The first camera phone was sold 22 years ago, but what was it?

There is no doubt that the introduction of the first cell phone was a massive milestone in global communications. Another big leap in this area, however, was made almost 22 years ago. In May 1999, Japan was the launchpad for the Kyocera VP-210. It was the first such phone with a built-in camera to be sold commercially to the general public.

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The idea of ​​combining a camera with a mobile phone did not, of course, come from Kyocera. In fact, there seems to be some confusion online about which device was actually the first camera phone (more on that later).

The prototypes and experiments of the camera phone

Before the Kyocera VP-210 was introduced, there were numerous designs for cell phones with an on-board camera. In 1993 Daniel A. Henderson created two prototypes of a device called “Intellect. It was a portable product that could wirelessly receive and display pictures and videos from a message center. These two prototypes are now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

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A few years later, in 1995, the Macworld The print magazine had an article that featured what Apple could create. According to The AtlanticApple actually shared a design for a never-released videophone that combined the look of the company’s Newton PDA with a video camera and display.

1997 “Philippte” Philippe Kahn the first working camera phone. His wife was about to give birth to their first child, and Kahn wanted to snap photos and share them with family and friends right away. The Mercury News reported that he had a Casio QV-10 digital camera with an LCD display, as well as a Motorola StarTAC flip phone and laptop. While his wife was in the hospital, Kahn quickly created a hardware and software interface to connect the camera and phone through the laptop.

Kahn managed to finish this combination in time for his wife to give birth. Above you can see the first cell phone camera picture that Kahn took of his daughter Sophie. Because of his work, he was able to quickly share this photo with 2,000 people.

The first camera phone was the Kyocera VP-210

As mentioned earlier, Kyocera claims to have launched the first camera phone to be sold to the general public. The announcement of the VP (or “Visual Phone”) 210 was covered by CNN The phone had a 0.11 megapixel camera and could take up to 20 pictures before the onboard memory was full. It even had its own built-in booth so users could take pictures of themselves. The price of the phone in Japan was 40,000 yen (~ $ 325 in 1999 or about $ 521 today).

Samsung says it was the first time with the SCH-V200 …

It took another year for another cell phone with a camera to go on sale. In June 2000, Samsung launched the SCH-V200 phone in its home country of South Korea. Up to 20 images can be captured with a resolution of 0.35 MP and displayed on the phone’s 1.5-inch TFT LCD. However, you cannot use the phone to send the pictures directly to someone else. You had to connect the camera part of the phone to a PC and transfer the photos to your computer.

In 2019, Samsung released an infographic claiming the SCH-V200 would be the first such phone with a built-in camera. As you can see, given the existence of the Kyocera model, this claim is dubious. Notably, there is even another contender for the title …

… Or was it the Sharp J-Phone?

The first US camera phone: the Sanyo SCP-5300

It took a while for the camera phone trend to hit the US. In November 2002, more than two years after the Samsung SCH-V200 launched in South Korea, the Sanyo SCP-5300 (also known as the Sanyo Katana) went on sale in that country through Sprint. It cost around $ 400, had a clamshell design, and a camera that could take 0.3MP pictures. Time magazine once put the phone on its list of most influential devices.

The beginning of something big

Once cameras became a standard feature on cell phones, it was a bygone conclusion that the popularity of small standalone digital cameras would have a huge impact. In 2003, The New York Times Reported sales of camera phones were already higher than standalone digital cameras. In 2006, camera phones surpassed sales of digital and film cameras.

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Nowadays, smartphones have features that weren’t even considered 22 years ago. We are seeing more and more smartphones with three or more reversing cameras and cameras with massive sensors. We have software features that make editing pictures and videos a breeze, as well as special effects like bokeh and more to make your photos look great. With a smartphone camera, we can shop, translate text, and even play games with AR titles like Pokémon Go.

What do you think will usher in the era of smartphone cameras in the next 22 years? Let us know what you think in the comments!