10-29-2004, 12:00 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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T-Mobile in Germany Remove Camera from MDA III: Much Rejoicing
"T-Mobile in Germany is adapting its version of the mobile handset (MDA III) for the enterprise by removing features. Following the lead of Verizon and Sprint in the United States�both of which offer a camera-less palmOne Treo 600�the carrier giant is releasing a version of the MDA III without a digital camera. The goal is to make the smartphone more attractive to enterprises, as many companies often don't allow their employees to carry devices with cameras to protect their own and clients sensitive data."
Sometime, less is more. I believe that this is one of those cases. Less cameras in PDAs and phones, means that you can take them with you more. T-Mobile are to be applauded taking the camera out of the MDA III. It would be nice to think that they were adding extra battery capacity etc to make use of the extra space, but that's unlikely. That's why it would be good if more phone and PDA manufactures left the cameras off most models. They could be lighter / have more battery capacity / smaller / have more features because they don't have onboard snappers. Just a thought. Now, how do I get hold of a German MDA III? ;-)
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10-29-2004, 01:41 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Yeaa!!! maybe the tide is turning.
__________________
Sometimes you are the anteater, sometimes you are the ant.
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10-29-2004, 01:47 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 555
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Cameras have their place...but I really don't understand why manufacturers insist on including them in enterprise models, which is really not its place
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10-29-2004, 02:23 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 545
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Options are good...but...
Options are good. I agree there should be one with, but let's not eliminate them all together. Sometimes, a cam phone IS desirable in business and even in the enterprise. Examples are (once the high Megapixels one hit):
-Realtors....this could save them time. They could just develop a moblog like sight and the realtor can get a house posted on the MLS, including a picture, very quickly.
-Wire Guys: Our infrastructure guy (the guy that takes care of the wiring closets) really wants one on his Nextel, but can't deal with the low res ones. Once the high res ones hit, he's having us order him one so he doesn't have to carry a camera to take pics of the closets.
-Server Support: Would it not be easier to snap a pic of the LED code (for AIX guys) or even a short movie of the LED flash sequence and then upload it to the suport folks?
There are more ideas for integrated cameras. I think what i sreally needed is a integrated camera etiquette course more then anything and if your working on something top secret, well, then I understand why you are concerned about the camera. For most folks, I'd be more concerned about the integrated storage then the camera. The storage could be used to REALLY steal company data.
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10-29-2004, 02:26 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by felixdd
Cameras have their place...but I really don't understand why manufacturers insist on including them in enterprise models, which is really not its place
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Agreed. Maybe as Sven says, the tide is turning. We'll see how the next generation of PPCs and phones looks. The trend is already worrying however, with 4 out of the 7 VGA devices available sporting a camera. :?
Lets hope the manufactures listen and leave the cameras out.
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10-29-2004, 02:31 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 8
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XDA III in the US with T-Mobile?
Does anyone know if there are plans to bring the XDA III to the US with T-Mobile? (with or without the camera)
Actually, given how good these cameras tend to be on PDAs, I would be happy for them to leave out the camera!
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10-29-2004, 03:15 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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AAhh,
The tired camera debate, again.
Some want them and some don't. Though it seems those that don't seem to advocate NO devices with camera rather than a choice. If 4 out of 7 VGA devices have camera's then 3 don't. It seems to me that manufacturers are already doing a great job giving us the option to chose a camera or not (almost 50%).
If you read the news, you'll see that Nokia claims their recently financial struggles are because they were slow to offer camera phones. The market will dictate if cameras are included in phones and PDA's or not.
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10-29-2004, 08:47 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 163
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Strange, no mentioning of it on the German T-mobile site, where that phone's specs still mention a camera.
Would you really pay so much money for that device though? It's starting at 450 EURO (take it times 1.27 to get the dollar price!) with a two-year contract or you can buy it for 780 EURO without a contract 8O
Nice to see more and more quad-band devices coming up, though.
OOOPS - there WILL be a cameraless phone. I didn't scroll that far down. No mentioning of the price yet.
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10-29-2004, 10:11 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 23
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No camera in phone - Kudos to TMO
I have an iMate XDA II with, ufortunately, a camera that I've used 5 times in a year. Take the camera out, knock $75 - $100 of the price of the phone. Not I'm interested ... Better yet, let consumers order a phone from a menu .. you want a camera, ping $100, with no camera, -$100 off your order.
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10-29-2004, 10:23 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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Re: No camera in phone - Kudos to TMO
Quote:
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Originally Posted by cshields1
I have an iMate XDA II with, ufortunately, a camera that I've used 5 times in a year. Take the camera out, knock $75 - $100 of the price of the phone. Not I'm interested ... Better yet, let consumers order a phone from a menu .. you want a camera, ping $100, with no camera, -$100 off your order.
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Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective I guess), it doesn't cost anywhere near $100 to add a camera to these devices. The hardware cost is probably under $10.00, since the machine it's being added to already has a viewfinder (screen) and cpu to do all the work. All the manufacturer has to do is add this cheap camera, and ta-da, instant camera phone. That's why we see so many. The manufacturers mostly look at this as a very cheap way to add a feature ot their device.
I quite happy that TMobile (Europe, anyway) is realeasing one of these for those of you that can't use camera equipped device everywhere. Bear in mind that the current XDAIII/PDA2K has the same bluetooth stack as the iPaq 6315, which basically renders it useless for typical phone usage. I know since I have both of them setting here unused on my desk, hoping for a ROM upgrade to fix this issue.
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