2-inch screen and colorful images: what the first camera phone was like in history

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Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210 was introduced in 1999 in Tokyo, Japan. The device allowed you to take up to 20 selfies of just 0.11 megapixels of resolution and make video calls with friends and family. Kyocera VP-210, the world’s first camera phone. Reuters and Kyocera The world’s first cell phone was unveiled in the 1970s. However, it didn’t have a screen, it didn’t take pictures, it was heavy and expensive. As time went by, things changed and, in the 1990s, Japan unveiled the Kyocera VP-210, considered the first cell phone with a camera on the planet. Also known as the Visual Phone VP-210, the device only had a front lens, in addition to physical buttons and a very small color screen. Japan: country has become a reference in audio and image technology Ugliest cell phones in history: see 12 models with controversial look According to the Reuters agency, the device was shown to the world for the first time on May 17, 1999, in Tokyo. During a press conference, Kyocera presented what would be a new personal telephone system, which transmitted and received color images. The goal was to put the product in stores in Japan at the end of July of that year. Check out the main features: 📱 The VP-210 had a 2-inch color LCD screen. To get an idea, modern cell phones, which no longer have a physical keyboard, leave the factory with a screen between 5 and 7 inches; 🎥 It transmitted images in real time at a rate of about 2 frames per second – the iPhone, for example, can shoot at up to 60 frames per second; 📂 It stored up to 20 images in JPEG (short for Joint Photographic Experts Group), an image format that emerged in the late 1980s when photographers started using digital cameras, and which is still used today; 📸 It produced images of 0.11 megapixel (MP) resolution, according to the BBC – the iPhone 14 Pro can take photos with up to 48 megapixels; 🖼️ The VP-210 could send and receive e-mails with images. It was possible to send the photos to a computer or other electronic devices of the time; 🤑 At launch, it was announced for 40,000 yen, about R$ 1,388 at the current quotation. In an interview with CNN, the then Kyocera marketing executive, Hajime Kimura, said that year that “people could use the phone not only to talk visually with their colleagues. It would also be useful for professional purposes”. “For example, if a builder takes this phone to a construction site, he can show what the place looks like to people at headquarters using this phone. So they can do business by checking the situation in real time,” he added. “The VP-210 came about during the height of digital cameras. It was born at a time when Japanese industry was very active, especially in the camera sector,” says Marcelo Zuffo, professor and coordinator of the interdisciplinary center for interactive technologies at the USP. “Compared to today’s images, it had a resolution beyond suffering. Internet technology had not reached cell phones either. We were in 2G and starting to talk about 3G. It used a specific and primitive protocol, a variation of SMS “, says Zuffo. Samsung and Sharp also stood out Although Kyocera was the pioneer, other companies stood out in the race for the first camera phones. In 2000, South Korean Samsung launched the SCH-V200, a phone that was equipped with a camera of only 0.3 megapixel. Like the VP-210, the Samsung could store up to 20 photos, according to the company. Images could be checked on the 1.5-inch LCD screen or transferred to a computer using a cable. Also presented in 2000, another cell phone that marked the sector was the Sharp J-SH04. It had a 0.11 MP photo sensor and images could be sent to family and friends via email. On its website, however, Sharp argues that the J-SH04 was the “first mobile phone equipped with a camera in the industry”, adding even more fuel to the fire in this discussion. But in the end, these devices gave the direction in which the cell phone industry had to follow, analyzes Professor Marcelo Zuffo. Visual Phone VP-210 is the first cell phone with camera Disclosure/Kyocera READ ALSO: Duel of folding cell phones: Moto Razr 40 Ultra x Galaxy Z Flip4 How to ‘re-educate’ the algorithm of social networks to see less dancing VIDEO: ‘flying saucer’ created in China makes first flight

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