Citizen captures police act of racism on camera phone

A blatant act of racism by the Portland police was snapped by a "citizen reporter" armed with a camera phone. The story and the photos were published in the Portland Tribune and broadcasted on television.

"Police offers parked their car outside Ringlers restaurant with a stuffed gorilla attached to the car's grill last Tuesday night, - where a largely black crowd had gathered for a weekly hip-hop show hosted by disc jockey Mello Cee.

"This is the kind of thing you expect to see in the South, like a Confederate flag. They might as well paint their faces black with white lips,” said Mello Cee.

"Resident Calvin Washington who said he took the photos around 1 a.m. last Tuesday morning outside Ringlers restaurant at 1332 W. Burnside St. Washington said when he realized what was happening, he grabbed his cell phone camera and walked outside to take pictures. “I went out and flicked a few pics. The police couldn't tell what I was doing because I had the phone in my hand. They couldn't tell what it was,” he said."

The Portland Tribune published a follow-up article on Friday, questioning whether the "incident may have launched the age of technological vigilantism in Portland".

For anyone following the social impact of camera phones, this was a story just waiting to happen and brings to mind the Rodney King beating, videotaped by an amateur. Citizens as camera phone reporters are sure to play an increasing role in news reporting. Or as Jeff Jarvis so aptly put it a while back;  "Mobile cameras will be extraordinary tools for witnesses to capture events with more immediacy than news organizations can provide".

Banned Camera Phones Selling Like Hot Cakes in Jeddah's Black Market

Mobile camera phones are hot sellers this Eid season - a celebration to mark the end of Islam's holiest season - despite a Kingdomwide ban and a significant increase in retail price, according to Arab News.

"The phones were banned in September last year at the urging of the chief of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice following reports that they were being used by men to secretly photograph women. But that has not stopped the phones from being sold.

New models by mobile phone giants Sony Ericsson and Nokia are selling like hot cakes in a healthy black market."

FT.com goes multimedia mobile

The Financial Times has partnered with software firm Volantis to enable it to make its news available across a wide range of mobile devices, according to Netimperative.

"FT.com already had an existing mobile service, but this was just text-based. The new FT.com mobile service from Volantis is a multi-media service that can be accessed from any mobile handset".

"Jong Zuid" Winner of Ericsson Best Mobile Application Award Europe 2003

Jong-Zuid, the first picture soap opera with famous Dutch TV-soap actors starring in it - and now in it's 14 week, has been awarded the "Ericsson Best Mobile Application Award Europe 2003" at a ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland on Novembe r25th.

And Media Republic has started negotiations with various leading mobile operators and consumer brands for international roll-out, according to a company press release.

Related article : Jong-Zuid: First picture soap opera for mobile phones

Salesmen in Japan using Videophones to accelerate sales

IAWood for TheFeature.com reports on the FT's latest IT report, published yesterday, and highlights for non FT subscribers, a story on salesmen in Japan using videophones to accelerate sales.

Since August, a US insurance company, AFLAC, has provided their Japanese agents with video phones to conduct interviews of clients requesting a life insurance policy. The interview is then conducted via the mobile video link with a qualified underwriter in the group's Tokyo headquarters, whose job is to confirm the applicant's identity and the state of their health.

Thus rendering unnecessary what was done before for each case, sending someone from Tokyo to conduct the interview in person.

Phone bloggers get multimedia upgrade

Ireland-based Newbay Software has updated its software, which lets people update Web logs by mobile phone, adding community messaging features, better statistics and support for the latest multimedia phones, in a bid to help increase revenues for operators, according to ZDNet.

"With FoneBlog v2, bloggers can be notified by text message, MMS, WAP or email whenever anyone posts a comment to their blog, while visitors can now ask to be notified of any updates to their favourite FoneBlog site. It's also easier for a reader to forward pictures from a FoneBlog".

"The original FoneBlog was launched in early 2003. So far it has only been deployed by O2 Ireland, but NewBay hopes to get more mobile operators onboard and recently teamed up with Verio to develop its product."

Japan's First TV Cell-Phone

I've been waiting for this, and now it's official. From Wireless Watch Japan. Thanks Lawrence for the tip!

"It's sassy, not clunky - but analog only. If this sounds like an ode to Japan's first Tellycelly, please make your call swift: The TV will only run about an hour before the batteries poop, but the sales potential is, we think, killer. Vodafone's V601N from NEC, on sale in December, follows Japan's long consumer electronics tradition; namely, a cool, high-tech gadget that will sell at a premium by the truckload.

Watch the tube, grab screen shots and capture live video from broadcast programs, access TV guides via browser, and use it as a remote to control your karaoke machine."

Click here to view Wireless Watch Japan's exclusive WWJ video clip of the 'next big thing' in action at Vodafone's October press conference when the unit was introduced.

Smile, we are all on "Candid Camera."

A thoughtful and well written article on today's world and the privacy infringements that occur with the advent of the Internet, videos, and digital cameras by Richard Cohen for The Washington Post.

Camera phones are not the essence of this article, but the role they are bound to play down the road in terms of our privacy is sure coming.

Cohen compares the "burglarizing" of both Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson personas, because their personal lives have been invidaded by tapes that exist -- or purportedly exist.

"The sense we all once had that we are secure in our own person is gone, probably irrevocably so. Espionage has been democratized."

And sadly with the prevelance of all these new technologies, "we could all be robbed of a commodity that we all value -- the face we think we show the world". Just like Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson.

Camera Phones as a new advertising tool?

Interesting, in my new Nokia 6600 camera phone, in the RealOne Player menu, when viewing "saved video clips" stored in the memory card, there are several 15 second video clips promoting this particular handset as well as one commercial-like-clip of a BMW X3 model. So this makes me wonder. Are camera phones to be become a new advertising tool? Generating extra revenue for handset manufacturers and operators? Or through clever marketing campaigns, an added enticement to seduce buyers?

I know of an example where a (Samsung) cell phone was made attractive to the Canadian market by the offer of a pre-programmed a hockey theme ringtone, a sure hit among Canada's sports fans. cf Hockey theme ringtone a selling point for a new phone.

Some interesting possibilites for camera phones:

-- Tying in the launch of a new camera phone with the debut of a much anticipated movie - like a JRR Tolkien film - offering an exclusive video clip for viewing.

-- Promoting the Short Film Festival, featuring the year's winning 15-second film.

-- An appeal for action through a short clip by a non profit organization, for instance Amnesty International.

-- Or, a special request, a 15 second clip of Bill Gates outlining Microsoft's top security priorities.

«SENT», A phonecam art project

In LA, Sean Bonner, Caryn Coleman and Xeni Jardin have teamed up to create "americas first phonecam art show", called SENT, a serious exploration of the creative potential of camera enabled mobile phones.

This exhibition of camera phone photography will be held in February, 2004 at sixspace in LA and on the web at sentonline.com

Professional photographers, filmmakers, and media personalities are invited to explore the device's potential as a creative tool, and submissions from the public are also welcome to be published on the project website.

NPR just jumped into the mix, too: They've issued a "Phonecam challenge," inviting listeners to contribute mobile phone snaps -- some of which will be included in SENT. [unwired.cc]

Orange enters streaming-video game with PacketVideo deal

European carrier Orange announced it will offer wireless streaming video services starting early next year through a new deal with PacketVideo Network Solutions, according to RCR News via Moco News.

"The announcement follows a similar move by European wireless giant Vodafone Group plc, which will install technology from streaming media company RealNetworks Inc".

And per a related article dated November 20, RealNetworks is to provide AT&T Wireless with technology to stream digital video to cell phones.

Newark legislature drafting law for camera phones and similar technology

It seems like existing Peeping Tom legislation in the US does need some uplifting, if a man was actually let off the hook after hidding a video recorder in a floral arrangement and tapping two unsuspecting females as they undressed in his bathroom. "The court ruled that under existing law, the law is broken only if someone "peers into a window or other opening" -- and the defendant had not done so".

"Moving to fill that loophole, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would make it a crime to surreptitiously view or videotape someone in a bathroom, bedroom, dressing room, or other private place where people undress or engage in intimate activity.

The bill also would make it a crime to disseminate sexually explicit photographs of unsuspecting locker room users, houseguests, tenants, ex-spouses or others", reports The Star Ledger via Camera Phone Report.

OK- all of this seems very common sense and a positive thing that the law will protect people who are abused in this way. And Alan Reiter makes a good suggestion to the wireless industry, calling them to "begin utilizing the talents of its advertising and marketing experts to provide customer education, promoting the value of camera phones for a variety of uses while, at the same time, providing information about how to be a "responsible" camera phone user. How big a black eye does the camera phone industry want to get before it takes some action?" Hear, Hear!

Albino Gorillo Moblog Tribute

Reading the news yesterday, photoblog savvy fans must have had a thought for Danish moblogging service Albino Gorilla (the first to utilize both the picture and sound capability in MMS' for blog entries), upon the news of the death of Snowflake, believed to be the only albino gorilla in captivity, who died on Monday from skin cancer after living for 36 years in the Barcelona zoo.

According to Mads Bjerre of Albino Gorilla, questioned on the relationship between Snowflake and his company': "We were trying to find a name that was unique - especially not tech-related - for our service. I remembered I had heard about this white gorilla in Barcelona Zoo. Snowflake was precisely that: unique and ... cuddly, actually. He seems very human-like in pictures because of his white skin and white fur. And we thought "Albino Gorilla" was a catchy name.

We're trying hard to make our service very non-techy and non-nerdy so that everyone will find it accessible and easy to use. Moblogging for the masses, so to speak. I think the name fits very well with that."

They've set up a tribute moblog for Snowflake at albinogorilla.dk/snowflake, just to honor him. Nice.

Also a first I think, a tribute moblog.

Different looking pictures. Why not?

Michael Tippett from BlueHereNow made a very interesting comment on a recent post, Turn your picture into a pencil sketch drawing, where I described some wonderful tone control features offered by Samsung's E700 camera phone, which allows users to change a picture into for instance, a pencil ketch drawing.

"This is an interesting development for a non-obvious reason. One of the problems with camera phones is the images they produce don't print very well. By changing the image (as Samsung is doing) you can often create a format that looks good when printed (or even enlarged). We have been using this kind of conversion for some time for people that want to print large formats of their digital prints and we've got some interesting results. We have a gallery of some selected works if you're interested on Phrint XL".

The quality of pictures from cameraphones improve with each new model out on the market, so dpi resolution some day soon should no longer be an issue. But who's to say that these wonderful options, sepia, embossed, sketching of a picture could not bring about a new and more versatile look for ordinary printed publications - newspapers or magazines. Because it's immediate.

Picturephones are set to bring out a brand new world, in more ways than one (and not just at the gym!).

Cell-shock: Kid kills aunt for a camera phone

In India, Vasudev Ashok Joshi, a 15-year-old boy robbed his aunt and clubbed her to death, in order to buy two Nokia 7250 camera phones. "Vasudev had taken a fancy to mobile phones and had changed eight handsets before settling on the latest one", according to the Indian Express.

Camera Phones Are Bringing People Together, Says Textamerica

People familiar with this column don't need convincing, but you can't let positive articles pass by without notice, when so much of the press continues to report on the evils of camera phones usage (yes, sigh, in locker rooms). Photoblogs updated with camera enabled phones are such a wonderful and easy way to share personal events with family and friends living apart.

"Whether you are on vacation, getting married or having a baby, your friends and family can stay up to date with you just by checking out your moblog online," said textamerica Founder Chris Hoar. "You just need to snap the pictures with your camera phone, then send them to your account. No more uploading, resizing or trips to the local 1-hour photo.

-- On Kekoa Charles - San Diego residents Jade and Nicole post photos of their baby online for their parents in Hawaii

-- South Carolina State Senator Glenn Reese on his moblog gives an inside look at his life, from the early days up to the present day, where you see the Senator in action both in his community and in Columbia.

-- And nice, a wish list just getting started and growing, to send care packages to American soldiers in Irak.

Turn your picture into a pencil sketch drawing

Samsung's E700 cameraphone has many interesting features, but it's filter functions really caught my eye.

You can actually make your pictures look like old photographs, simply be selecting a sepia tone. You can play with gray, negative and emboss filter effects. And you can even transform your picture into a pencil sketch drawing. See demo. First click on "visit e700 site", on "Advanced Camera", then on "Tone Control".

Investors bet camera phones keep clicking with consumers

The stock market is reflecting the hype surrounding camera phones, reports
USA Today.

"Overall, the major makers of camera phones are up 52% on average this year, while shares of companies that make pieces and parts that go into the phones have gained 207%.

Component makers are probably the biggest winners in the camera-phone phenomenon.

Future winners could be the companies that make removable memory cards that plug into higher-end camera phones to save photos. That isn't the biggest part of the market yet, because less than 10% of camera phones use such memory cards. But as cameras' quality rises and requires more storage space, it's expected that by 2007, 64% of camera phones will support removable storage, IDC says".

The article raises the shadow of a doubt that cameraphones could only be a fad. I don't think so. I've just bought the new Nokia 6600 cameraphone and have spent the weekend becoming familiar with all it's wonderful functions. Fabulous. If most people are like me, there is no going back.

Childbirth moblogged!

On kokochi.com. [Unwired.cc]

Microsoft getting involved in moblogs

Alan Reiter on his Camera Phone Report has found out that - not suprisingly - Microsoft is getting involved in moblogs.

""Get Ready for Moblogs: Turn an ordinary blog into a moblog by including pictures from your Pocket PC or Smartphone. Check back here in December to learn how to create yours."

Something not to look forward to.

Citizen reporters contribute to the BBC on Bush protest

The BBC which launched this special section online last March, asking readers to contribute by sending in pictures of newsworthy events to document "their perspective on the world", is now keen on seeing readers pictures or videos from the Bush protests.

"Whether you're a supporter or protester, send us your photos of this historic occasion.

You can submit single images or a series of pictures that tell a story, a photo essay, as well as video but remember we do need some text to accompany the pictures".

Above picture is contribution from Hugh Poynton of marchers at Kingsway in Central London.

Stats Roundup

In an article entitled "Why camera phones are so darned popular", ZDNet summarizes the most important stats surrounding camera phones:

"According to research group IDC , 80 million camera phones have been sold worldwide since their introduction three years ago. IDC estimates that six million camphones have been sold in the U.S., where they were introduced about a year ago. Even more surprising (to me, anyway): This year, camphones are expected to outsell digital still cameras, 57 million to 44 million.

By comparison, the previous all-time fastest growing consumer technology was the DVD player, which sold 30 million units in its first three years on the market following its 1997 introduction, according to the Consumer Electronics Association".

The article also brings up a good point with regard to this last statement:

"To be fair, the comparison between DVD players and camera phones isn't exact. For example, I think the estimates for DVD sales should include PCs with DVD players. I also think they should be measured on a "households" basis: While a given household might have two or more camphones, how many DVD players does any one family need?"

Toy cameraphone

Even children want a cameraphone for Christmas! Japanese toymaker Tomy is selling a toy cellphone with a built-in digital camera. Kids can't make a real phone call, but they can take low-resolution photos.

From Gizmodo.

Youth 'mobile' art initiative

A project aims to tap into teenagers' enthusiasm for texting by offering them the chance to work with media professionals on an art project using mobile phone technology, according to the BBC.

"BBC Northern Ireland and Media Lab Europe are to hold a series of workshops with young people in Kilkeel as part of the initiative, known as C-TEXT.

The teenagers will photograph scenes around the County Down town, working under the theme "A Day in my Life". (In all fairness, the article does not specify if camera phones are used - I'm only supposing this is the case as the experience is centered around mobile phone technology)

The pictures will then be projected on a screen in the town square on 29 November in an interactive exhibition. The audience will be able to send mobile text messages, which will also be broadcast on the screen within 20 seconds.

On a related note, an experimental moblogging project, started January 24, consisting of people located in different parts of the globe, mobloged during 24 hours, and published all the posts on a single page. Three projects are already online, a href="http://www.media-diary.net/spring_in_asia/000007.html">Spring in Asia and Daily Helsinki and 24. cf 24 Hours of moblogging.

Camera Phones Granting Wishes, According to Textamerica

At stores across America, kids are picking items off the shelf, posing for a picture taken with mom's camera phone, and then posting it online to their personalized wish list, courtesy of Textamerica.com. The wish list then gets e-mailed out to friends and family ensuring the wish list owner gets exactly what they want.

A few examples include Daniel's Wish List and Nicole's Wish List.

But it's not just kids creating lists; adults too have been quick to join in. On Janet's Wish List' you can make her day with an Aston Martin Vantage, a Gucci bag or arrange a lunch date with Eminem - is this to turn into the moblog version of cyber-begging? - - or check out laura Bernstein's Wish List which includes breast implants, liposuction and psychotherapy. More in line with the Christmas spirit, Tina's List includes a wish that her friend quits smoking.

Camera Phone Blogs Ignite Interest

In an article entitled "Camera Phone Blogs Ignite Interest ", Brad Smith for Forbes, describes how people are using their camera phones to reach a larger audience than just family and friends and about the growing popularity of moblogs.

Interesting, Smith claims one of the first mobloggers was probably Philippe Kahn, founder and CEO of LightSurf Technologies, who started posting photos from a cell phone to his website as part of a skipper's log of the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

Also of note, some good-news projections: "The Zelos Group estimates U.S. carriers will gain $10.3 million in revenue this year from the transmission of photos on their networks, with that revenue rising to $440 million in 2008, when one-third of all wireless subscribers will have a camera phone".

Bluejacking In Style

TagTxt offers free characters to attach to contact details when Bluejacking, reports Mike Grenville on 160characters.org.

"As well as sending messages to other phones, pictures can also be attached to the contact details stored in a phone. This picture is then included in the message that is sent via Bluetooth to another phone".

TagTxt have made a collecion of characters available to include when Bluejacking your neighbours. All you need to do is download the Tags on their site on to your phone.

For more on Bluejacking, cf Cell Phone Messaging Turns Mischievous .

RealNetworks switches on video for AT&T

RealNetworks will announce a deal on Thursday to provide AT&T Wireless with technology to stream digital video to cell phones, according to sources, according to News.com.

Photoblogging Thanksgiving

Textamerica.com wants to know what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving. Email your pics of friends, family, or simply show off your big dinner!

Chasing Bush Photoblog on Texamerica.com

Mohsan CamBlog has set up shop on textamerica.com to track Bush in London, adhering to the Chasing Bush with SMS campaign.