The Camera Phone Gets Serious

Cameras currently are found in one out of five cellular phones, up 3 percent from the year before, according to a 2005 study by InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. Two out of three camera phone owners reported using the camera function on a regular basis to snap pictures. The survey also found that 27 percent of consumers who don’t currently own a camera phone showed strong interest in purchasing one as their next mobile handset.

In 2005, the camera phone moves beyond a novelty upgrade feature to near standard fare for many major cellular phone providers. One-megapixel camera phones will give way this year to step-up 2-megapixel models as suppliers feed customer demand for better image quality from their mobile handsets. The InfoTrends study shows that 40 percent of camera phone owners have printed images taken with a camera phone.

Look for video to have more impact in the mobile handset market too. At least one model introduced at the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA) trade show in March promised an hour of video in a single clip.

Some of the same feature sets that sell digital cameras are finding their way into camera phones too. Flash for low-light shots and longer zoom capability—albeit digital zoom—are vying for consumers’ dollars. To support the higher resolution files, camera phones are coming with larger internal memory and card slots for expandable memory.

Higher resolutions will drive the need for simpler photosharing solutions for camera phone users. Wireless image transfer technology, including infrared and Bluetooth, simplify transferring images from a phone to a PC without a cable.

As camera phones gain in quality, so does the concern over inappropriate use of images taken with those devices. More states are adding legal protection for citizens to prevent the unauthorized use of digital images for malicious or illegal intent.