Samsung Press Release

Samsung amazes mobile users by introducing the world’s first 10 megapixel cameraphone, and the world’s first 8GB HDD smartphone.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. reinforces its technology leadership by unveiling the world’s first 10 megapixel mobile phone (model: SCH-B600), and the world’s first 8GB Hard Disk embedded smartphone (model: SGH-i310) at CeBIT 2006. “Samsung’s development of the 10 megapixel camera phone, and a 8GB hard disk drive phone open a new world in telecommunication industry,” said Kitae Lee, President of Telecommunication Network Business of Samsung Electronics. “As consumers’ needs of mobile entertainment are growing rapidly, we are continuously introducing breakthroughs in mobile phones. Our i310, 8GB HDD smart phone will be the best match for business consumers who want a colossal of business functionalities as well as rich mobile entertainment contents. Furthermore, the SCH-B600, 10 megapixel cameraphone will satisfy mobile users who are seeking higher quality photography in his or her mobile. I would like to see our technological advances contribute to the future of this industry and improve the way of our future life style.”

Samsung Electronics Press Release

Seoul, Korea March 6 th , 2006 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leading provider of mobile phones and telecom systems, is reinforcing its technology leadership by unveiling the world’s first 8GB Hard Disk embedded smartphone (model: i310). Samsung breaks the storage limit in mobile phones by introducing the world’s first mobile phone equipped with a 8GB hard disk drive (model: SGH-i310). With the large storage of 8GB, the i310 will change the way people manage and use the mobile phone. Samsung is the first to adopt a hard disk drive into mobile phones and has launched three models equipped with a hard disk drive; the world’s first 1.5GB HDD embedded phone (model: SPH-V5400), the world’s first 3GB HDD embedded phone (model: SCH-V7900) and the world’s first 3GB HDD Music smartphone (model: SGH-i300).

The Sony Cyber-shot K800 and Sony Cyber-shot K790 camera phones are announced today, the first ever Sony phones to carry the Cyber-shot label. Both offer 3.2 megapixel sensors, autofocus and flash.

Sony Ericsson Press Release

Sony Ericsson introduce new lifestyle of imaging communication with first Cyber-shot™ phones - K800 and K790 camera phones deliver new level of imaging quality

28 February 2006, London – Sony Ericsson takes digital imaging in camera phones to new heights today with the launch of the K800 and K790 phones, the first handsets to carry the Cyber-shot™ brand, a true mark of imaging quality. Both are highly capable mobile phones with integrated 3.2 Megapixel digital cameras with Autofocus, Xenon flash and BestPic™ - Sony Ericsson’s unique imaging technology that allows you to capture exactly the moment you desire. K800 and K790 combine advanced image capture capabilities with high speed data transfer, making them perfect tools for shooting and sharing high quality pictures and videos. K800 is a dual-mode UMTS/GPRS phone and the K790 is a Tri Band EDGE phone. Both are available from Q2 2006.

Micron Technology Press Release

The World’s First Image Sensor to Incorporate MIPI CSI-2 Standard; Micron to Showcase Complete Sensor Portfolio at 2006 3GSM World Congress

BOISE, Idaho, February 6, 2006—Micron Technology, Inc., (NYSE: MU) a worldwide provider of advanced memory and image sensor solutions, today introduced a new, one-quarter inch, 2-megapixel image sensor for design into mainstream camera phones, enabling these phones to capture richer, higher-quality digital pictures. Additionally, with this product’s introduction, Micron further demonstrates its industry leadership by being the first company to incorporate Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) standards into an image sensor, allowing cameras to be more easily designed into mobile phones.

Nokia Press Release

Last Chance to Enter the Nokia Nseries See New Competition - Win the chance to work alongside one of the world’s best photographers

Espoo, Finland - The entry deadline is looming for the Nokia Nseries See New competition, an ambitious global initiative spearheaded by five top international photographers. World renowned photographer, Juergen Teller; leading American photographer, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia; award winning London-based photographer, Nick Waplington; Raghu Rai, one of India’s most respected documentary photographers and Jiancheng Dong, a prominent landscape and documentary photographer from China, all launched the competition back in October.

Agilent Technologies Press Release

Agilent Technologies Announces Innovative Image Pipe for Camera Phones; Processor Enables Digital-Camera-Like Image Quality for Cell-Phone Cameras in All Lighting Conditions

PALO ALTO, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Nov. 28, 2005—Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced an innovative image pipe processor that allows mobile phone and computing devices to take lifelike, rich color photos in all lighting conditions. The image pipe is integrated in Agilent’s new family of system-on-chip (SOC) sensors, which feature the enhanced-performance (EP) pixel architecture.

What sets Agilent’s image pipe apart from existing image signal processors (ISPs) is the degree of built-in processing intelligence and adaptability to lighting conditions, which results in exceptional image quality. The image pipe accommodates a wide range of lighting conditions, from indoor to sunlight to fluorescent, and can enhance overexposed or underexposed images.

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Press Release

Camera Phone Shipments to Reach 850 Million in 2009, Driving Triple Growth in the Number of Prints Generated By These Devices

WEYMOUTH, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Nov. 16, 2005—InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ latest camera phone and photo messaging forecast shows worldwide camera phone shipments continuing on a strong growth trajectory, climbing from 370 million units in 2005 to 847 million units in 2009.

As an increasing number of users acquire and experiment with camera phones, the volume of images captured, shared, and printed is projected to rise, producing additional revenue for wireless carriers and digital photofinishers alike. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures forecast reveals a 43% CAGR in worldwide camera phone prints between 2005 and 2009, and a more than doubling of photo messaging revenue growth over the same period.

DIWA member Steves Digicams have reviewed the Canon PowerShot A620, which features a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 2 inch LCD screen and 4x optical zoom lens equivalent to 35–140 mm focal length.

“These are some of the most well designed models I have dealt with. They are not your typical compact consumer models, yet they are small enough to be carried in a coat pocket or purse. When I first saw the A620 and A610, it seemed like they were a cross between the consumer A95 and the prosumer G6 . After working with the A620, I can now confirm that this is the case. Its high-end features speak of “only the best”, while its more affordable price says “I’m easy on the wallet”.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon PowerShot A620 Review

Website: Read my Canon Powershot A620 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon PowerShot A620

Write a Review of the Canon PowerShot A620

Nokia Press Release

Nokia Nseries enters the digital home with Nokia N80 - Optimized for both work and play, the small WLAN-enabled Nokia N80 is the world’s first UPnP handset

Nokia Mobility Conference 2005, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo, Finland - Nokia today introduced the Nokia N80, the first ever handset to enable seamless home media networking between compatible TVs, audio systems and PCs. The Nokia N80 reflects and harmonizes work and personal life through leading on-the-go productivity tools, multimedia entertainment and mobile photography in a design that communicates success. Weighing only 134 grams, the compact yet feature-rich 3G multimedia device is packed with performance, providing fast internet access and convenient intuitive browsing as well as the possibility to send and receive emails at Wireless LAN (WLAN) speeds.

“A multimedia computer that genuinely enriches people’s lives with connected, mobile multimedia experiences, the Nokia N80 is the size of a stack of business cards,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia. “The technological leadership of Nokia Nseries comes together in the Nokia N80, offering people a new, unparalleled experience of enjoying media in the living room by just using the Nokia N80. Comprising the functionality of a highly advanced multimedia computer, the Nokia N80 empowers people to pursue professional goals and personal passions with equal fervor.”

Samsung Press Release

Samsung Introduces Mobile Phone with 3GB Hard Disk Drive

SEOUL, Korea—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Oct. 17, 2005—Samsung today introduced a 3GB HDD embedded phone, model SPH-V7900. This is Samsung’s latest model equipped with a hard disc drive following the world’s first mobile phone equipped with 1.5GB hard disc drive, model SPH-V5400, which Samsung introduced in September of last year.

The V7900 allows users to store two or three full-length movies (at 1.1-5GB each) or more than 700 music files (at 4MB each).

The V7900 also supports the latest multimedia compression technologies -MPEG-4/H.264 (for video) and MPEG-4 AAC/AAC+ (for audio). High-performance dual speakers are mounted on the exterior folder to provide 64-polyphonic stereo sound.

This model comes with harmonic color, a new feature that converts all musical elements such as scale, octave, tone and volume into visual images in a variety of colors and patterns. It also comes with a 2 megapixel camera that includes 2x optical zoom, MP3 player, and document viewer functions.

Nokia Press Release

Five of the world’s best photographers to lead the most ambitious mobile photography competition ever undertaken

Espoo, Finland - Internationally renowned photographer, Juergen Teller; leading American photographer, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia; award winning London-based photographer, Nick Waplington; Raghu Rai, one of India’s most respected documentary photographers and Jiancheng Dong, a prominent landscape and documentary photographer from China are heading up the Nokia Nseries See New Competition which is launched today.

The competition lays down the challenge to aspiring photographers around the world to ‘shoot new’ - capturing something from a different angle or something never previously photographed - using a megapixel camera phone. To inspire people to enter, the stellar line-up of professional photographers have themselves been shooting new using the Nokia N90 advanced imaging device. More than 60 brand new images from these photographers can be viewed at www.seenew.com, Nokia Nseries’ online community for mobile photography enthusiasts.

Nokia Press Release

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that it has started deliveries of the Nokia N70, a compact, beautifully styled, easy-to-use 3G smartphone. Incorporating a complete smartphone feature set, as well as a 2 megapixel camera, flash and front camera for video calling, the Nokia N70 comes fully equipped with a digital music player and stereo audio.

“We are proud to announce the second device to hit the market from the Nokia Nseries high performance multimedia range,” said Joe Coles, Director of imaging product marketing at Nokia. “The Nokia N70 is a great example of Nokia Nseries, combining the latest technologies and elegant design with a comprehensive set of multimedia features. Easy and intuitive mobile photography, automatic storing of those great quality shots, listening to music, reading and writing email, browsing favorite websites - the Nokia N70 is a true multimedia computer.”

Fuji Photo Film USA Press Release

New Study Reveals Consumer Desire to Print Camera Phone Pictures; Survey Details Consumer Attitudes and Camera-Phone Printing Behaviors

VALHALLA, N.Y.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 13, 2005—Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. today released findings from a camera phone behavior study completed by NPD Techworld, a division of the NPD Group, Inc., revealing that 44.6 percent of participants said they have taken pictures with their camera phone that they wished they had printed. The most commonly noted reasons for not printing these images included image quality, simplicity of process and overall perceived cost.

“Clearly, the camera phone market continues to enjoy a healthy boom,” said Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices for The NPD Group. “Our data show that last year camera phones had penetrated 7 percent of the U.S. market, and now that number is close to 22 percent - a dramatic year-over-year increase of nearly 200 percent. As more megapixel camera phones enter the market and image quality improves, the expectation is that significantly more consumers will want to print the photos taken with these improved products.”

Nokia Press Release

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that its flagship imaging device, the Nokia N90, has been awarded the European Media Phone of the Year 2005-2006 by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), the largest editorial multimedia organization in Europe. The award is an endorsement of the Nokia N90’s industry-leading feature set, which makes it one of the most high performance devices in the marketplace.

Commenting on the award, EISA praised the Nokia N90 as a ‘true best-of-breed multimedia phone, stuffed full of advanced photo, video audio and messaging features’. EISA also highlighted the Nokia N90’s Carl Zeiss optics which ‘endows it with serious photographic ability, including capturing and editing 2 megapixel digital photos and MPEG 4 352x288 resolution video.’

The following press release by the CEA claims that camera phones are unlikely to replace digital cameras as the device that you primarily use to take a photograph. What do you think? Do you reach for your camera phone first, or are they the work of the devil (well, relatively speaking!)?

Consumer Electronics Association Press Release

CEA Research Finds Digital Cameras Remain Primary Picture Taking Device

Survey Underscores Need for Industry Involvement in Consumer Archiving Awareness

Arlington, Virginia 8/12/2005 - Even as they increase in popularity, camera phones are not likely to replace digital cameras and camcorders as consumers’ primary picture taking device, according to a study recently released by the Consumer Electronics Association(r) (CEA), which found that some 91 percent of digital camera owners consider their digital camera to be their main photography device. CEA’s “Digital Imaging Study: Sharing and Storing Pictures and Video,” also revealed that consumers are unaware of the need to archive their digital photos and video - an issue of increasing importance as the penetration rate for digital cameras nears 50 percent with those camera owners snapping billions of pictures each year.

ABI Research Press Release

Camera Phones to Steal Low-End Digital Camera Market within Two Years, Says ABI Research

OYSTER BAY, N.Y - Aug. 10, 2005—Within two years, low-end camera phones will take much of the market share now held by low-end standalone digital cameras. ABI Research principal analyst of global wireless operator research Kenneth Hyers says, “We believe that within the next two years, the quality of a mobile phone camera will be such that people won’t need low-end standalone digital cameras. This will dramatically impact camera sales.”

ABI Research’s new study “Mobile Phone Imaging: Opportunities for Driving Usage of Camera Phones through Click/Send/Print” identifies the drivers for camera phone growth, explains how mobile imaging will evolve, and discusses why camera phones will eventually displace portions of the standalone digital camera market.

Nokia Press Release

Nokia and Carl Zeiss Join Forces to Offer Enhanced Imaging for Camera Phone Users

Cooperation to Set a New Benchmark for Picture Quality in Camera Phones

AMSTERDAM, CANCUN, HONG KONG and KUALA LUMPUR, April 27/PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Nokia, the global leader in mobility, and Carl Zeiss, the world’s leading optics company, today announced a collaboration to incorporate Carl Zeiss optics to Nokia’s camera phones. The two companies will bring the design expertise and stringent quality requirements of Carl Zeiss to Nokia’s product creation process for high-end camera devices. As a result of the collaboration, consumers will be able to capture, share, store and print better quality images with Nokia’s flagship imaging devices.

The outstanding scientific expertise from Carl Zeiss in camera optics and the industry-leading position of Nokia in the mobile phone market offers a solid foundation for the cooperation. Both parties regard this agreement as the beginning of a long-term relationship. The first Nokia product to incorporate Carl Zeiss optics and carry the ZEISS brand is the Nokia N90 Multimedia, also launched today.

Nokia Press Release

Twist and Shoot: Nokia N90 Makes its Premiere

Part of the Nokia Nseries High Performance Multimedia Range, the Nokia N90 Brings Carl Zeiss Optics Into the Mobile Arena

AMSTERDAM, CANCUN, HONG KONG and KUALA LUMPUR, April 27/PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today proudly presented the Nokia N90 multimedia, an advanced and inspirational multimedia device. Starring Carl Zeiss optics and a full set of advanced digital camera features, the Nokia N90 is targeted at high-technology enthusiasts who value the ultimate in connected mobile photography. The Nokia N90 boasts a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and 20x digital zoom, integrated flash, macro mode for sharp close-ups, and high quality video capture with on-phone editing capabilities.

Nokia Press Release

Slide and Shoot With the Nokia N70: the Smallest 3G Series 60 Smartphone With 2 Megapixel Camera

Nokia N70 is Part of the Nokia Nseries High Performance Multimedia Range

AMSTERDAM, CANCUN, HONG KONG and KUALA LUMPUR, April 27/PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Nokia today introduced the Nokia N70 multimedia, a beautifully designed, compact and easy-to-use 3G smartphone with versatile mobile photography, personal productivity and entertainment features. Incorporating a complete smartphone feature set, as well as a 2 megapixel camera, flash and front camera for video calling, the Nokia N70 comes fully equipped with stereo FM radio, a digital music player and new 3D games.

“The Nokia N70 perfectly illustrates our commitment to offer powerful, all-inclusive handsets that aid people in their daily lives. In addition to advanced smartphone and entertainment features, mobile photography is extremely easy and enjoyable with the elegant Nokia N70,” said Joe Coles, Director of imaging product marketing at Nokia. “The number one reason why people today purchase new handsets is the camera. Indeed, we foresee that by the end of 2005, over half a billion people worldwide will own a camera phone.”

Research and Markets Press Release

DUBLIN, Ireland, April 22 /PRNewswire/—Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c16197 ) has announced the addition of 4 x 6 Shoot-Out: Are Camera-Phones Ready To Make Consumer Prints? to their offering.

Camera-phones are on the verge of delivering the snapshot capabilities that people currently expect from single-use film cameras and entry-level digital cameras. The recent release of two-megapixel camera-phones by all three Japanese wireless carriers raises the question: Why buy a digital camera?

The purpose of this 40-page study, including 119 figures, charts, and tables, was to determine if currently available camera-phones are capable of delivering acceptable consumer prints and to assess how the images produced measure up to those produced by the most popular standalone consumer cameras.