While video cell phones haven't become widely popular, most everyone has seen them in use. Anyone who recalls CNN's coverage of the war against terrorism will remember broadcasts of the faint green flashes of US missiles striking targets at night in Afghanistan; their correspondent used one both to view what was happening as well as relay images -- albeit poor ones.
Before then, when a US Navy EP-3 surveillance plane was forced to land on China's Hainan island after a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet in April of last year, reporters converging on the scene had their cell phones confiscated after authorities learned, to their surprise and chagrin, that some of them could transmit video.
More recently, the devices have been banned from several fitness clubs in Singapore when it was pointed out to club owners that mixing video cameras and locker rooms is a recipe for a lawsuit. The owners are now struggling to find a way to keep video cell phones out while allowing non-video models to go inside.
Not everyone is afraid of video mobiles, though. The technology has been eagerly embraced in Japan, where third-generation mobile service has made their use both possible and affordable. It follows then that Japan has one of the best-selling and perhaps best-made phones on the market, the Panasonic FOMA P2101V. Unfortunately, if you think you'll be in the market for a video phone in the near future, you'll have to move to Japan if you want the P2101V as it's only available in that country. There are a few other models in this burgeoning market, however, that are either available in Taiwan now, or will be within the next few months.
Nokia 7650
Nokia's maiden voyage into the world of video cell phones comes in the form of a rather bulky, though not entirely unstylish MMS-equipped model, the 7650. MMS means multimedia messaging service and is touted to be everything that WAP was supposed to be but turned out not to be.
The phone doubles as a PDA and is packed with features. Nokia has been fiercely marketing the 7650 in Taiwan after initial success with the model in Singapore, where it is currently one of the best-selling video phones. When it was first released there, the 7650 lacked Chinese-language support, but Nokia has since amended the problem. The largest complaint from owners in the fashion-conscious island state is that because it is over large, it looks bad in your pant's pocket.
Perhaps most important is that, as a voice communications tool the phone is clear and consistent. Another added plus is, despite all that it does, the model maintains Nokia's tradition of being easy to use, with an intuitive user interface. More than setting out to corner the market early, Nokia seems to be evangelizing a burgeoning technology.
Sony Ericsson P800
With the clout that Sony Ericsson carries in the cell phone market, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the company's latest model. Early reviews have it beating out Nokia's 7650 despite being slightly larger than the already bulky Nokia model.
One of the reasons for this is that it simply does more and does it better. More than doubling as a PDA, the phone triples as an MP3 player. At 13 hours, its battery time is twice that of the Nokia 7650. Like its Swedish brethren, it also supports Chinese-language input.
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