I was just wondering whether any company that leases cellular phones -- cellular operator, reseller, agent, etc. -- has begun promoting camera phones as a way to send photos back home. Lots of companies around the world lease cellular phones for tourists and business people on temporary visits.
If you have a phone that can roam around the world (typically GSM, but there are some CDMA roaming agreements, too) you obviously could take your own phone. But is it a camera phone and if you want to take photos and send them back home, how easy it is to do?
Not many cellular operators in the United States offer MMS roaming capabilities overseas. So, I wonder if anyone has heard of any overseas company promoting the value of leasing a camera phone. It seems like a terrific selling point for leasing a camera phone locally....assuming the cost of transmitting a photo isn't outrageous.
Nice idea, but would you really need MMS?
Because MMS limits the size of the messages and usually is quite pricey I prefer using email. Both MMS and email will use the GPRS service of the GSM networks.
Anyway, whenever I'm traveling in Europe I try getting a simple pre-paid subscription from a local cellular operator. That's usually cheaper than roaming. Some operators will give a nice rebate on a handset when I sign up. I suspect that'll beat leasing.
Posted by: Håkon Styri | Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 03:35 AM