Fuji Film unveils cell phone-compatible camera

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By Kuriko Miyake

(IDG) -- Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. has unveiled a cell phone-compatible digital still camera for its Fine Pix series. Images recorded by the camera can be immediately downloaded to, and sent by, a cellular phone, the company announced Tuesday.

The 2 megapixel Fine Pix 30i is compatible with some of KDDI Corp.'s mobile handsets. By connecting the camera to their handset via a cable, users can download images to their mobile phones and send them to other handsets via wireless Internet services.

Like the other Fine Pix series cameras, this model features Fuji Photo Film's "Picture the Future" service. When the camera is connected to a PC using a USB (universal serial bus) cable, "thumbnails" of images stored in the camera can be viewed. Users are then directed to the company's photo printing service on the Web to order prints chosen from the thumbnails, Chisato Yoshizawa, a spokeswoman for Fuji Photo Film said.

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In addition, the camera has an MP3 audio function that allows users to listen to music for four and a half hours and to record audio for 160 minutes with a 128M byte-Smart Media card, according to a company statement.

Up to 166 still images can be stored.

The camera's compact design, at 84.7 millimeters wide by 72.5 millimeters high by 29.5 millimeters deep, and weight of 150 grams, is targeted at young people, Yoshizawa said. The camera will be on sale on Nov. 23 at 64,800 yen (US$529).

The company plans to ship the product overseas, but does not expect oversea versions to be equipped with the cell phone function at first, Yoshizawa said.

Fuji Photo Film can be contacted at http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/.