
    "Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg
    1. Re:Stupid services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good mix of three completely unrelated technologies there, dolt.

      WAP is a protocol for mobile web pages (think of it as mobile HTML).

      GPRS is for high-speed data transfer, like 100 mbit ethernet.

      MMS is for sending instant messages with pictures.

      Also, just because these things aren't useful to you, doesn't mean they're not useful to anyone. People elsewhere in the world love camera phones and SMS/MMS. 3G is still up for debate. The big problem in the U.S. is absolutely ridiculous pricing plans.

  34. Built-in AND Optional Flash? by saider · · Score: 1

    I'd say if it is built-in, it's not optional.

    The article says it is optional, but not built in. I guess the poster wanted to embellish a bit on the feature set.

    --


    Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
    1. Re:Built-in AND Optional Flash? by Duds · · Score: 1

      As I said, it could be built in, but optional to actually use it in each photo.

  35. Me too! Me too! by raygundan · · Score: 1

    I'll settle for a Cell Phone/PDA/Camera as long as it's about the size of a Samsung A460, the PDA is relatively standard (PalmOS?), and the camera can do >1024x768. MP3 is optional, and left as extra credit for the manufacturer. (Also acceptable for extra credit: a PDA processor fast enough to run an mp3 player)

    Samsung has 2 out of 3 with the upcoming i500, so I'll probably have to settle for that when my trusty Timeport finishes falling apart.

    No, it won't replace my real camera, but sometimes you only want one small device with you, and don't need anything more than a snapshot camera for your drunken friends. (As in, most of the time) I have no idea where everybody else is carrying their PDAs and cameras, but I sure don't have the pockets for it.

  36. Too Big? by blanktek · · Score: 1

    Doesn't this picture make it seem to large for casual use?

    http://www.infosync.no/show.php?id=2449&page=2

    Although, maybe it can also be used for self-defense...

  37. "Dude! ..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "... I'm at the Episode III premier check it out!"

  38. Ugh... by BoBaBrain · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A fun toy, but their advertising strategy cannot be condoned.

    --
    I am a Karma Library.
    1. Re:Ugh... by fonetik · · Score: 1

      Aww... come on. Cannot be condoned? If some company wants to spend 5 million dollars to make advertising not look and feel like advertising.... COOL! I hope it works. The things that I hate about ads are how much of an idiot they take me to be, it would be nice to be fooled by one for a change. It's harmless, or at least less harmless and offending than those "Want self-expression?!?! Buy Cingular!"
      -Tom

    2. Re:Ugh... by donutello · · Score: 2

      Nonsense! I don't understand what the Naderites are whining about. They claim that it is deceptive because now you'll think there is an actual buzz about the product.

      I'm sorry. If you are going to buy something not for its actual features but because you see other people using it, you are a fool and deserve to be parted from your money.

      --
      Mmmm.. Donuts
    3. Re:Ugh... by BoBaBrain · · Score: 2

      They claim that it is deceptive because now you'll think there is an actual buzz about the product.

      It's definitley not deceptive, but it is insulting in a whiney, patronising, advertising department kind of way. Do they *really* think we will fall for product placemant in RL? It's just plain intrusive in films.

      --
      I am a Karma Library.
  39. Webcams will win by reitoei1971 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In the US, these devices just dont seem to have the samne appeal as in Japan or other countries. At the price, these are just novelty geek items which will never take off. If you want video conferencing, just use a laptop, a high speed connection and a $50 webcam.

  40. So, you were doing what when the accident occured? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Driving down the road late at night, I accidentally took a picture with the flash and ended up in an a four car pile up. Any lawyers wanna ramp up for these lawsuits? Woo hoo... can't wait. Now there's a new way to flash passing cars.

  41. Sprint needs to work out the kinks in its 3g by evilned · · Score: 2

    A couple of weeks ago, I decided that my simple little monocrome phone wasnt cutting it anymore, so I bought one of the Sanyo 4900 phones from sprint. I love the phone, the screen is nice and readable, the battery life is excellent, and its reception is top notch. Its a little big for most people but I prefer a little more size as my fingers are too big to deal with really small phones (my wife has a T68i, and the buttons are too small for my hands). The problem is that the 3g service is not good right now. The data rate maybe improved from the old sprint data service, but the latency is horrible. It takes a long time to connect, and is unreliable as well. Also, it has taken sprints web site over two weeks to figure out that I am a PCS Vision customer now, and still wont show me the extra vision options on the web site. So the PCS Visions phones are really great, but sprints 3g service really needs some tweaking before I'd recommend it to anyone.

    --

    "My head hurts, My feet stink, and I dont love Jesus." -Jimmy Buffett

  42. Re:The first US phone with a camera is Motorola T7 by Rathian · · Score: 1

    I just bought the T720 - overall it's a cool phone, tons of cool features. It is still a VERY new phone and therefore has a few glitches. I am waiting for the firmware update to get to the nearest stores so I can update it. In spite of the bugs, I still like the phone though.

    One thing you're wrong on is that the Verizon Wireless T720 does NOT run 1xRTT Java, it runs BREW apps instead.

    Right here you can find a picture of the digial camera attachment for the T720. Not sure if/when VZW ever plans to offer this. I would hope they would - they probably will if they can make a quick buck off it.

  43. So the only question remaining is... by mwood · · Score: 1

    ...WHY???

  44. I think it rocks... by leeet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This service started a few years ago when I was in Japan. Like everyone, I got skeptic and said to myself "huh?". But if you think about it, it makes so much sense. How many times you guys went shopping for your wife and got the wrong product? Wouldn't it be simple to take a snap shot and send it to her cell phone? You'd get a confirmation right away. Think convenience... What if you get in a confrontation, accident, etc and want to take a quick picture? Hey this might enable police to find your killer if you get a chance to take a snapshot... Think security... You can think of many usefull things. Don't think of this as a high quality digital camera. You will never get this product for another 2-3 years (if not longer!). Think of it as a "digital post-it"... I never had the chance to use it while in Japan but some of my friends did and I can confirm it *IS* useful... (unlike some of you might think). No wonder why technology is far beyond Europe and Asia, every new product brings so much critisism from US buyers! Be open and accept it as cool, and not as "crap"...

    --
    -- Leeeter than leet
  45. they don't mean the 92xx by Duds · · Score: 1

    They mean the Nokia 7650

    1. Re:they don't mean the 92xx by Ch_Omega · · Score: 2

      "They mean the Nokia 7650 [nokia.com]"

      The Nokia 7650 is a Dualband EGSM900/1800 phone, which has not, and will never be, released in the USA.

  46. huh? by XXIstCenturyBoy · · Score: 1

    it will have a built-in optional flash as well built-in optional? If you dont want the BUILT IN flash they punch it with a screwdriver and it become optional?

    1. Re:huh? by Duds · · Score: 1

      I was trying to work that out.

      I assume it comes with the flash but you don't have to use it for every shot.

      Thus making it optional.

      Bad grammar basically.

      you think I'm right there?

    2. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      I think you need to re-think what "optional" means.

      Some cameras with flash, will flash each time you take a picture, and you cannot tell it not to. That is "non-optional flash". But if you can dictate if it should use the flash or not, then it is "optional", even if it is build-in.

    3. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wrong!!!

      optional is not a 'reference' to whether or not you use the flash or not

      DOH!!!

    4. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to friends at Sony, it is built into the product, and you have the option to use it if you think your shot needs it.

  47. "Honest Buzz?!?" by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 2

    A fun toy, but their advertising strategy cannot be condoned.

    I've pasted the WSJ article you cite below.

    Personally, I think it's a hoot! Nothing more than any new restaurant or bar in downtown Manhattan has done for years. (If it wasn't for a never-ending parade of SoHo eatery openings, some of my actor friends would never eat...)

    My favorite line: The complaint that the company is not creating an "honest buzz."

    FROM THE WSJ:
    Sony Ericsson Campaign Uses Actors
    To Push Camera-Phone in Real Life

    By SUZANNE VRANICA
    Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

    In a campaign set to start Thursday, the U.S. arm of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd. will take "guerrilla" marketing to a new level. Its goal: to get consumers to pay attention to the new T68i, a mobile phone that can double as a digital camera.

    In one initiative, dubbed Fake Tourist, 60 trained actors and actresses will haunt tourist attractions such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Space Needle in Seattle. Working in teams of two or three and behaving as if they were actual tourists, the actors and actresses will ask unsuspecting passersby to take their pictures.
    [Sony Ericsson's T68i]
    Sony Ericsson's T68i

    Presto: instant product demonstrations.

    A second stunt will involve the use of "leaners" -- 60 actresses and female models with extensive training in the phone's features who will frequent trendy lounges and bars without telling the establishments what they're up to. The women are getting scripted scenarios designed to help them engage strangers in conversation. One involves having an actress's phone ring while she's in the bar -- and having the caller's picture pop up on the screen. In another scenario, two women sit at opposite ends of the bar playing an interactive version of the Battleship game on their phones.

    So far, so good. But do the actors then identify themselves as working on behalf of Sony Ericsson? Not if they can help it. The idea is to have onlookers think they've stumbled onto a hot new product. Sony Ericsson, which plans to spend $5 million on the 60-day marketing campaign, says it's all in good fun and just an effort to get people talking.

    Consumer activists, though, aren't amused. "It's deceptive," says Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization founded by consumer activist Ralph Nader, when told about the campaign. "People will be fooled into thinking this is honest buzz."

    Even marketing executives disapprove. "It is reprehensible and desperate," says Paul MacFarlane, co-owner of the Experiment, a small ad firm in St. Louis, that has done work for Southwestern Bell and Anheuser-Busch. "They are trying to fabricate something that should be natural."

    Sony Ericsson responds that most consumers won't be offended. "How many times do people that you don't know come up to you and talk to you?" asks Jon Maron, director of marketing communications at Sony Ericsson, which is a joint venture of Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson of Sweden and Sony Corp. of Japan.

    "It's very natural, especially in a club or restaurant." He adds that the actors will confess that they work for the company if they are asked directly.

    Peter Groome, president of Omnicom Group Inc.'s Fathom Communications, the marketing firm that created the plan, also defends the tactics. He insists that the campaign isn't "undercover" selling because the actors will simply demonstrate the product, not give a sales pitch.

    Still, the company has gone to great lengths to train its actors to avoid detection. "If you put them in a Sony Ericsson shirt, then people are going to be less likely to listen to them in a bar," Mr. Groome says.

    Other components of the promotional campaign are more commonly used buzz initiatives. One involves "Phone Finds," in which the company will place dummy phones around cities so that consumers can accidentally stumble on them. The screen on the phone will direct the finders to a special Web site, where they will be able to enter a contest to win a free phone. The new phone with camera attachment, priced between $300 and $400, will hit stores next week.

    Less covert buzz marketing strategies have been around for years, but their use surged during the dot-com boom. Many companies that couldn't afford expensive TV ads hired young marketing firms to convey their messages in attention-getting ways.

    As concepts became more elaborate and intrusive, they began to be referred to as guerrilla marketing or stealth marketing.

    Among the companies that have used such buzz marketing: Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Jim Beam Brands Worldwide Inc. and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, for its Mini car.

    Faced with the ad recession, some traditional agencies have also embraced the concept. For instance, Young & Rubicam, a unit of London's WPP Group PLC, opened a U.S. division called Brand Buzz and is rolling out the unit to its European offices.

    But there are limits. Veteran marketers warn that advertisers who are trying to generate positive word-of-mouth about a brand or a new product will do better in the long run if they are honest with consumers.

    David Lubars, president and executive creative director at Publicis Groupe SA's Fallon Worldwide, says promotional campaigns that are perceived as dishonest could backfire. "If the consumer finds out after the encounter, they are going to be mad," he says.

  48. Run your battery down in 30 seconds! Great! by Fastball · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All these features that Sprint, et all are pitching like games, color displays, et cetera: how much battery are you gonna have left when you want to use your phone for calls? Call me a minimalist, but I don't want a PDA with my phone or Legend of the Return of Kung Fu.

  49. You can't take that in here! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With this trend towards combining multiple functions into these hand held devices - it will be interesting to see if corporate policies regarding the possession of cameras at work will change. My company - as is the case with many - does not allow cameras to be brought in to the premises. Cell-phones don't seem to be a issue
    with security however.

  50. Yes! by r_j_prahad · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I can 'goatse' the soccer mom in the big SUV up in front of me who's not paying attention. All this high tech and somebody somewhere will surely waste it on digital mooning.

    1. Re:Yes! by ez76 · · Score: 2
      Now I can 'goatse' the soccer mom in the big SUV up in front of me who's not paying attention
      And you're paying attention while you're scrambling to figure out her phone number and send her rectal porn?

      Do you really have a driver's license? Color me scared shitless.
  51. Sprint PCS Vision unlimited plan by TheSync · · Score: 2

    I know that Sprint PCS Vision has an unlimited plan for data (I think about $40/month, which is comparable with much slower Verizon unlimited CDPD).

    Are there Sprint plans with limited talk time, but unlimited data?

    1. Re:Sprint PCS Vision unlimited plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      New leaked pricing plans to start in next couple of days.

      http://home.mchsi.com/~subby1977/Plans.htm

    2. Re:Sprint PCS Vision unlimited plan by Mr.+Grimm · · Score: 1

      As the post says, pretty much all of them starting from October 18th on. Big holiday push for our plans. Vision is either free on the higher end plans (2000 Anytime minutes at 79.99) or it's a 10 dollar a month additional option.

      Which is good because the majority of people out there have no idea how to measure kilobytes and megabytes.

  52. Would you really use it? by cmallinson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I bought one of the first mp3 capable cell phones, and have used the music function maybe 3 times in the past year. I think that multifunction devices are a bad idea unless each of the functions have something in common, or are both usefull for a single task. You would get more for your money buying separate devices in almost all cases, and if you want one device ... duct tape 'em together.

  53. Waste of time for now by Oakey · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Wouldn't it be simple to take a snap shot and send it to her cell phone? You'd get a confirmation right away. Think convenience... What if you get in a confrontation, accident, etc and want to take a quick picture? Hey this might enable police to find your killer if you get a chance to take a snapshot


    I agree, that would be helpful. The problem, here in the UK anyway, is that's it just far too expensive to use these services. This causes a knock on effect. The provider brings out a service (WAP for example), it's expensive so only a handful of people use it, provider thinks no one is interested so brings out another service (GPRS). New service is even more expensive and so the same thing happens. No one bothers to use it because of the cost, provider thinks it's useless again and roll out something else (MMS). Now MMS is even more expensive, ridiculously expensive from what I've seen (just looked but couldn't get a price, although it's daft money).

    I'd love to be able to use GPRS, bring the price down and I'll put it to use. Until then, continue bringing out your new services and gimmicks and I'll continue to watch them fail.

    And as for getting a snapshot of your killer, you're assuming they didn't kill you for your phone in the first place.
    --
    "Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg
  54. Not the best for safety by mekkab · · Score: 2

    Jamie Zawinksi (of netscape and Dna Lounge fame

    Had a webcam going in the club during remodelling.
    Someone stole the web cam while is was broadcasting. And JWZ has a HORRIBLE picture of some figure coming up the the cam... and then no more pictures!

    I couldn't find the pics on the site...

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
  55. Re:Immediate US Security Threat...Tempest Everywhe by damiangerous · · Score: 2
    As of this week, spies among us can just waltz in with their routine cell phones, zap the photos of the Iraq attack plan over the air, and nobody is the wiser.

    Except that there's no such thing as "routine" electronics around classified documents. You cannot bring any sort of electronic device into a SCIF area, where documents classified Top Secret and higher are kept.

  56. Tourists by Rupert · · Score: 2

    Worse, I used to live in a building beloved of tourists with cameras (a Cambridge College). It's unpleasant enough to have to go to lectures when hung over; it's worse when you step out of the door at the bottom of the staircase and immediately get yelled at by a family of Japanese tourists who think you spoil the look of your building.

    People living in Old Court had it worse. Not only was it more picturesque, but there was only plumbing in one corner, so there was no chance to make yourself look respectable before going out in public.

    --

    --
    E_NOSIG
  57. Sprint support of Sanyos is crap by gsfprez · · Score: 3, Informative

    I stupidly bought the Sanyo 5150 (insert obligatory Eddie van Halen riff here), the precursor to this new phone.

    The 5150 has Windows 98-2000-only (does not work on XP) software to allow you to upload images to the phone that act as walpaper or caller id - and no software for any other platform.

    So, pray, what do i need to do to hook up the phone to my computer to put in those picts? That's $39.

    Oh, did you want to sych up your contacts too? Thats a separate $29. Great. That's $70 just to use the functionality of the phone on top of the price of the phone.

    And now, i have two serial connectors for my phone.. just what i always wanted.

    And on top of it all - they STILL DON'T HAVE A FSCKING CAR KIT - even though there are menu selections in the phone's menus for car kit options. Ha.

    For those that weren't knowing...These Sanyos were J-phone phones that came out in 2000(with a camera on the back. The lens was on one side of the battery release clip, the button, on the other side of the battery release clip) in Japan, but we can't seem to get any of those car kits imported.

    I've grown weary of this phone...I use my phone in the car - and without a car kit - i'm forced to have wires all over the place.

    Everyone else (besides Sprint) is going with more standard phones - Nokia, S/E, Moto. Everyone else is also going with more "standard" standards... GSM, GPRS, and Bluetooth.

    I don't understand why Sprint can't cajole the major makers to make CDMA.... it leaves us that really want great service in the US stuck with "weird" phones.

    --
    guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
  58. Sidenote by ergo98 · · Score: 1

    For those who think I'm anti-photographer, ironically on this same day I took pictures of downtown Toronto, however never did I put anyone else out in doing so.

  59. Bloatware comes to cell phones by BreadMan · · Score: 1

    Now that everyone has at least one cellphone, the trick is to get you ditch was you have for a new model with "must have" features that you probably won't use anyway. Sound like software marketing?

    You can tell the digital camera market is still in it's early stages, because this thing isn't being marketed as a camera with a cellphone.

  60. First? by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://tuxscreen.net/

    --
    Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  61. mobile sex by ASeed · · Score: 1

    First the vibrator, now the camera... ;)

    --

    --
    ACid
  62. No flash: Useless by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
    When he says "flash", perhaps he means a traditional camera flash?

    Without one, any "fun" camera is useless for the purpose it is intended. Sure, you can live without one with an SLR and the right film, but for a camera like this, the emphasis is surely on quick snaps taken by the 16-30 year old market.

    I've got one of the Sipix Blink cameras which also has no flash. You need bright daylight to get a decent picture out of it. A very bright room is fine, but you get blurryness if you move the camera during the picture.

    However, in an average to mellow lighted room, you'll be lucky if you get anything. In a nightclub; leave it at home.

    I'd never buy a digital camera again of any sort without it having a flash.

  63. Re:Immediate US Security Threat...Tempest Everywhe by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
    So? For years people used to remember these documents instead. They used to teach spies how to read upside down!

    Yet another example of technology making something easier. Blame the technology! Ban it, I tells ya!!

  64. Imagine... by BalkanBoy · · Score: 1

    What this will in terms of 'cell phone' porn proliferation between mates, or even more so, the kind of boost it will give to the quality of escorts... "Excuse me ma'am, but could you move the phone away from you at least a few feet and show me what is the offer we have 'on the table'?" :)

    --
    'A lie if repeated often enough, becomes the truth.' - Goebbels
  65. Celluar cemera/telephone... recorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If there was a chance to have the celluar telephone be able to take pictures and record a duration of sound at the same time, then I think there would be a way to cacth the sniper at large.

    If somebody, for example, heard a noise that sounded like the sniper, that person could immediately turn on the telephone and take pictures of the area. The sounds and everything would be sent back to somewhere to be archived. Maybe by chance the police could analyze such footage and find clues.

    There is other uses....

  66. Re:Immediate US Security Threat...Tempest Everywhe by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 3, Funny
    As of this week, spies among us can just waltz in with their routine cell phones, zap the photos of the Iraq attack plan over the air, and nobody is the wiser.

    Well, seeing as nothing seems to make those drafting the Iraq attack plan any wiser, I'd say it's at least worth a shot...

    (Attack Plan of the Day, Hint #48: Rhymes with "Fomb the buck out of them and pet up a suppet.")

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  67. The T-Mobile Sidekick has a camera by leighklotz · · Score: 2

    The T-Mobile sidekick does have a camera. It's not built in -- it clips on your keychain and plugs in in about 1 second.

  68. Old, old news by Jurisenpai · · Score: 1

    Here in Japan, nearly everyone has "paka-paka" (clamshell) phones with cameras. They're really useful for surreptitiously taking pictures of odd people on the train...
    The best thing is that they're all priced under $120 dollars, and most you can get for free with any calling plan. Cell phone service in Japan should be a model for America: not only are all incoming calls free, you're always covered by a network and the customer service is excellent.
    The newest thing being advertised here, btw, is "Movie Mail", where you can use your phone to take movies, complete with sound, and send them to your friends. AU has some promo stuff. This looks unbelievably cool.

    --
    "Equal bytes for women!"
  69. Re:So, you were doing what when the accident occur by buck_wild · · Score: 1

    Yeah, versus taking along an actual camera, digital or otherwise.

    "Wow, they make portable things with flashy-thingines on them??"

    Yeah, lawyers will be ALL over this. Riiiight.

    --
    If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
  70. Cooler than you might think. by raian · · Score: 1

    Everyone seems to be deriding these things for uselessness, poor resolution, etc. I admit that when these things first came on the market here in Japan, I was skeptical as well. Having seen them in use for a couple of years now, though, I see where they fit in. Case in point: my girlfriend's sister recently had a baby. A few minutes after it was born, my girlfriend and I got its first photo in our email, courtesy of J-Phone's Sha-mail (photo mail). Now sure, the non-computer-savvy expecting couple could have dragged a laptop with a wireless net connection and a digital camera to the hospital. Right. Instead they brought their 1-yen phone.

  71. But the sidkick is weak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Check out this editorial on it...this guy pissed off a lot of people

    http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=891

  72. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 1

    Convention organizer to Linus Torvalds: "You might like to come with us
    to some licensed[1] place, and have some pizza."

    Linus: "Oh, I did not know that you needed a license to eat pizza".

    [1] Licenced - refers in Australia to a restaurant which has government
    licence to sell liquor.
    -- Linus at a talk at the Melbourne University

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...