Football match streamed to a cell phone

For the first time in Portugal, fans who owned Nokia 7650 handsets, were able to watch an entire football match between Portugal and Brazil last Saturday, live, on the small screens of mobile phones, according to an article in Cellular News

T-Mobile USA launches video service

Wireless phone company T-Mobile USA has announced the launch of a new service that lets people send video messages via their Nokia 3650 videophones, Customers will be able to record a 10-second audio and video clip and then send it as an e-mail attachment. T-Mobile is the first U.S. carrier to offer a video service, per an article in CNET.

MMS interoperable with other networks in the UK

Good news! According to an article ZDNet UK, mobile operator Orange has signed an "interconnect" agreement with T-Mobile, Vodafone and mmO2, enabling users with multimedia MMS compatible phones, to send and receive picture messages to other users signed up with those networks, effective March 31st.

«Bar Shots»

Looks like picture messaging is hitting the bar scene again. Following last week's posting about a pub in Northern London, who installed a wireless hub allowing it's customers to send their pictures to a large screen, so everyone in the pub can see what they have been snapping, Maxim Magazine, the UK's daily guide covering "girls, babes, sport, fashion, clothes, albums",... is asking it's readers to participate in a picture messaging competition called 'Bar Shots', inviting them to take pictures of beautiful women in bars and picture message them back to an assigned phone number or upload them online. Best picture wins £1,000. From an article today in Netimperative.

"Embedded" Reporters

In the last couple of days, articles on "embedded reporters" have proliferated online (if anyone knows who came up with that term first, I would love to know).

"Hundreds of journalists are now embedded within military units, eating, sleeping and marching with the soldiers as they head toward Baghdad. Equipped with state-of-the-art satellites and video phones, these reporters have the capability to send a feed back home from nearly any location at any time. A form of war reporting never before seen -- a style of journalism that places viewers on the front lines, individual soldiers in the spotlight and reality-based television on a whole new level", writes Michael Friscolanti for Canada.com

Dan Gilmore offers an interesting commentary in his e-Journal blog, describing the "embedded journalists" as military public relations officers and what he finds wrong with the arrangement is "the tendency -- an entirely natural tendency -- to become part of the unit".

Christopher Ruddy in Newsmax says no to "embedded journalists". He finds it a scary and disturbing trend, making the journalists an unnecessary burden to combat troops, "which need to be worried about their own safety and focused on a single objective – victory on the battlefield. They don't need to have the extra worry of keeping unarmed, unnecessary journalists safe". He gives as an example The San Francisco Chronicle sending a 69-year-old reporter to be embedded with U.S. troops.

"On Monday, I saw just how low we had sunk in this new war when NBC showed one of its embedded journalists with a young Marine who had just been wounded. The embedded correspondent got on his satellite phone and called the Marine's mother. As the soldier lay on a stretcher and still on the battlefield, he had a chat with mom.

Sure, it made great TV. The moment should be nominated for an Emmy. But there is something wrong when bleeding soldiers have become actors on national TV and are calling home to mom in the middle of battle." added Christopher Ruddy.

Measures taken to ward off picture phone abuse

In an interesting article on picture phone abuse, The Japan Times issues a warning on the ubiquitous and popular camera phones. Perverts taking snapshots and posting them on the Internet instantly aren't the only illicit use to worry about; the phones can be used for other forms of privacy invasion as well as copyright infringements.

As media coverage on this issue is on the increase, raising general awareness, mobile phone companies on their end are trying to do something about it and are unanimous in their position that users of their products should have a sense of conscience and morals, and include such printed guidelines with their packaged phones.

Some companies such as J-Phone Co. -- who debuted the first cell phone capable of taking and transmitting photos in November 2000 --, are developping models that will make it harder to take someone's picture and go unnoticed:

-- Some models have been made to emit a sound when the shutter is released to let other people know when a photo has been taken.

-- Some cell phones also emit light when the shutter is pressed.

-- Others feature a lens cover to reassure people that they are not being photographed when the phone is being used.

FotoChat on Spanish TV

Taking SMS teletexting to a new level — a popular feature in Europe, where users, generally coach potato teenagers send their SMS message to a TV channel and wait around until it finally scrolls by on their screens (sometimes hours later) — the popular Spanish Citytv show is now offering users the opportunity to send in their pictures with their text messages. Users can participate in «FotoChat» by registering at cityweb.com and uploading their picture. Each time they send an SMS on the chat, their photo will appear automatically next to their own message on the TV screen.

«Tankcams»

"In the last few day television viewers have been witnessing something never seen before: live pictures of American ground forces in the act of invading a foreign country, in this case racing unopposed across the battlefield of southern Iraq.

The extraordinary shots were the product of newly improved videophones and mobile satellite uplinks. Hitched to network-owned Humvees (all-terrain vehicles), and retrofitted satellite trucks that are running, "Mad Max"-style, alongside the columns of American armored vehicles."

These are excerpts from a fascinating article by Paul Fahri published in The Washington Post, where he describes how new technology has always shapped war coverage, from the telegraph during the civil war, to radio and newsreels during WW2 and Vietnam (dubbed the living room war).

CNN as a channel, became a household world for it's coverage of the Gulf War in 1990, and September 11's tragedy may have been the first full-blown crisis in which cellular phones played a central role as well as the Internet, where thousands of people recorded what they saw and experienced, giving more weight to their stories than coverage by any professional media organization.

Such instantaneous coverage as what we are seeing from Irak will come with it's own set of ethical questions. When we see soldiers shot down, in real time, on our screens. How much warfare reality should there be?

TV Reality Show uses picture phones

“The Wedding Race” is a twelve episode reality-based adventure TV game show, to be broadcast nationwide throughout China on 21 television channels from March to June of 2003, covering a potential television viewing audience of over 750 million viewers.

The show pitted five romantically-linked couples against each other in a variety of extreme sports and challenges for a grand prize of the house of their dreams in China.

According to an article in 160characters.org, Siemens is one of the sponsors of the show and is providing the contestants with a new cell phone model (S57) and a detachable camera with an integrated flash (QuickPic) so that the couples can communicate with each other, even adding voice captions to their pictures.

Restrictions on picture messaging ruled in Italy

According to an article in Global Wireless News, reported by Howard Rheingold on Smart Mobs, following mobile operator Hutchison's launch of 3rd generation phone services in Italy, the country's Data Protection Commission has stunned the industry by publishing strict rules governing the use of picture messaging and video cell phones.

According to the report, 3G phone users can "only record images of people for personal use--with these pictures then being kept in a secure place, while anyone captured on "film" must be informed if their images are to be displayed on the Internet".

The report also states that "the transmission of pornographic pictures is strictly forbidden". A ruling surely to upset mobile companies developping pornographic content, a means to potentially recoup the billions spent on third generation licences.

«Celebrity Sightings» goes MMS

Upoc.com is the first wireless company I fell in love with, in September 2000, after reading an article in Wired about one of their community text messaging groups, «New York Celebrity Sightings», where members of the group send out an SMS to each other whenever they sight someone famous.

Over the years I have checked on them periodically to take the pulse of what this mobile community is texting about. They share hobbies, where to find better bargains, restaurants, music and movie reviews, discuss the news as it is or in a positive light, buzz about start-ups, gripe about New York, offer positive reinforcement to reformed smokers and drinkers. I delighted in some of the more whacky groups that came up such as "Worst Dates", "Fat Chick sightings", "Bush-isms" and "Boring People", and my heart went out to them following 9/11 – when members shared personal stories and offered support.

I often wrote about their "Featured Channels" in my daily French Chronicle on SMS, where members sign up for special text and audio messages about hot new movies, favorite bands, celebs.

And, now according to an article in Instant Messaging Planet, "later this month, the company is expected to take its messaging features to the next level by launching support for MMS. As a result of the offering, members of Upoc's "Crazy Stuff I Saw" or "NYC Celeb Sightings" groups should be able to send photos taken with camera-enabled phones to the rest of the group. As with voice messages, Upoc group members (about 500,000 users) who don't have MMS-enabled phones can go to the site to view the sent images.

"In a nutshell, it's current Upoc functionality but with pictures added," said Greg Clayman, the company's vice president of marketing". Very cool.

Picture Phones with sophisticated camera features

Gadget lovers must read this article from PCworld to get the latest on picture phones and particularly for insight into what's ahead in terms of sophisticated photographic functions being integrated into the new camera phones, as showcased at the CTIA show in New Orleans. Here is a small selection of what caught my eye:

-- Samsung's SPH-A600 features a rotating display, enabling users to take pictures even when the phone is closed.

-- The Samsung A600's built-in camera has three resolution modes, a digital zoom and an integrated flash. Users can adjust white balance and color tone and even add frames to their photos. As well as take continuous snapshots at intervals of three, five, or ten seconds, thanks to a multi-shot mode.

-- Motorola's V600 allows users to add voice annotations to their photos.

-- The Motorola A835 packs a ton of features, such as an integrated camera that captures still images and short video clips.

Picture Phones animate North London Pub

The Progress Bar in North London has installed a wireless hub that lets people send their pictures to a large screen so everyone in the pub can see what they have been snapping, according to an article in the BBC.

Installed earlier this month, the slideshow is turning out to be a big hit with the regulars.

The bar is also planning to use the gadget (called the Meshbox) to let customers know about upcoming events and might even use it to send digital vouchers to regulars giving them discounts on drinks.

Cell Phone Film Festival

Celluloid is going cellular at «The World's Smallest Film Festival» (WSFF) "to showcase the video content and technology that will be viewable on the next generation of mobile phones," according to Beau Buck, BigDigit co-founder and producer of the event. "Mobile video has already taken much of the rest of the world by storm, and now it is coming to the U.S." Read more in Wireless News Factor.

Vodafone Live! overtakes Europe i-mode

In an interesting article by Niall McKay, "Is Content is Really King?", published in the excellent TheFeature.com, March 18, we learn how Vodafone Live!, providing users with picture messages, games, ring tones, animations, and other content services, has nearly overtaken the European version of i-mode in just three months, with over 380,000 subscribers across Europe.

Amongst their services, of note, "Entertainment News", which sends out text alerts of showbiz updates and gossip with pictures. And "News & Charts" which allows users to match a face to a tune, by delivering pictures of the hottest pop stars by MMS.

While i-mode in Japan has over 30 million subscribers, in Europe it has just 236,000. According to Niall McKay, "there are all sorts of reasons for this, not least among them is content, infrastructure and the lack of cool handsets. In fact, in Japan, handsets are not really an issue, as most look pretty much the same. Unlike Europe, where hipsters like to be seen with the latest, smallest and coolest handset, Japanese consumers are much more concentrated on functionality rather than design".

Video Calling, an "emotional experience"

Following an extensive advertising campaign and months of delay, mobile operator Hutchison's Italian subsidiary, H3G, finally launched last week.

At H3G's head office in Milan, journalist Rebecca Pike was invited to test the new "3" service and reports back in an article in the BBC.

As "all Italians love their mobiles and own at least two - one for business and one for pleasure — which they update more often than their wardrobes", it makes perfect sense that Italy should be amongst the first countries to try out the third- generation phones, and they will also be amongst the first to overcome some of the hurdles that come with it: high priced handsets, expensive services, battery life requiring more power, and spotty network coverage throughout the country.

The new handsets will deliver video clips, TV news broadcasts, share price information or city maps, send e-mails and show the latest sporting events. But the one special feature that Hutchison is pinning it's hopes on for mass appeal, is the video call feature.

At this point in time, there is no demand for this type of service, but to try it is to like it, according to Rebecca Pike, who called her experience an "emotional" one. "Speaking to someone at the same time as seeing the expression on their face, as well as being able to see their surroundings, is a different experience altogether".

Overseas Guardsmen receive photos of loved ones, thanks to Sprint

Hundreds of photographs of fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and children have been sent instantly and free to Guardsmen overseas, from Andrews Air Force Base, in a very nice gesture from the Sprint telephone company.

Family members gathered and signed up, posed and were snapped by operator employees with picture phones. After viewing on the tiny screen and giving their okay or shooting again, the pictures were sent off to soldiers thousands of miles away (as an attachment to an e-mail address, typed into the cell phone).

According to an article in The Washington Times, deployed almost a month ago, the majority of the 200 Guardsmen are overseas, living in tents. "Part of their problem is boredom and adjusting to a different way of life, said Connie Moore, of the Family Resources Support Office at Andrews. They miss their families the most."

A visual revolution

In a thought provoking piece published in Editor & Publisher, Steve Outing writes about how the emerging trend of picture phones will likely influence news media in major ways. Already, several news organizations are asking their readers to contribute in a novel way, by sending in their pictures.

He predicts it will be common for newspapers to publish images of significant news events where professional photojournalists weren't present but picture phone users were. And though Photojournalism experts agree that in general this is a good thing -- it's not without its challenges.

It is likely to have even much bigger consquences than videos taken with popular camcorders, not always in arm's reach unlike cell phones, always near by. One can only wonder, if I may add, at the magnitude of the consequences, when you think of the most famous amateur video, the one documenting the brutal beating by the LA police of Rodney King, which led to riots in the city following the verdict of the trial.

It could potentially create a logistical nightmare for picture editors, flooding the news photo department with a wave of images sent in from the public. Such a scenario is perfectly likely in the event for instance of a terrorist attack in a major city, according to Kenny Irby, a visual journalism faculty member at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg. Irbi recommends news photo departments have a disaster plan in place for such situations.

Another fear is authenticity, how can you tell if a picture has been retouched? With the wide spread use of powerful photo design and production tool, Photoshop, editors need to be very careful about what they accept from the public and publish.

Steve Outing closes his column, with a lighter side, suggesting news feature editors match the creativity of one of the most popular UK web sites, Dogs in Cars, which publishes online user-submitted photos of ... dogs in cars. Great fun.

The New Mobile Paparazzi

Celebsnapper.com, a service that pays mobile users for taking pictures of celebrities and sending them in, was developped by Mobile Entertainment Corporation (MEC - an entertainment content provider for mobile platforms worldwide) and launched on a test basis in the UK in the Fall of 2002. Two hundred people participated and Kylie Minogue's fan club helped out.

British Owners of mobile camera phones were encouraged to take snapshots of celebrities to win £ 10-20 award for any picture that made it into a tabloid, as MEC partnered with World Entertainment News Network which provides people photos to magazines such as Heat, Hello and OK.

In addition mobile users who signed up to Celebsnapper's "A List" of top celebrities, could receive MMS pictures of their favorite celebs (£ 1,50 for 5 photos), and received text alerts as sightings happened.

Following this test market, Celebsnapper was renamed Snaparazzi.com, in a deal made with a large press group, per a revelation in an interview with MEC CEO Tim Hammond by French speaking Largeur.com, dated February 2nd.

Sources: MEC Press Release / Netimperative / Camera Mobile Phones / Largeur.com

Bells and Whistles for Picture Phones

According to Mark Ward, reporting from CeBIT for the BBC, we will soon be able to do much more with picture phones than just take pictures. Several companies have unveiled new gadgets and services, such as sending picture postcards and printing from a cell phone (blogged about earlier).

Of note, Nokia' SU-2 Image Viewer which can show phone images on a TV set or computer monitor wirelessly, thanks to Bluetooth technology.

Panasonic will offer a service that lets people turn an image into a personalised fascia for its G60 phone.

Some of the printers shown will allow users to crop and edit pictures before printing.

Siemens is working on a service whereby sending in snap shots via the Web or by cell phone, will come back as high quality copies, to print out as photographs or put on mugs, t-shirts and calendars.

MMS postcards sent by the post office

02 Germany, the German affiliate of British telecom operator 02, has announced a new service starting next April, allowing subscribers to send MMS postcards.

From their cell phones, users will be able to forward an MMS (picture+text) to the Post Office, who will print it out as a postcard and deliver it to the recipient, who could only be someone with no inclination for immediacy, which well, is really what the medium is all about or, perhaps someone who just doesn't own an MMS phone.

One wonders if this will meet with the same success as the Swiss post office's plan to print out e-mails and forward them by registered mail. That was grand.

Maybe I just don't get it, apparently this is a new trend, Vodafone has announced a similar project. Read about in French Yahoo News.

MMS Mobile Tickets

Soon, football fans will be able to pass through a turnstile and flow seemlessly into a stadium by simply selecting their entry ticket downloaded onto their cell phone, placing it in front of an electronic eye which will read the bar code (the photo is a bar code that functions as a ticket), and the turnstile will open and let them through.

It is not happening yet for real, but thousands of visitors to CeBIT will be able to try out this new mobile application at various stands, per an article in the Financial Times (subscription required).

Security Monitoring

Surelabs' Alertwizard offers a security service that sends text messages, photo and video alerts from a monitored area, if someone should break in or just ring the doorbell. cf SMS: Business gets the messsage

Security monitoring by cell phone

Surelabs' Alertwizard offers a security service that sens text messages, photo and video alerts from a monitored area, if someone should break in or just ring the doorbell. cf SMS: Business gets the messsage

Hook up a camera to your Nokia

My Nokia 7210 is not a picture phone, but I recently bought a small camera for Sfr 149.- ($ 112.-), called the Nokia Camera Headset , that you simply hook up to the pop port. It's fabulous, you can take pictures while you are on the phone or listening to music through your headset.

Other compatible models are: Nokia 5100, Nokia 6100, Nokia 6610, and Nokia 6800.

Become a Snaparazzi

In a move that will make anyone remotely famous shudder, Netimperative reports that Wireless content provider Mobile Entertainment Corporation (MEC) has launched CelebSnapper, a service that pays mobile users for taking pictures of celebrities and sending them in.

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Readers contribute to newspapers in a new way

With the gaining popularity of picture phones and digital cameras, several news organizations are asking their readers to contribute in a new way, by sending in their pictures:

- BBC has recently launched a special section where they publish photos sent in from their readers from around the globe, to document «their perspective on the world», on an anti-war protest, a traffic congestion in the city, the Brits Music Awards ceremony, or any other event of general interest.

- After asking it's readers to send in any photos of the Columbia debris , The Dallas Morning News is now sollicting military photos from Irak.

- On a more local and community building level, the Charlotte Observer asked it's readers to send in their personal shots of a snow storm, then published them online as a slide show.

Journalists document events with camera phones

Journalists equipped with digital phones or picture phones are giving editors a real edge on the news, as they can be sent practically in real time from an event. Fashion webiste Show Studio's speedy coverage of the collections during the Paris Prêt-à-porter, allowed them to scoop more established fashion news organisations. cf cf SMS: Business gets the message

Steve Outing in an interesting posting on E-media Tidbits in February, envisions most reporters carrying digital-camera phones when they hit the street on reporting assignments in the near future.

Global sales of pictures phones

According to an article in CNN, reporting from the 3GSM Congress in Cannes last February, total estimated global sales for camera phones are close to 20 million units.