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.
Among the few early gripes against this model are that the camera comes without a flash and, again, that 158g is too bulky.
Panasonic GD88
Panasonic doesn't carry the same share of the mobile market that Sony Ericsson or Nokia do, but they nonetheless pack a powerful punch with their products. Case in point is the upcoming GD88, which many industry watchers believe will give the two models mentioned above a run for their money.
Part of their fear concerns the clamshell-style phone's screen, which takes up nearly the entire upper half of the phone and has 65,000 colors (compared to 4,000 colors on the Sony Ericsson or Nokia models), which is still nothing compared to Panasonic's P2101V, which has some 260,000 colors. Pity then that the built-in camera takes only 132x176 dpi-resolution photos compared to 640x480 on the Nokia 7650. At that resolution, you won't be able to properly view your photos on a computer screen.
A lesser model, the GD68, is also due to be released along with the GD88, later this year. It will offer many of the same features as the GD88, such as MMS capability and those cool polyphonic ring tones, but has only a 256-color screen and a much lower price tag.
Motorola A820
No review of mobile phones would be complete without looking at Motorola, who pioneered the gadgets back in the days when they were so bulky they could hardly be called mobile phones. However, Motorola's foray into the video phone market seems almost an after-thought for the company as its A820, while a solid phone, has failed to gather much pre-release attention.
The A820 has a built-in MP3 player, and is considerably lighter than most equivalent models. It also contains a global positioning system, but as it operates using a cellular bandwidth, it won't do you much good outside your service area, where you'd actually use it. Pre-release comments on the A820, as with all the above models, have been largely positive.
It must be said, however, that a video mobile phone won't do you much good unless a few of your friends have one as well, and with all these phones weighing into the market with price tags ranging upwards of US$700, they're not likely to revolutionize the way we use cell phones overnight. Unless you're hoping to get work reporting for CNN, it would be worth your while to wait.
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