The Evolution of Camera Cellular Phones
By Leon Van Tubbergh
Camera cellular phones have undergone tremendous change over the years. When they were launched, they were just a fancy add-on to mobile phones rather than a fully functional and useful tool. But today the print quality of the pictures has considerably improved and the memory capacity of the cell phones has also increased. That means the user can take more better quality pictures than before. At present, the print quality of photos snapped with top class mobile phone cameras is comparable to that of digital cameras.
All the major cellular handset brands such as Samsung, Nokia, and Motorola have different versions of the camera cellular phone. In fact, the use of such phones has become so common that people have started expecting a camera as part of the "standard" mobile phone accessories. As a result, all the cell phones in the higher range come equipped with digital cameras. The ease of transferring the photos to other mobiles through blue tooth, computers or data cable has made sharing photos easy and fun.
Camera Cellular Phones: Past And Present
The idea of a camera integrated with a phone, or the other way around, is older than most people think. Some of the patents of the phone-camera combo were registered as far back as the 1960s. But what was an innovative, but impractical idea began to see the light of feasibility only in 1990s. By this time, the use of cell phones had become very popular. Also, digital cameras were becoming affordable and were replacing the conventional cameras. Cell phones are smaller and sleeker than conventional phones and are electronically more suitable to host the digital camera hardware.
The first camera phone prototype was called "intellect". It was developed by Daniel A. Henderson in 1993. Rapid progress was made in this field in the 1990s, with companies such as Kodak, Canon, and Olympus developing new camera phone models. But these were more like digital cameras equipped with cell phone connectivity, not cell phones with camera option that we see today. Apple Corporation, a habitual pioneer, spotted the market for cell phones with cameras. The company launched Apple Videophone/PDA in 1995. But it did not become an instant craze among people as the company had imagined.
Sharp Corporation and Kyocera started to develop camera cellular phones in separate projects in 1997. But the technologies used by both companies were different. The credit of developing the first commercial camera cellular phone goes to Sharp. It was known as J-SH04 or simply J-Phone and was launched in Japan in 2001. It was exported to the USA, one year later.
The growth in popularity and functionality of cell phone with attached digital camera has been rapid during the past six years. The clarity of the images depends on the pixel count of the camera. All cameras having more than 2 mega-pixels of image resolution can provide good print quality. Samsung has several types of camera phones, which are stylish and affordable. Other companies such as Nokia and Motorola also roll out a number of mobile phones equipped with digital cameras, every year. But the reliability and design elegance associated with Samsung camera cellular phones make them a better choice.
Motorola VCM8000 camera
Product info:
Motorola VCM8000 camera for T720i
Features:
- Let your picture do the talking! Capture a moment and share it!
- Send your digital photos* to email accounts or other MMS capable phones
- Selectable picture sizes
- Store your colour photos in your phone's photo album for anytime viewing
- Low light performance to take clear photos even in dimly lit conditions
- Rotating lens to take self portrait
- Convenient pouch and lanyard included to protect and carry your camera
Compatibility: Motorola T720i
Sony Ericsson MXE-60 Flash
Product info:
Sony Ericsson MXE-60 Flash
Features:
- Better lighting makes a better picture
- For excellent quality pictures in darker environments you simply need the MXE-60
- Using the MXE-60, your pictures will turn out, even in complete darkness
- The phone's LED in combination with the flash takes care of the red-eye phenomenon
- Let your phone become a true competitor to digital cameras
- Fast port system connector
- Xenon light
- Automatic flash option
- Simply plugs in to the bottom of your phone
- Powered by the phone
Compatibility: Sony Ericsson D750i, K750i, W800
Sony Ericsson Phone Flash MPF-10
Product info:
Sony Ericsson Phone Flash MPF-10
Features:
- MPF-10 is a snap-on camera flash accessory for your phone
- Better lighting makes a better picture
- When you need more light, connect the MPF-10, press the flash button and capture the moment
- Comes with a black, protective carry case
- Optical range of 1.5 metres
- Red eye reduction
- Powered by the phone
Compatibility: Sony Ericsson T610, T616, T618, T630
