Is it a camera, PDA, cell phone or all of them?

Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta, zatni@cbn.net.id

Will our next cell phone provide us with the capabilities to capture image, manage our schedules and let us access the Internet? For one thing, it will be the PDA-and-cell phone-in-one dream come true, something that many of us gadget-freaks have been waiting for.

If research firm International Data Corporation (IDC)'s prediction is close enough to reality, chances are it will come about. IDC puts cell phones with a built-in camera module into a category that it calls "imaging-enabled mobile devices". Thanks to the increased bandwidth of 2.5G and 3G networks, these devices have become more attractive than ever before, and IDC predicts total shipment will reach 151 million units by 2006.

At the moment, we still have to dig deep into our pockets to pull out and show off a Nokia 7650 or Sony Ericsson P800 -- the two cell phones currently available here with a built-in camera. Of course, we can find add-on cameras on the market that can be snapped onto a cell phone and enable us to take pictures.

However, most people would certainly prefer a cell phone with the integrated camera module, so that they can quickly capture those rare moments without the hassle of having to put the pieces together first.

Courtesy of Nokia Mobile Phones Indonesia, I was able to play around with a Nokia 7650 for 10 days. Frankly, it was torture to know that I would have to part with this beautiful cell phone after the review period was over. * Feature-rich

Costing more than Rp 6 million, the dual-band (GSM 900/1800) Nokia 7650 has a large, 4096-color screen that is a boon to people with poor eyesight like myself. The crisp display, which has 176 x 208 pixels, really makes it easy to read text messages and navigate through all the menus. The cell phone itself uses Version 6.0 of Symbian Operating Systems and it supports Java, so operating it feels more like using a computer.

The keypad is placed on top of a drawer-like battery holder. To access the keypad, the back panel is pulled down. With the keypad pushed in, the size of the 154 gram cell phone is only a little bit smaller than my old but still perfect Siemens S25. With the tiny joystick, making and receiving calls is very easy. A button on the left of the joystick calls up the PIM-contacts, appointment, currency conversion, etc., and the other menus and tools. We can choose to have the menus displayed in the grid or list view. I had no problem operating everything with one hand.

Taking pictures with the camera is also very straightforward. All you have to do is slide the keypad drawer down, and this exposes the camera lens. Click the button on the bottom left of the screen panel, and the screen turns into a viewfinder. Aim and press the joystick, and the cell phone's speaker will produce a clicking sound resembling a real mechanical camera. The captured image remains on the screen until you press the joystick again to tell the camera to get ready for another snapshot.

The integrated camera is capable of producing images with the VGA (640x480) resolution and 24-bit color depth. Color fidelity is of course not as good as what you can get from a mainstream digital camera, but it is decent enough considering its size. There is also a photo album to store the captured images for later use.

The camera also allows us to take picture at night where lighting is rather limited. The result is surprisingly good as long as you remember to hold the cell phone steady for a couple of seconds after pressing the joystick. You can also take pictures in the portrait layout, so that they can fit into the Contact application. Once captured, the images can be rotated left or right, zoomed in and out, viewed in full screen, and of course sent to relatives, friends, or even to the big boss at the office to prove you really are in a meeting inside a customer's boardroom.

Sending audio, image, graphics and text as a single message requires a cell phone with Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capability. This is one level above the SMS that we have come to take for granted, and it can be done by subscribing to a 2.5G or 3G service. Currently, only IM3 provides the service.

Despite its attractiveness, there are still a few items on my wish list for this camera. The user memory is only 3.6 MB, and, unlike Sony-Ericsson P800 that allows you to use Sony's Memory Stick, there is no way to expand the memory of the Nokia 7650. The buttons on the keypad are too tiny for people with a large thumb like mine. I even found it a bit challenging to find, press and hold the power switch.

However, this cell phone feels sturdy. Like most other cell phones of this class, Nokia 7650 supports GPRS (up to 40.2 kbps download), HCSD (up to 43.2 kbps download) and WAP (Version 1.2.1). It also has built-in infrared modem and Bluetooth 1.1 capabilities. * Serious and fun

I sometimes keep a camera inside the glove compartment of my car, so that if I encounter absurd situations such as seeing a policeman leisurely riding his motorcycle on the wrong side of the street, or an unroadworthy forklift rolling ahead at its own pace in the center lane, I have a camera on hand to capture the moment and then sell the photos to whichever publication is interested. Needless to say, because it takes some time to get the camera ready, I have not been able to capture any, even though absurdities are as commonplace in Jakarta as the lies told by our politicians.

Besides the excellent screen, the main strength of this cell phone is its built-in camera. As people usually carry a cell phone with them wherever they go, this gadget enables us to capture those images that may some day earn an Absurdity award.

Other potential users of this cell phone, of course, include the oft-mentioned real estate agents, who may not want to carry a digital camera in their pocket or purse. With this cell phone, they can snap a couple of pictures of a house or the scenery behind a villa that is on sale, and then zap them to potential property buyers.

All in all, the Nokia 7650 is definitely a fabulous cell phone with a lot of useful features. It is also very user-friendly thanks to the thoughtful interface of its Symbian OS. Now my problem is how I can summon enough courage to attempt to convince my wife that I need a new cell phone with a large and comfortable display, and that it should be the one that costs more than Rp 6 million?

Perhaps I could start with "Honey, I really cannot use the S25 anymore. People have been sending me SMSes, and I simply cannot read them on the S25's screen. The Nokia 7650 will help me solve this problem". But, I guess her answer will be the same as always, which is why I am still using the S25 after all these years.