The digital camera is dead... Long live the cameraphone!

3GSM 2007 was the first conference I went to without my digital camera. Since there are so many things to see at conferences such as 3GSM, I like to take pictures of things I found to be interesting to remember them later (And write about it in my blog, like my post on 3GSM 2007).

This year, I left my camera at home and took my SonyEricsson K800i with me. It has a 3.2 Megapixels camera, a huge improvement from the 1.3MP camera in my previous phone (K600i). In addition it has a real flash (I am emphasizing "real" since the first mobile phones that came with flash actually came with flashlights, that aside from irritating the person being photographed had no significant effect...)

Now, there are those who try to make the mobile phone a super all-in-one device, and their vision is that in the future you will carry only one device that will be your phone, camera, MP3-player, gaming console, PDA, Laptop, TV and even your alcohol-level tester... (See my 3GSM 2007 recap below...).

It should be mentioned that this dream of an all-in-one device is not a new one, and according to several experts it should have already happened by now... but it didn't. This is due to the fact that in order for the handset to serve as another appliance 2 rules must be met:

(1) It shouldn't damage the usability and portability of the handset for its primary use which is talking while you are on the move.

(2) The experience on the handset should match the one on the original appliance, or make sense when adapted to the handset.

So, for example those who want to make the handset an ultimate on-the-road TV/DVD-player/VOD device might find a need to enlarge its screen, which would affect the total device size, and render it less convenient to carry around, thus not adhering to the first rule. Also, one can debate the experience of video on a handset vs. on the TV at home (You can read more about that in one of my previous posts).

Now, cameraphones almost never had a problem with rule #1. Miniaturization techniques enabled cameras to be embedded within the phones without adding too much to their size or weight.

However, up until about 2-3 years ago the cameraphone had a problem with rule #2. For example when cameraphones just got out with VGA resolution (and even below) and poor lens quality, it was more of a gimmick. You could take pictures for fun, but it was really no match for regular or digital cameras. These phones were then followed by cameras with SVGA resolution and then 1MP, but this was when the standard in digital cameras was already 4MP.

But today the situation is entirely different - A 3.2MP camera produces images with a resolution of 2048x1536. Is it a high-enough resolution? Well, most chances are that the entire screen you are watching now can fit in that image 4 times. You can also print 3.2MP pictures in the standard photos prinitng sizes without any quality loss (And 4MP will get you to a full A4 page).

And if you think that 3.2MP is cutting-edge in the cameraphones world, you are way out of touch. For example, LG announced back in 2005 a 5MP cameraphone, and Samsung exhibited its 10MP cameraphone at the last CeBIT show.

The great thing is that aside of the camera quality, the modern handset also has all the other facilities a digital camera has: A high-quality digital screen, memory cards for storing pictures, and with buttons on the side of the handset, it can mimic the form factor of the newest slimmest digital cameras (and most importantly without making the form factor any less convenient for carrying it around).

The only missing thing left in today's mainstream cameraphones is optical zoom, but as you can see in the link above, Samsung (and probably other vendors as well) has it already covered, and I am sure these handsets will make their way to the market and become mainstream sooner than we expect.

And the best thing is that the handset already features convenient cables-less communication with the PC via bluetooth, which is a relatively new feature in digital cameras...

So, I don't know about you, but I bought my last digital camera about 2 years ago, and I have the feeling I won't be needing a new one anytime soon - but a handset upgrade is definitely on my "roadmap"...

P.S. - Another appliance that is getting assimilated into the handset is the MP3 player. The handset has all it takes, memory cards, convenient communication with PCs, great GUI for navigation between songs etc. The only missing thing is providing a normal headphones jack instead of the proprietary headphones interfaces currently used.

P.S.2 - And when was the last time you wore a hand watch?...