• PC World
• » Networking & Wireless

Japan's giant mobile-telecommunication carrier NTT DoCoMo plans to launch its first cell phone embedded with a digital still camera in June.

The SH251i, manufactured by Sharp, will carry a 3.1 megapixel CCD camera and an illuminating light at the back of the cell phone.

The Tokyo company has been cagey about disclosed further details of this I-shot phone, including whether and when it might be marketed outside Japan. However, this SH251i is likely to be NTT DoCoMo's first mobile phone that allows users to send and receive attached data files via e-mail.

With a conventional I-mode phone, when users want to exchange data, they first will receive an e-mail message saying image data is available from an identified sender with a URL. They then access that Web site and download the data, a process that costs more than receiving it directly.

"At first, we didn't think it was necessary for the current [second-generation] service because we were launching the 3G [third-generation] Foma service, which can exchange still and video images," said Makoto Kiryu at NTT DoCoMo's marketing department. "But the demand for sending images from the conventional 2G users grew so large." NTT DoCoMo serves an estimated 32 million wireless Internet I-mode users.

Combo Catches On

The camera-equipped cell phone boom was originally started by the third-largest operator, J-Phone, in 2000. Since then, it has attracted more than 4 million users. J-Phone also upgraded the service by allowing for sending video images this year. Currently, the company provides eight handsets embedded with a digital still camera and three with a video camera.

All J-Phone cell phones are equipped with a function that allows users to send or receive attached files via e-mail.

Also marketing handsets are Samsung, which unveiled the combo phone-camera SPH-X590; and Casio Computer, which began marketing its C3012CA handset with Japanese carrier KDDI. Both made their debuts in April.

KDDI, which operates Japanese second-largest Au mobile-telecommunication operator, first released an external compact digital still camera for cell phones in November 2000, and a digital still camera-equipped cell phone in April this year.

Au cell phones are also equipped with the same file-attachment function as J-Phone, making it possible to send and receive attached files between Au and J-Phone users via e-mail, despite the fact that file-format compatibility varies in every handset model. Fuji developed the first unit for KDDI, a version of its Fine Pix 30i still camera that can plug into some handsets.

• See more like this:
• camera,
• cell phone,
• mobile phone,
• wireless,
• sharp,
• ntt docomo,
• Samsung,
• casio,
• fuji,
• j-phone,
• kddi