The companies making mobile phones know it. They have a huge advantage over all other gadget vendors. The mobile phone has become the device that you really can’t do without. If you forget your iPod while heading off for work it’s not that serious. If you forget your digital camera, you’ll not return unless you really, really need it that day. It is the phone that makes you turn around and travel all the way back home to get it. So, they have a very valuable place in your pocket.
The only reasons for not having all your gadgets in the same device are:
1. Size
2. Price
3. Quality
4. Usability
There is absolutely nothing that indicates that it should be impossible to make a device that has a reasonable price, good usability, perfect size and includes the functionallity of my phone, MP3-player and digital camera in the near future. However, there is another huge difference between my Sony Digital Camera and the one in my Nokia Phone.
The operating system
The camera in my Nokia is a camera with an operating system. Basically that gives endless possibilities to system developers and third parties making additions and extra functionallity. Marking my pictures with data from my bluetooth GPS. Giving my camera advanced direct blogging functionallity. Supporting new image formats. Analyzing and recognizing patterns in the picture. Combining the camera with the networking functionallity of UMTS, GPRS and bluetooth.
All of this is impossible in my Sony Cybershot DSC-P150. I need to buy a new camera to give it new functionallity.
The same goes for my MP3-player. The stupid dependence on firmware from Creative is an example. With an open API in my MP3-player someone would have fixed that before Creative could put down their first meeting in the group that makes firmware.
So, even if you don’t want all your gadgets in the same device, gadgets without an operating system are sooo last century…
eirikso 
And, yes, I know that your mobile will have a hard time outperforming your high quality digital SLR. What I am talking about is the competition between your camera phone and your digital compact.
I totally agree with you on this, especially on the unlimited possibilities that the OS in the phone gives and I do so primarely because I have expirenced it myself.
I own a SE P800 and right from the beginning I did not like the standard camera application, luckilly I found another camera application called PhotoFusion which suited my needs much better. As a bonus it added a feature I had never considered usefull namely the possibility to panoramas. Now I use the panaroma function all the time.
Another example is that the P800 did not come standard with a video recording program, Phillips later developed such and a quick install upgraded my phone to a videorecorder.
And the last example, Agile Messenger (an IM client) integrates with the built in camera and makes it possible to take and send a picture from within the IM program, very handy.
Good examples. By the way, the panorama functionallity in my old Canon PowerShot S20 is one of the features I miss in my new Sony DSC-P150. And, of course I can’t upgrade my new Sony… I’ll have to do a quick check for panorama software to my Nokia 6630!
As long as most camera phones are crappy 1,3 megapixels, it’s not good enough. It’s fun for sending people funny faces on MMS, but not much more.
But – when they get decent quality at 3 megapixels and up, it’s showtime!
Yes. 1,3 megapixels are far from enough. In addition to this they have to do something serious to the optics on the cameraphones.
Still, a key issue in this post is “in the near future”. I know they’re not there yet, but they will be. And they will be there with an operating system…
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