After totally pwning
the photography industry last year with the sale of 100 million cameraphones,
Nokia is now the world's largest camera manufacturer and is
setting its sights on MP3 player and video camera market shares. Of course they're going to have a hard time winning
over the prosumer types in the video field, and iPod junkies will be hard won as well, but they do seem on track to win
over lots of casual users to the convenience of a single device. For instance, Nokia's 40 million musicphones last year
will surely be increased upon this year, but we hope their
design team shuffle
can help get these devices a quite a lot smaller and a bit more fun to use. We're thinking smaller than a
brick here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robert Brodrecht @ Mar 21st 2006 7:22PM
Speaking of Nokia N series, does anyone know when the N80 is going to be released?
Dave @ Mar 21st 2006 7:57PM
I've takled to lots of sales people in the UK including the Carphone warehouse, The Link and an O2 store. They generally agree on an April release, tho say it may be later. It should probably be on all the major UK networks (O2, Vodaphone, T-Mobile, Orange and Three). I'll update my blog (http://dave1010uk.blogspot.com/) as soon as I get any more information.
Virtuous @ Mar 21st 2006 8:01PM
How many people actually shot photos with their Nokia phones on a regular basis? Not many I dare say! This another case of Nokia reaching. Just like the N-Gage failure!
Spawnofbill @ Mar 21st 2006 8:21PM
I have not seen one person ever make 4x6 prints from their cellphone. (I work at a fairly large volume wolf camera) Plus, 90% of cell phones have cameras anyone, so it's not like consumers have a really wide selection of non-camera cell phones.
Dylan @ Mar 22nd 2006 12:44AM
First one must design a phone that can do both without weighing as much as a vcr then one can devise the demise of such popular items.
Oliver @ Mar 22nd 2006 1:46AM
A lot of people have camera phones, but that's just because you could hardly find anything else on the market last year! Most people I know will always favour their standalone digital camera over mobile phone cam, and the same can be said for iPods versus mp3 playing phones.
I'll be getting a Nokia E60 when it comes out, purely because it lacks these features that i'll never use.
Tapani @ Mar 22nd 2006 2:12AM
Well, we are still far far away from Vanjoki's dream. When Nokia first makes a phone where the camera is as fast to start and function as normal digital camera then they can start improving the totally useless video camera functionalities. And if they wish to replace MP3 players something radical has to happen to the battery time and phone weight and size. We are still lightyears away from all this. A simple fact.
Kricket @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:54AM
there is a VERY simple point to be made here that MANY people just cant seem to comprehend - ill try to illustrate it by asking two very simple questions:
on a monthly basis:
- how many days do you carry your digital camera around with you?
- how many days do you carry your cellphone around with you?
if youre going on vacation, or are a photographer, then youre going to want to use an actual digital camera to snap photos - if you arent however, lugging around a digital camera can be a chore on a day-to-day basis - especially when you are only going to use it to snap a couple of pictures here or there (not to mention that they are fairly expensive pieces of equipment that you don't want to lose or damage)
i carry around a se w800 and the pictures it takes are phenomenal for a cameraphone (heres an example: http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_1208/T520051208141038864.jpg) - and this is just the beginning of what camera technology will be like in cell phones to come...
and now with the announcement of a 32 gig flash drive, its only a matter of time before we see large capacity memory on cell phones (we already have 4-8 gig phones already)
bottom line - if i see something interesting going on - im never the person saying "dang, i wish i had my digital camera with me" - i snap a pic and presto - instant memorabilia
and another ps - the days of your everyday joe schmo heading over to the local walgreens to get 4x6 prints are coming to the end - we are in the digital age now and more and more people are storing their pictures in a digital format - someone mentioned that they have never seen anyone make a 4x6 print from a cameraphone - well i havent seen anyone from my family or group of immediate friends that has even made a 4x6 print period...
Kricket @ Mar 22nd 2006 10:02AM
EDIT - to my above comment - i havent seen anyone make a 4x6 print in the last few years - of course, before digital cameras were so affordable and easy to find, everyone used good old fashioned 35mm cameras...
while im at it - some more sample pictures from my w800 and d500 cameraphones (the d500 is only at 1.3mp also) - i think these are more than good enough to store some memories - and probably good enough for 4x6 prints anyway - i dont plan on making any 24" x 36" posters out of these pictures anytime soon...
http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_0313/T52006031313492947.jpg
http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_1028/T520051028125504697.jpg
http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_1015/T520051015134756236.jpg
http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_0318/T520050318151336566.jpg
http://imageserver4.textamerica.com/user.images.x/8/IMG_410308/Big/_0314/T520050314135600145.jpg
mobilemail @ Mar 22nd 2006 10:20AM
I really think the cameraphones are a provider-driven device, not consumer-driven. It ups airtime (billable), and in the case of Verizon, they sell extra packages to your cell phone bill for picture transfers. Sending a picture with any quality really requires a good camera with a connected PDA or laptop that has a matching card slot. And you're still using airtime!
Spawnofbill @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:47PM
Kricket:
As I said, I work at a high volume wolf camera, and we push at least 2000 4x6's a day. A lot of those come from digital sources. Most people have moved to digital yes, but they still want to be able to hold a physical photo in their hand, be able to mail photos to relatives to frame, and frame photos themselves. Oh and don't talk about home printing, we can do it as low as 19 cents per print, the lowest your going to find per print through dye-sub is about 40 cents.
To answer your question, most people who want to take photos at any moment buy a camera that they can carry around with them. Trust me about that, the best selling digital cameras out there are the compacts.
I don't know about you, but I live and breath the industry, I have to in order to put food on the table (and feed my photography addiction).
anon @ Mar 22nd 2006 10:35PM
do you think product designers actually determine the size of devices? no... that's the electrical and mechanical engineers. do you think designers actually think to themselves... damn, why can't i make this even bigger? it's just not big enough? things are made as small as they possibly can be given todays technology. of course it will get smaller.
Daze(d) @ Mar 23rd 2006 12:50PM
Research report: Disappointment with Quality and Cost Limits Usage of Camera Phones
http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=1574&sku=IN0502053MCD
Hyginus Obodo K @ Apr 20th 2006 7:53AM
I NEED A COMPANY THAT WILL SELL FAIRLY GSM HAND SET FOR ME.
REGARDS
HYGINUS
Hyginus Obodo. K @ Apr 26th 2006 5:23AM
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Dave Haupert @ May 17th 2006 9:19AM
Most of the small 4x6 printers coming out in the last 2 years are back to inkjet. The Epson Picturemate deluxe prints are water resistand and fade resistant for 100 years (supposedly). But while they advertise you pay .29/print, that's the absolute most you'll pay. I found the print packs (paper and ink cartridge) for a 100 pages as 21.00 online with free shipping, yielding a .21 cent cost. And there were better prices for larger volumes. The interface is something as simple as the in-store kiosks and the quality is at least as good. So I believe you will see less in-store printing over time and it's not because of DyeSubs.
Just my opinion...