Nokia Claims 1st Videocamera-Phone

By Staff On Jan 27 2003 - 8:00am

Nokia's videocamera phone, a 900/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS Symbian-based model, will be the United States' first videocamera phone when it ships in the first quarter, said Randy Roberts, Nokia's imaging devices director for the Americas.

The 4.55-ounce device takes VGA digital-still pictures and 10-second video clips that can be e-mailed to any e-mail address, including to wireless phones with e-mail addresses. Out of the box, its embedded 3.5MB memory will store almost 2,000 pictures or 160 10-minute video clips, Roberts said. Additional data can be stored on the supplied 16MB external MMC card.

The video format its 3GP, which is plug-in compatible with Real players on a PC, he said.

Other features include MMS, WAP 2.0 (xHTML) browser; RealOne player to download video clips and stream audio and video programs from the RealNetworks site, and Java, which enables users to download a Java-based HTML browser or software that provides 12x digital zoom. The device features handwriting recognition but no keyboard or flash.

The youth-oriented phone is expected to retail for $300-$400.