Smile for my cell phone

By Jefferson Graham
USA Today

Kathy Collado would like to have her digital camera with her at all times. But things get in the way, such as a depleted battery, or she leaves it at home by mistake. But "I don't go anywhere without my cell phone," said Collado, 44, of New Rochelle, N.Y.

That's why she bought one of the new cell phones with a built-in camera. "I have four kids, and I'm always taking pictures. People look at me like I'm crazy when I point my phone at them, but that's OK. I like to be the first on my block with new things."

New cell phone models can surf the Web, play games, download music and — as promoted most prominently — take pictures.

Video postcards

"This is the next logical extension of a phone call," said John Clelland of T-Mobile. "I liken it to a postcard. Instead of sending an image from your Disneyland trip and waiting for snail mail to arrive, you say, 'Look where I am' and send it immediately to share the literal moment."

You compose the shot on your phone's color LCD screen, point and shoot. Waiting for the picture to process and send can take as long as a Polaroid to develop — one minute or so.

Learning how to use the phone's camera tools takes more time than for a digital camera. And image quality is low — about a sixth of the resolution of a typical 2-megapixel digital camera.

Still, wireless providers have been blanketing the media with ads for the latest phones. Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin gives the reason: About 64 million people — 56 percent of households — own a cell phone, and the industry has "reached the saturation point. They've got to come up with new reasons to buy a new phone or enhance your current service."

Unlike the traditional startup deal of the last few years — a free phone for a year's service contract — camera phones start at $99 and keep climbing, and users can expect to add $3 to $10 to the average monthly plan for capability to send pictures as wireless e-mail.

Sharing the moment

Chip Novick of Sprint attended a nephew's school program during the holidays and used his phone to take a picture. At intermission, he sent his sons photos of their cousin up on stage. "It's in those types of moments where you get to share pictures in a new way," he said.

Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T are marketing the camera phones most aggressively. T-Mobile in particular is promoting its service heavily with the help of Oscar-nominated actress Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Chicago").

They're taking a cue from the popularity of picture phones in Japan, though that country has "a lower penetration of PCs and Internet than we do," Golvin said. "The Japanese don't have a lot of other ways to send pictures. They're more reliant on phones as a substitution."

Sony Ericsson phones have been out since July, and Sprint's PCS Vision launched in August.

How are they selling? David Dimont of Ritz Camera Centers, which sells the phones side by side with digital cameras, said: "They have a great 'wow' factor, and it's great to show friends once or twice, but after that, it's not really the solution. We're selling a lot more cameras."

Camera phones are still too expensive, Dimont said, but manufacturers have told him prices will be much lower by summer, which "may pique consumer interest."

Even if consumers don't buy camera phones now, Golvin said, "the advertising is building awareness of the new capabilities of the handsets, with the color screens and richer features, and that will lure a lot more people into the stores."

Camera phones

Some popular wireless phones on the market double as digital cameras.

Sony Ericsson T68i

• Cost: $299
• Providers: AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile
• About the phone: 256-color display, Multimedia Message Service, Bluetooth wireless
• About the camera: Optional MCA-25 camera clips onto the bottom phone. Features 640-by-480-pixel resolution, 2X digital zoom.
• Web site: www.sonyericsson.com

Sanyo 5300

• Cost: $399
• Provider: Sprint PCS
• About the phone: 65,000-color display, Short Message Service, voice-activated dialing
• About the camera: Built-in camera includes flash, 4X digital zoom and 640-by-480-pixel resolution. Images can be uploaded to Web site.
• Web site: www.sanyo.com

Sony Ericsson T300

• Cost: $99
• Provider: T-Mobile
• About the phone: 256-color display, Multimedia Message Service
• About the camera: Includes clip-on MCA-25 camera with 640-by-480-pixel resolution, 2X digital zoom
• Web site: www.sonyericsson.com

Samsung V205

• Cost: $399
• Provider: T-Mobile
• About the phone: 65,000-color display, Multimedia Message Service
• About the camera: 640-by-480-pixel resolution. Stores up to 100 photos.
• Web site: www.samsungusa.com

* Phone prices may vary, depending on promotions offered by service providers.