Reiter's Camera Phone Report

Thai candidate says voters told to photograph their votes

A Thai political candidate says other candidates are buying voters and asking them to take camera phone photos of their ballots to prove they voted correctly, according to an article in MCOT 1.

The article says, "Mr. Aree Pholrattanasit said that the high-tech method of vote buying had already been piloted during advance election held during the last weekend in the province's Thung Yai district, where young people used the photographic evidence of their ballot choice to receive money from the candidates purchasing their votes.

"Although naming no names, Mr, Aree alleged that the candidate opposing him was involved."

Camera phones and election fraud

This isn't the first instance of using camera phone to document votes.  Last summer I wrote about Hong Kong residents complaining that government officials in Mainland China was asking residents to convince relatives to vote for pro-Beijing candidates and takes photos of their ballot with camera phones.

On February 27, 2004 I wrote about the Korea Election Commission asking voters to use cellular phones to take photos or send SMS to the Commission documenting any potential election abuses.  The Commission even posted a video on its Web site (that I wasn't able to find) illustrating how a camera phone could be used to document election abuses, as I previously wrote.
 

Samsung to offer 3.3 megapixel, 3x digital zoom camera phone in China

Samsung Electronics will introduce a 3.34 megapixel camera phone with a 3x digital zoom in China by the end of the month, according to The Chosun Ilbo.

The SCH-M339 camera phone will be offered by China Unicom.

The article says the phone will be introduced at the end of the month.  The article was updated January 30, so does that mean it will be available tomorrow or at the end of February?

Here in the United States we don't even have many one megapixel camera phones and we''re still waiting for the first two megapixel camera to be offered.

Sydney Morning Herald reports on camera phone paparazzi

The Sydney Morning Herald examines the use of camera phones by "citizen paparazzi" with -- no surprise -- an Australian focus.

About 80 percent of Australians own cellular phones and by 2008 the country is expected to reach the saturation point with 89 percent owning handsets, the article says.

The article reports that Warren Chaisatien, wireless and mobility research manager with IDC in Australia, says the number of camera phones will increase from 50 percent to 80 percent of handsets sold in Australia.  Cellular phones that "mainly perform old-fashioned functions, such as making phone calls, will comprise only about 20 per cent of sales, he believes: mostly for pre-paid calls."

About 300,000 Australians currently subscribe to 3G GSM services and that number will increase to 3.55 million in 2008, the article says.

Legalities

The NSW Summary Offences Act prohibits photographs of people indoors or in dressing rooms -- locations where there's an expectation of privacy -- for the purposes of sexual gratification. 

However, "opinions differ about whether someone sunbaking topless at the beach could reasonably expect privacy. There may be recourse to defamation law, depending on how the image is used," the Sydney Morning Herald says.

The article notes, "Chris Bevitt, a partner with the legal firm Middletons who specialises in information technology and intellectual property law, says the bottom line is we don't own our public image.

"Federal privacy laws are being reviewed and it is possible, he says, there will be a public outcry for new laws as digital technology becomes more intrusive."

Philips Semiconductors: Majority of its TV chips into cellular, not TVs

Within ten years, the majority of Philips Semiconductors' television chips will be incorporated into cellular phones, not traditional television sets, says Leon Husson, executive vice president for the consumer businesses at Philips, in an article in The Register.

Philips predicts that in 2013, half of cellular phones will offer TV capabilities.  Out of 600 million cellular phones produced in 2013, 300 million will have TV.

Philips is testing cellular TV in Berlin with Nokia, Vodafone and Universal Studios Network Germany, the article says.

Obstacles to overcome

The Register says, however, "There are still important hurdles to overcome for the chipmakers. One is developing 'a global digital TV feature that enables a user to tune into a television anywhere in the world.'  [The source of this quote isn't identified.  I assume it's from Husson.]

"Another challenge for chipmakers will be creating intelligent digital signal processors (DSPs) that will enable consumers easily to transfer content from in-home televisions and set-top boxes to phones, not only decoding audio and video streams but also encoding in the right format for the home devices.

"These DSPs will be able to change frame rates or resolution automatically to match the end product's capability."

Who pays for advertising?

As I've written a number of times previously, I'm cautiously optimistic about television for cellular phones. 

Tom Gordon poses an interesting question in his essay in The Feature about cellular TV:  Who will pay for the advertising?

Gordon notes that in addition to paying a subscription charge for many cellular TV services, would users also have to watch advertisements?

Writing from the U.K. he says:

"I can certainly see a middle ground before wide implementation of free-to-air broadcast of digital TV (as we are seeing in the UK now with FreeView) and mobile handsets that incorporate the technology to receive and decode these signals where customers will only be able to access mobile TV through their 3G (or whatever) carrier, or through existing streaming services from companies like Real Media and Microsoft.

"Which would leave me in the position, were it possible to view something like Sky TV on my handset here in the UK, of actually paying four times to view someone else's adverts:

"1) My handset subscription

"2) Data transfer charges

"3) TV service charges

"4) Sky subscription charges

"Looking at that list, numbers #1 and #4 I already pay for. Number #2 I am happy to pay for as long as I get exactly and only the content I want - I won't pay for someone to advertise something to me before I can access the content I want - and (technically) you can't charge the customer for mobile advertising in the UK anyway (It's against ICSTIS' code of practice :) ).

"And #3, well... that's just a marketing cost isn't it, you can avoid that if you really want to."

ABC News reports on camera phones

On the "official" (!) Web site of technology writer/broadcaster Laura Burstein I found an old report from ABC News about the problems about camera phones violating privacy as well as some of the advantages.  The news peg for the report is Congress' Video Voyeurish bill, that has passed.

The report can be found on Burstein's "press" section; there's no direct URL.

Some well known researchers in the tech community -- Paul Saffo of the Institute for the Future and Sherry Turkle, a sociology professor at M.I.T. -- have sound bites.

InfoTrends reports almost 20 percent of U.S. Internet users have camera phones

Research and consulting group InfoTrends/CAP Ventures reports that almost 20 percent of Internet users in the United States have camera phones, says the company's press release.

Two out of three camera phone users use their handsets to take photos on a regular basis, according to InfoTrends.  The information is from the company's new report, "2004 Camera Phone End User Survey Analysis." 

The report says more than 40 percent of camera phones users have printed photos.

"Camera phone print volume will continue to increase as manufacturers introduce higher resolution and better quality optics, as well as options like Bluetooth and removable memory to make image transfer easier," says Jill Aldort, an InfoTrends consultant.

Johannesburg online youth magazine enables downloads of party photos

From the always-informative picturephoning.com I learned that a Johannesburg online youth magazine, JHBLive.com, allows camera phone users to download party photos that were taken by JHBLive photographers.

The magazine's Web site says, "2005 is up on us and our team of ultra styling and super sexy photographers are roaming the streets of Joburg once again. So make sure you get your pretty face or any body part onto our new super mms enabled gallery pages."

The site has more than 300 images (rather tame photos), but the photos can be downloaded only to Nokia phones.  The cost of 3 rand ($.50) and you use SMS to send the number of the photo.

Platform

I don't know whether there's something special about Nokia software or the platform software JHBLive is using or whether the magazine has a special deal with Nokia.

JHBLive works with Web development company IGroup that uses the messaging platform from IGroup's new iGroupMobile venture.

An article in ITWeb quotes Michael Balkin, the managing director of JHBLive, saying, "We were the first to launch the online gallery system in the country and we knew the value it served as an advertising tool.  People love to see photos of themselves and their friends on a night out.

"Now with our new technology created by our IT partner, Igroup, we give users the ability to download their photos directly to their phones."

Not the first

Picturephoning.com notes that JHBLive isn't the first company in the world to offer such a service.  The Swiss newspaper Le Matin offers a similar service through tillate.

Nokia: One megapixel or higher camera phones to comprise more than 50% in 2005

Nokia says it will introduce about 40 cellular phones in 2005 and more than 50 percent will include cameras with resolutions of one megapixel or more, according to Bloomberg News.

Nokia's profit decreased 13 percent in the fourth quarter because it reduced prices to capture market share.  Bloomberg says, " Nokia's market share fell to a five-year low last year as consumers chose foldable camera phones made by Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., prompting the company to cut prices and lift marketing spending.

Nokia' predicts sales of cellular phones in 2005 will increase 10 percent compared to last year's 643 million.  "Growth is expected to continue to be driven by replacement and upgrade sales in more developed markets with the availability of new features, services and cameras, and by new subscriber growth in developing mobile markets, as well as the widespread commercialization of 3G devices in the second half of 2005," the company's press release says.

Multimedia developments

Regarding Nokia's multimeda efforts, that include camera phones, MP3 players and games, the company says, "During the quarter, more than 30 operators worldwide, including in Japan, helped make the Nokia 6630 3G WCDMA megapixel smartphone a leader in the growing 3G WCDMA market. Nokia also began shipping the Nokia 6670 megapixel smartphone....

"In the developing area of mobile phone TV, Nokia signed several DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) mobile phone TV pilots, including one with Crown Castle in the US and Bridgeway Networks in Australia, adding to the global pilots already underway.

"During the quarter, the DVB-H standard was finalized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)."

Nokia Multimedia head candidate for CEO job; Multimedia 13% of sales

Anssi Vanjoki, the head of Nokia's Multimedia group (camera phones, MP3 players), is one of the candidates to replace (maybe), Jorma Ollila as CEO of the ailing company, reports Bloomberg News.

Although Nokia is still the world's top handset manufacturer, the company's revenues have been sliding and the company is expected to report dramatically lower revenues and sales compared to a year ago.  Ollila's contract isn't up until 2006 but he might decide to step down.

Bloomberg says, "Vanjoki lifted the unit's sales by 57 percent in the first three quarters of 2004 with products such as the 7610 camera phone. The unit accounts for 13 percent of total sales." 

Cingular offer MobiTV

Cingular Wireless has begun offering MobiTV for $9.99 per month on four cellular phones, according to the press release.

The video, TV-like service is available for the Nokia 6620, Motorola V3 (RAZR), Motorola V220 and Motorola V180.  MobiTV will soon be available for the Motorola V400 and V600.

Cingular is offering a three-day free trial.

Cautious optimism

Sprint PCS had been the first cellular operator to offer MobiTV.  I've tested it on Sprint and the initial service operates like a slide show.  You hear the audio and the graphics change every few seconds.

Sprint recently introduced a much faster service that is designed to operate more like streaming video, but I haven't used that yet.

Many analysts have been skeptical about television and streaming video services for cellular phones.  I have always been cautiously optimistic about its success.

My view is that given the right combination of interesting content, reasonable pricing, suffciently large screens and reliable performance, video services could be successful.

For additional information about MobiTV and cellular video services, check out today's CNET News article and another CNET News article from January 7, 2005.