Suhit Gupta
05-24-2004, 02:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116229,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116229,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"Japanese cellular carrier KDDI plans to begin selling in early June a cell phone with an embedded 3-megapixel resolution digital camera, it said Wednesday. The handset will be the first in the world at this resolution, according to the carrier. The announcement came almost a year to the day since the first megapixel-class cell phones went on sale in Japan and around six months after the first 2-megapixel models hit shelves."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/116229-n_052104_casiophone.jpg" /><br /><br />"The A5406CA is manufactured by Casio Computer, which also produced the first 2-megapixel handset. Features include a 2.3-inch thin film transistor display with 240-by-320-pixel resolution, a 1.1-inch sub display, a USB cradle to allow for easy transfer of images and video files to a PC, a 12.8MB internal data folder and a slot for miniSD cards. It measures 2 inches by 4 inches by 1 inch and weighs 4.5 ounces. KDDI, which offers service under the 'Au' brand name, hasn't announced the price of the phone. It's compatible with Japan's variant of the Code Division Multiple Access standard and won't go on sale overseas."<br /><br />Last week Sharp had unveiled a camera phone with optical zoom function which it claimed was the first of its kind as well. These launches represent steps towards closing the resolution gap between cell phones and full-fledged digital cameras. The good news is that the camera is CDMA compliant, but the bad news is that it won't be sold outside of Japan. Why o' why? Argh! I seriously think it might be time to move to Japan.