Millions eager to star in "hamedori" - the art of filming sex

Insight from the Daily Mainichi on "hamedori " or the art of filming sex, popular in Japan.

About one in three Japanese women are interested in having their sex captured on camera, says Spa! magazine .

"Mobile phones now have built-in video functions, so lots of guys who use them to film their sex are probably doing it for a bit of fun," a 33-year-old securities worker and practitioner of hamedori -- filming or photographing sex -- tells Spa! "If you whipped out a single-lens reflex camera the woman would probably get a bit antsy, but because it's a mobile phone, she'll often go along with it."

The bulk of Japan's hamedori fans say they engage in the practice for sexual stimulation."

New camphone video of Saddam's Corpse after the hanging on Internet

A second camera phone video showing Saddam's condition after he was hanged -- including showing a close-up of a bloody neck wound -- has appeared on the Internet, on LiveLeak. [via Reiter's Cameraphone Report]

According to the Associated Press, "the video appeared to have been taken with a camera phone, like the graphic video of the hanging which showed guards taunting Saddam in the final moments of his life.

... The 27-second video was posted on an Iraqi news Web site that is known to support Saddam's outlawed Baath Party. "A new film of the late immortal martyr, President Saddam Hussein," the web site said in a headline over a link to the video."

Previously:

-- Saddam's 'snuff video' signals the end of editorial control

-- Mobile phone captures Iraq's cruelty

-- Official held in Saddam hanging video

-- Iraq PM orders probe into Saddam cameraphone video

-- Cameraphone footage of Saddam’s Execution made its way to video sharing sites

Saddam's 'snuff video' signals the end of editorial control

The Observer writing about the release of the unauthorized videophone footage on the internet showing Saddam' execution, puts it's finger on what has become a common occurence; mainstream media has all but lost control of what reaches the public domain.

"... Last Saturday, the media broadcast what the Iraqi government wanted shown - the original, silent, cut-before-the-drop film.

With the internet release of the videophone footage, whatever editorial control the media had initially was swept away. It showed a different story, of Saddam being mocked and humiliated in his final moments by guards chanting the name of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The Saddam video proves again that no act is too gruesome or intimate that someone won't try to take a picture of it and share it with the wired world,' said arts critic Richard Woodward in the Wall Street Journal. 'We better get used to living without visual boundaries - and with the curiosity and flexible morality of the viewer as the only limit on what we can see - from now on.'

... The visible end to a murderous dictator has one benefit: It quells theories that he escaped the reaper. - The execution of Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and his wife Elena in 1989 by a firing squad, was broadcast on national television (and worldwide) for just this reason - Hitler's suicide was not photographed and allowed a belief in his survival to thrive for years."

Related:

-- Mobile phone captures Iraq's cruelty

-- Official held in Saddam hanging video

-- Iraq PM orders probe into Saddam cameraphone video

-- Cameraphone footage of Saddam’s Execution made its way to video sharing sites

Mobile phone captures Iraq's cruelty

The phone camera footage of Saddam Hussein's execution may prove to be the most controversial media disclosure from Iraq since snapshots of US guards abusing prisoners inside Abu Ghraib were published in 2004. The BBC reports.

"... The mobile phone, that symbol of freedom and independence, had come into its own in Iraq in the most dramatic way.

... On the day after Saddam's hanging, a trader in a Shia part of Baghdad told AFP news agency that his mobile phone shop was selling the gallows phone camera footage for 500 dinars (40 US cents) a time.

And for those without a mobile, video of Iraq's death squads and their victims is available to buy on DVD.

... Simon Henderson suggests that the desire of some Iraqis to see footage of Saddam's execution owes much to the brutalisation of society under his rule.

This, after all, was a man who used to take his own sons Uday and Qusay to witness torture sessions. "

Related:

-- Official held in Saddam hanging video

-- Iraq PM orders probe into Saddam cameraphone video

-- Cameraphone footage of Saddam’s Execution made its way to video sharing sites

Official held in Saddam hanging video

The person believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein's raucous execution on a cameraphone was arrested Wednesday, reports the Associated Press.

"The adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not identify the person. But he said it was "an official who supervised the execution" and who is "now under investigation."

"In the past few hours,the government has arrested the person who made the video of Saddam's execution," the adviser said.

Related:

-- Iraq PM orders probe into Saddam cameraphone video

-- Cameraphone footage of Saddam’s Execution made its way to video sharing sites

Cameraphone footage of Saddam’s Execution made its way to video sharing sites

Saddam’s Execution Video Makes it to Google Video, YouTube and Revver.

"This video video shows Saddam Hussein being hanged from the vantage of a witness using his or her cellphone.

This shows almost everything -- except for the snap of the neck, viewer discretion advised".

[Mashable! via Techmeme]

More from the BBC:

"New footage of Saddam Hussein's final moments reveals the former Iraqi president exchanged taunts and insults with witnesses at his execution.

The grainy images are believed to have been filmed on a mobile phone.

Unlike on the silent, official film showing a subdued Saddam Hussein, the execution is a charged, angry scene.

In it people chant the name of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and tell Saddam Hussein to "go to hell", while the former leader mocks their bravery."

Audience members submit clips of live concert with cameraphones

Howard Rheingold on Smartmobs via Wired reports on a live band oustourcing the taping of their performance to their fans in the audience - with their cameraphones.

" At the Austin City Limits fest in Texas last fall, Indi rock group The Shins unveiled their new title "Phantom Limb.”.

But instead of hiring, professonals to capture the moment, the group fansourced it, inviting the crowd to record the performance with cell phones and digicams.

The result is a groovy (albeit grainy) group effort used to promote the single’s early release."

... To pull it off, the Shins teamed up with user-generated-video upstart Current TV and instructed concert-goers to upload raw material to Current TV’s Web site. Roughly 200 spectators submitted footage, which producers then edited into a five-minute montage of at least one image from nearly every shooter."

The history of video phones and their role in the media

Mad4Mobilephones wrote an essay a while back on the history of video phones and predicts the near future:

"... Video technology in mobile telephones will have an impact on society in many ways according to those who study trends in culture.

One impact will be in the number of people who will be on the scene during breaking news events and able to record those events on their telephones and transmit them, making news gathering quicker, more accurate, and increasingly more the realm of amateurs as first gatherers rather than of the reporters who cover news for a living. This of course goes along with the tendency for news commentary to be reported on blogs before the traditional media, causing a societal shift in the way the press functions.

... It won’t be long before memory cards and phones improve enough that large amounts of video can be saved and stored. Prices will continue to drop, according to most estimates, and more people than ever will become owners of mobile phones that include video technology. In many ways the days of Captain Kirk and George Jetson are upon us, as video messaging and video communication take place on our telephones.

"How to make a joint" mobile video

A mobile video showing how to "make the perfect joint" has been banned following a complaint from a teacher, reports the BBC.

"The video was accompanied by "the top ten activities to try when you're caned".

It was available for download to mobile phones via the Tocmag service that lets users download films to their handset. It was downloaded an estimated 5,000 times.

Update: In a nice gesture, TocMag has issued a formal apology. Hey, not their fault and they reacted promptly when informed.

‘We unreservedly apologise for this oversight and we’re doing everything in our powers to ensure it doesn’t happen again,’ said Tocmag founder Brad Ells. ‘From the outset of this project, we realised illicit content is a serious problem with user-generated material. We have conducted a review of our censorship process and ramped-up the resources we devote to ensuring Tocmag is a clean service.’

Swedes like to watch mobile TV in bed

Swedes like to watch mobile TV in bed, according to a consumer survey conducted by Telia in Stockholm this Fall. [via Cellular News]

"Two-thirds of total mobile TV watching takes place in the home, followed by on the way to work, school, practice or when waiting for someone.

The majority of users mainly watch mobile TV in the morning between 7:00-8:00AM and in the evening between 5:00PM-10:00PM. On average, users watch 30 minutes at a time."

Hottest Ad Space in Times Square May Be on Tourists’ Cameras

Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens, reports The New York Times.

"But recently they have discovered that down on the ground, new technology has given low cost, face-to-face marketing campaigns something of a cutting edge as consumers spread their messages on the Internet.

... As a result of the growing popularity of consumer-generated pictures, videos and e-mail messages on Internet sites like YouTube and Myspace, advertisers are getting consumers to essentially do their jobs for them.

When Target, the discount store operator, suspended the magician David Blaine above Times Square for two days during the week of Thanksgiving, videos shot by viewers were posted on YouTube and viewed more than 19,300 times.

On sites like YouTube, Flickr and MySpace an army of tourists and residents are spreading advertisers’ messages well beyond Manhattan, using their cell phones and video cameras as they walk through the marketing crossroads of the world."

Cell phone video teaser of Luc Besson's new film

French film director, writer and producer Luc Besson's latest film, Arthur et les Minimoys, released in movie movie theaters on Monday, is being promoted by a video teaser on cell phones through wireless operator Orange.

In their own words:

Current is looking for exciting, bizarre, beautiful and captivating "mobile moments" caught with your cell phone's video camera. Going to a summer festival? Always spotting funky street fashion? Chatting up the hipsters at a cool nightspot? Whip out your cell and start shooting..

Police issue speed craze warning

Police have warned that a sickening new speeding craze is putting lives at risk, reports Channel4.

Young drivers are posting footage of themselves on the internet racing through busy streets while their stunts are filmed on mobile phones.

The craze has been sweeping the US, Japan, The Middle Eastand police have promised a crackdown before it takes hold in the UK.

Related:

-- Rebels Without A Cause in Saudia Arabia captured by cameraphones - Young people illegally road racing in the Middle East and how spectators gather to catch the races and crashes on their videophones.

Anonymous 3G Video Calls

Mobile dating community Mobestar has launched the first inter-country anonymous 3G video call service, supported by Mobestar's Flexible Anonymous Communications Engine (FACE)Etook place yesterday between Germany and the UK.

Anonymous video calls over 3G have been technically and legally challenging, preventing web communities from extending their online operations into an increasingly profitable mobile video arena.

A patent application has been filed for this unique communications engine and the solution has already been approved by UK Telecoms' regulatory body, ICSTIS

[via Cellular News]

Doctors recognise apoplectic strokes via mobile video telephony

Apoplectic strokes can be recognised via video telephony with a mobile phone, reports DMEurope. "These are the results of the 'Fast UMTS' apoplectic stroke study that the University of Twente has conducted with Vodafone and a number of doctors and neurologists throughout the Netherlands". [via SmartMobs]

Rebels Without A Cause in Saudia Arabia captured by cameraphones

The Times Online reports on the often terrible carnage of young people illegally road racing in the Middle East and how spectators gather to catch the races and crashes on their videophones.

... "For the drivers, this is a chance to show off their prowess but it often leads to injury or death. Throughout the Middle East a heady mix of high incomes, youthful boredom and a plentiful supply of highly tuned, high-performance cars have made the white-knuckle races a cult.

Spectators, who have been known to bet up to £20,000 ($37,000) on the outcome, film the races and crashes on their mobile phones. One video clip shows a highly tuned Japanese saloon accelerating on an impromptu drag strip, losing control, somersaulting and throwing four people clear of the car.

Another clip shows a mid-range sports car slewing sideways across the road and mowing down spectators standing too close to the strip."

WWE Wrestling coming to a mobile phone near you

Wrestling fans will soon be able to take news and video highlights of their favorite stars like Shawn Michaels and John Cena on the go, according to News.com.

Starting June 1st, World Wrestling Entertainment will launch its mobile web site where fans can buy ring tones and wall papers for their phones. They'll also be able to subscribe to news and video services that will deliver daily updates and short 2-3 minute videos directly to handsets."

Related, sort of: - The voices of sumo wrestling stars to be used as mobile phone ringtones

Cameraphones film hell-raising antics on highways

According to The Herlad Sun, hoon drivers ((people who use their vehicles in an irresponsible and dangerous manner in public places) on Victoria's major highways are using cameras and video mobile phones to record their hell-raising antics.

"Police have launched an investigation into the practice, warning that those responsible could face criminal charges. Some of the images have started to appear on hooning websites.

The police is encouraging passing motorists to use new technology, such as camera phones, to record the dare devils. "All we need is the numberplate and a description of the driver and we can follow it up from there", said Sgt Baum.

The (cell phone) kiss

On the streets of Japan, people are smooching on their cell phones in public, according to a Wired correspondent in Tokyo. [via Smart Mobs]

"Walking through Tokyo's Ginza district one Friday evening last month I saw an extraordinary sight ... A businessman raised his cell phone to his lips and kissed the screen. ... The man was making a video call to his lover and sent her a screen kiss."

Capturing Human Rights Abuse

Witness, activist and musician Peter Gabriel's human rights organization, wants to build a Web site that documents offenses on video, reports Business Week.

"At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Gabriel and Gillian Caldwell, a documentary filmmaker who's executive director of Witness, an organization based in New York that trains human-rights advocates to use video cameras to document abuses tried to round up corporate support for a new project: a Web site that would act as a portal for images of human rights violations that may be captured by the proliferating number of video cameras and mobile phones in the hands of people around the world."

Firing up youthful creativity

Teenagers are making their own entertainment in ways never before possible. Alex Pell for Times Online discovers how they record their adventures, then share them with friends.

"The most chilling images of the past week showed a teenager callously holding a camphone to video her three mates while they beat up a passer-by. All four were jailed for a killing that resulted from another attack that night. The whole episode reveals a distressing aspect of the voyeur society that new technology facilitates. Not all young people are thugs, though. Indeed, many now apply cheaply available everyday gadgets to far more sociable ends.

... Alex Chin, 19, an A-level student from Windsor and his friends almost always video their skateboarding runs, either with a camcorder or, more likely, with their mobile phones. Alex explains that the person doing a difficult skateboard trick cannot see whatever “crazy stuff they’ve done, unless it’s being filmed. And wanting to nail a trick, on camera, encourages you to repeat it until you get it perfect”.

... Teenagers are able to share ideas in ways impossible to conceive a decade ago. There may be something disconcerting about their constant need to video each other, rather than going out to play for the sake of it. ... There is no denying that technology has changed their world. They no longer want to be the best on their street. For good or ill, they belong to a virtual gang, whether they chat, show off or play computer games online in teams, or clans, based all over the world."

Mobile video of TV chef Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver is a famous TV chef. He made his name from the BBC TV series 'The Naked Chef' and a book of the same title. Well, now - in a fabulous business gets the (video) message idea, he's offering video clips of himself and his recipes to Vodafone 3G users. The Guardian reports.

"Vodafone customers can sign up for three-minute clips of him in action in the kitchen from his US show, Oliver's Twist. Picture messages with a list of the ingredients can also be downloaded to mobile phones in place of shopping lists.

Users can search for recipes according to an event - such as a dinner party - or by ingredient. More than 100 recipes are available on Vodafone live! with 3G. "

3 - first to employ video mobile recruitment

In a great example of how a business can use videophones, 3, UK's first video mobile network, has launched a service that allows candidates to watch 3 recruitment videos on their mobile phones. Online Recruitment reports.

"3 is applying its innovative applications to human resources recruitment. Whilst providing quick and easy access to recruitment information on the move, the use of 3G in the process also means that 3 will attract technology-savvy candidates who already own and use video mobiles.

A Director at 3 was hired following a series of video interviews delivered using In2View™ - which significantly accelerated the recruitment process."

Head Zup!

Head Zup claims to be the world's first comic strip blog for video enabled mobile phones. [via MocoNews]

In there own words:

"Located at the center of the Bottom Zup Galaxy, Planet Zup is populated by immortal Zupreme Beings who are known throughout the universe for their outrageous behavior and wacky sense of humor. Zupreme Beings travel to distant galaxies seeking adventure, companionship, and the perfect tan. Like other far-flung tourists, Zupreme Beings enjoy using camera phones to record their off world antics and send them back to their loved ones as electronic “Head Zup” messages. Humans are now intercepting and sharing these secret messages using the latest video cell phones.”

Related, this category in textually.org Mobile Cartoons /Comics.

And this link, Manga Doctor for 3G Phones - could also be of a video comic - it's not clear.

Happy Slappy Sociology

Posted by Chris Brauer on Blogcritics.org:

"The sociological conclusion is that camera phones are a technology like any other, open to benefit or misuse depending on who is in control. As a society we need to evolve flexible ways of interpreting, understanding and responding to the impact of the technologies on our communities and social interaction.

Policy makers are slowly adjusting to the new forces of power introduced by technologies like mobile camera phones. Or maybe we just need to admit that we haven't actually advanced much further beyond life as apes, who would undoubtedly find a happy slap a funny gag".

Venice Goes Mobile with Wi-Fi Walking Tours

History Unwired, a collaboration between MIT and the University of Architecture Venice (IUAV), is a walking tour project using video-equipped cell phones, PDAs, and location-based technology to deliver multimedia tours of lesser-known Venetian neighborhoods. [via Metropolis Magazine]

"The mobile information system will not only provide visitors with a truer taste of the city, but also, organizers hope, create technology and content-production jobs for residents, luring them to stay.

Starting June 12 (the opening day of the Venice Biennale), visitors will be able to check out the phones and spend up to two hours exploring local restaurants, hangouts, and places of interest. The devices will also be equipped with a virtual video component that will allow users to peek into select houses and businesses in the city's Castello district, as well as with mapping and GPS functions that will encourage exploration of side streets and back alleys.

Five real-life Venetians will narrate the audio portion of the tour, offering humorous, gossipy, and intimate stories about the city's visual landscape and livability issues."

Other blogged walking tours

-- Call Caclutta walking tour

-- Celebs Lead Local Walking Tours in NY and Boston

-- Talking Street pioneered the first cell-phone walking tour

Turn Your Camera Phone to Security Camera

This "television pocket" allows you to insert a camera phone and use it for monitoring. It is able to stream the video over the network. [via Slashphone]

"The portable TV telephone pocket is the communication system which utilizes the TV telephone of the FOMA series.

-- It is possible to change camera point of view freely.

-- The originator identification function of FOMA and a security function due to the password there is.

-- It is possible to copy the screen of carrying to the large screen, with connecting to the television."

See illustrations of how it's used: to monitor a sick patient, or talk to your pet.

Does 'happy slapping' exist?

Reports suggest a new craze in which young people slap strangers and film the assault on mobile phones is on the increase. But does this trend actually exist or is it the product of media hype? The BBC reports.

[...] Is happy slapping a genuine trend or media hype? Victim Support an independent charity which helps people cope with the effects of crime, are unsure.

The spokeswoman said it was difficult to establish a national picture of how widespread the behaviour has become because cases are handled by individual forces".

And interesting

"Academic Dr Graham Barnfield, a media lecturer at the University of East London, has blamed television programmes such as Jackass and Dirty Sanchez - which are aired on MTV - for the craze.

Click here for related articles on Happy Slapping and some corroboratory Happy Slap Footage assembled by Alfie Dennen.

"Happy Slapping" footage

Following yesterday's post on "Happy Slapping", appallingly in the news again, Alfie Dennen sent me an e-mail this morning, linking to some corroboratory footage he's put together on his blog. "I dug up quite a bit and hacked them together into a streaming media file. It's not for the squeemish, these kids are clearly criminals", he writes.

The first few minutes look like kids fooling around but later on, you will see shocking footage such as a young woman being violently hit in a bus, as well as a sleeping gentleman and a boy knocked off his bike. Horrifying.

Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze

I'm sorry to see this craze is in the news again which means it's still going on, worse, according to this article in The Guardian, it's spreading. Apalling.

"Happy slappers" is a youth craze in which groups of teenagers armed with camera phones slap or mug unsuspecting children or passersby while capturing the attacks on 3g technology.

According to police and anti-bullying organisations, the fad, which began as a craze on the UK garage music scene before catching on in school playgrounds across the capital last autumn, is now a nationwide phenomenon.

And as the craze has spread from London to the home counties to the north of England, so the attacks have become more menacing, with increasing numbers of violent assaults and adult victims.

[...] As police have become more vigilant, so the gangs have become more sophisticated, seeking victims in parks or public areas where their crimes are unlikely to be spotted by the authorities or captured on CCTV."

More on happy slapping craze:

The Mobile Weblog wrote an interesting piece in January on a Tango ad as being the origin of the Happy Slapping fad.

Just fyi the Museum of Hoaxes thinks the fad sounds suspiciously like an urban legend. (I disagree - too many reputable newspapers have written articles and conducted interviews with victims and the police),

Related articles:

-- The Happy Slap collection

-- Sick beating is filmed for fun

-- Happy slap culprits face suspension

-- Schools Ban Camera Phones Amid 'Happy Slapping' Craze

-- Putting the photos in perspective

Schools Ban Camera Phones Amid 'Happy Slapping' Craze

Following yesterday's mention of “happy slapping”, today the Scotsman has a full article on this violent new craze among teenagers which has been plaguing commuters on trains and buses in London.

"The craze has involved groups of teenagers slapping strangers in the face while filming their reactions on mobile phones.

The gangs have targeted people on trains, the Underground and buses in the capital.

Superintendent Mark Newton, of British Transport Police, said: “It is a cowardly form of attack – childish but also criminal.

“These people who think it is all a bit of a jape could end up in jail.”

Video phones act as dating tools

Hundreds have submitted a mobile video profile to win a place at the world's first video mobile dating event.

The top 100 meet their match on 30 November at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

The event, organised by the 3G network, 3, could catch on as the trend for unusual dating events, like speed dating, continues.

"It's the beginning of the end of the blind date as we know it," said Graeme Oxby 3's marketing director.

Hundreds of hopefuls submitted their profiles, and special booths were set up in a major London department store for two weeks where expert tips were given on how to visually improve their chances.

The 100 most popular contestants voted by the public will gather at the ICA in separate rooms and "meet" by phone.

Related article: Videophone Dating

Japan launches cell phone soap opera

Japan launches it's first, soap opera made exclusively for KDDI 3G cell phones, reports Wireless Watch Japan.

"The live-action soap opera, Yokohama 80s, follows the predictable lives, loves, and losses of young, beach-loving Japanese boys and girls. Eighties' big hair, big shoulders, and big hits have been downsized to tiny, two-and-a-half-minute broadcast bites. The story is adapted from Shogakan Shukan's weekly Big Comic Spirits-series "Tokyo Eighties" (published as a serial manga) but features all-new original characters and storylines by the same author.

Related mobile soap operas:

-- Soap opera FanTESStic comes to UK

-- MMS Soap on Spanish Telefónica Móviles

-- TV Reality Show uses picture phones

-- An interactive TV channel where viewers picturephone shots and films will be shown

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

Service Sends Traffic Images To Cell Phone

Now you can check traffic conditions across the Washington region from your cell phone by subscribing to a new video service that sends updates to any Internet-enabled phone, according to The Washington Post.

"Fairfax-based TrafficLand recently released AirVideo, enabling customers to view live video on their cell phones as well as their personal computers.

TrafficLand provides these feeds from nearly 300 Web cameras stationed on roads throughout the District and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs."

3G phones for the visually and deaf impaired

Sadao Hasegawa, a blind man in Japan, has set up a website called Telesupport Net which uses sighted volunteers to help visually impaired people using the video capabilities of 3G mobiles, reports the The Sydney Morning Herald. Blind users point their mobile's built-in camera at the place or object that they want to decipher, and the sighted person on the other end of the phone can report back to them immediately.

Rebecca Ladd, the executive director of community services at the Deaf Society of New South Wales, says 3G videophones are still not good enough to convey the visual-gestural sign language of Auslan, which uses fast hand movements, facial expressions and body language to convey meaning. "No one in the deaf community in Australia uses video mobiles to sign in regular conversation. The screen is too small and they're just not fast enough," she says.

Team develops live video system for ambulances

A public research institute has developed a system that can send high-definition video of a patient from an ambulance to a hospital via cell phone, reports the Daily Yomiuri.

"To accommodate the system, ambulances will be modified to carry a video camera, laptop computer and special antenna.

At the flick of a switch, paramedics will activate the system, enabling a hospital doctor to examine a patient via remote control video camera.

New technology has made it possible to compress high-definition image data enough to allow its transmission by cell phone.

The images will make it possible for doctors to dispense appropriate advice to paramedics".

"The system was developed through a collaborative project in Ibaraki Prefecture by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), the Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, and the Tsukuba Fire Headquarters."

Mobile Videophones Meet TV News

Frank Beacham for TV technology has written the most interesting and insightful article on how new technologies are impacting broadcast news.

"We are entering the era of the mobile videophone, a technology so potentially powerful that anyone can become an instant journalist. Images can be revealed throughout the world in a matter of minutes.

Those whose job it is to keep secrets are rushing back to the drawing board. Donald Rumsfeld is one who comes to mind. In his testimony before congressional committees, the defense secretary said that the flood of pictures was now beyond the control of U.S. authorities.

A broadcaster who has not missed this coming sea change in newsgathering technology is the BBC. Earlier this year, the "beeb" outfitted about 40 of its reporters with Nokia mobile videophones that enable them to e-mail still and motion video with audio back to news headquarters via GPRS.

The (BBC) reporters are using the same Nokia 3650 phones found at many U.S. mobile phone stores. However, these phones have been outfitted with special software from Philips that allows the handsets to record up to 15 minutes of video. When finished, the reporter simply transmits the pictures to the BBC in London.

Both Philips and the BBC acknowledge the enormous potential of newsgathering using standard mobile phones. Journalists in the field covering breaking stories can now send video reports back from difficult or remote locations. Though the image resolution is low, the technology works well enough for breaking stories where time-to-air is paramount.

[...] So far, the BBC is the only major news organization to publicly announce its use of mobile videophones for on-air reporting. Though they have been quiet, we can't imagine that U.S. news operations are asleep at the wheel on this one.

No doubt that caution will change as the technology improves (and you can bet it will) and a few aggressive and enterprising young journalists start beating big news organizations at their own game.

Shoppers cruise store aisles via video phones

Burdines-Macy's and Sprint have teamed up for a pilot program that marries the convenience of online shopping with the service of a personal shopper, according to the Seattle Times.

"Five personal shoppers at Burdines-Macy's stores in Florida have been outfitted with Sprint video phones. The personal shopper locates merchandise to meet clients' needs and sends them a video clip via e-mail.

The customer can view the clips on a computer and make a purchase without ever going to the store. They don't even have to live in Florida where the pilot stores are located".

This reminds of the "Webcamers", personal shoppers fitted with webcams on their helmets and whizzing through Parisian department store Le Printemps on rollers. Allowing Internetters to view merchandise on the shelves and make a purchase. This was in 1999. I wonder what ever happend to that?

Anyway, Sprint, which offered the phones on a trial basis, hopes this helps businesses realize that video and camera phones are more than just fun accessories for personal use.

In a related article posted earlier, Sprint outlined some examples of how people are using - or could use - their videophones.