when did video recording become common on cell phones?
May 1, 2010 5:52 PM Subscribe
How common was it for a cell phone to have video/audio in Oct.2007? Need to know if it would have been reasonable to assume that capability if someone was pointing there phone at you (vs. Just still photo). It seems reasonable now, but when did that come about?
Around that time the RAZR was probably still the most common phone and it definitely had video recording (though poor video recording).
posted by proj at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by proj at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2010
In Japan, video calling (user-facing cameras, as well as picture-taking cameras) have been bog-standard for years. In North America, that's still not really in the cards, but recording video (which was, admittedly, some crap video) wasn't terribly uncommon in 2007. First-gen iPhones could do it, I think, with a Jailbreak app called Qik though Qik came out I think later, in 2008? Anyway, I think 2006 to 2008 is when that went from being a novelty to a typical feature.
posted by mhoye at 6:05 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by mhoye at 6:05 PM on May 1, 2010
My first editorial photos with Getty Images were shot on a Blackberry Pearl in July 2007 of the steam pipe explosion in Midtown. I recall many of the images that were run in the papers being of crowds of people shooting photos (and I'm guessing video) with their phones of the event.
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:11 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:11 PM on May 1, 2010
In mid-2007 I had a confrontation with some teens at the library where I worked, who turned a cell phone on me and were making cracks about recording video and uploading to YouTube. So I assume video recording on cell phones was a thing by then.
posted by Jeanne at 6:59 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by Jeanne at 6:59 PM on May 1, 2010
Where?
In the US it wasn't unheard of at all, though it was often garbage and limited to 30 seconds or a minute. When the iPhone came out in June 2007 one popular complaint was that it couldn't do MMS (multimedia messaging service, which can attach photos or video to a text message.) So clearly people were familiar with the idea.
In Japan, the middle-of-the-line phone I bought in 2005 had a high res video camera with a flash/light. And it could record and play back TV. In 2007 I regularly saw people video conferencing on their phone. (In once case, while walking down the street.)
Not sure about other parts of the world.
posted by Ookseer at 7:48 PM on May 1, 2010
In the US it wasn't unheard of at all, though it was often garbage and limited to 30 seconds or a minute. When the iPhone came out in June 2007 one popular complaint was that it couldn't do MMS (multimedia messaging service, which can attach photos or video to a text message.) So clearly people were familiar with the idea.
In Japan, the middle-of-the-line phone I bought in 2005 had a high res video camera with a flash/light. And it could record and play back TV. In 2007 I regularly saw people video conferencing on their phone. (In once case, while walking down the street.)
Not sure about other parts of the world.
posted by Ookseer at 7:48 PM on May 1, 2010
My Nokia 6600 could record videos and it was released in 2003.
posted by mmascolino at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by mmascolino at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2010
It depends a great deal on where you are. That appeared, and spread, a lot earlier in Japan and Korea than elsewhere in the world.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:41 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:41 PM on May 1, 2010
According to wikipedia, camera phones have been commercially available in North America since 2002. Nokia became the world's most sold digital camera brand in 2004, and in 2006, half the world's mobile phones had camera's in them. By the end of 2008, the world installed base of cameraphones was 1.9 billion.
posted by jjb at 10:35 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by jjb at 10:35 PM on May 1, 2010
My Treo had decent video recording, and I got it sometime in 2006.
posted by turducken at 1:03 AM on May 2, 2010
posted by turducken at 1:03 AM on May 2, 2010
Response by poster: I should have said where. I'm looking for facts about the US.
posted by dorcas at 5:11 AM on May 2, 2010
posted by dorcas at 5:11 AM on May 2, 2010
My Motorola E810 that I got in Summer 2005 had Video Recording. (US)
posted by stew560 at 6:07 AM on May 2, 2010
posted by stew560 at 6:07 AM on May 2, 2010
I got a Sony Ericsson z520a in spring 2006 that was one step up from the "free! (w/2 yr contract)" phones - I think it cost $30 with a 2 year contract, so it wasn't a really fancy phone at the time.
It took photos and little video clips - I'm not sure I ever ran into the time limit on video. I think it was over 1 minute, but it can't have been too long, as the internal memory was only 16MB with no expansion. Quality was really poor, but sound was surprisingly good (at least to me).
posted by clerestory at 7:19 AM on May 2, 2010
It took photos and little video clips - I'm not sure I ever ran into the time limit on video. I think it was over 1 minute, but it can't have been too long, as the internal memory was only 16MB with no expansion. Quality was really poor, but sound was surprisingly good (at least to me).
posted by clerestory at 7:19 AM on May 2, 2010
The iPhone first came out in 2007, and a friend picked one up in September, which was a few months after the release. He's a geek, but it wasn't an "oh, geez, he's on a Segway" kind of rarity. So I'd say it's a pretty safe bet.
posted by Madamina at 10:58 AM on May 2, 2010
posted by Madamina at 10:58 AM on May 2, 2010
madamina, the first iPhone didn't support video recording, which was a knock against it for a lot of people, because video was already pretty common.
As has already been noted, at least some models of the very popular Motorola Razr series could shoot video with audio in that timeframe. Quality was another matter, but the capability was, if not yet mainstream, at least commonly available.
posted by Good Brain at 2:30 PM on May 2, 2010
As has already been noted, at least some models of the very popular Motorola Razr series could shoot video with audio in that timeframe. Quality was another matter, but the capability was, if not yet mainstream, at least commonly available.
posted by Good Brain at 2:30 PM on May 2, 2010
Best answer: Sounds like you're either paranoid about someone who pointed their phone at you circa 2007, or you're writing a book/movie/story that takes place in 2007 and would feature such an event.
Either way, it's safe to say that a great number of phones could record video in 2007. I can remember buying a Samsung phone in late 2004 that had a swiveling screen and took 2MP phone pics, and videos at 640x480 for as long as the micro SD card would allow.
In short, the answers are :
1. Yes, it would be reasonable to assume that capability in 2007
2. I'm sure the first video-recording-capable cellphones started 'round 2002 or so, and became pretty common around 2006.
posted by revmitcz at 4:22 PM on May 3, 2010
Either way, it's safe to say that a great number of phones could record video in 2007. I can remember buying a Samsung phone in late 2004 that had a swiveling screen and took 2MP phone pics, and videos at 640x480 for as long as the micro SD card would allow.
In short, the answers are :
1. Yes, it would be reasonable to assume that capability in 2007
2. I'm sure the first video-recording-capable cellphones started 'round 2002 or so, and became pretty common around 2006.
posted by revmitcz at 4:22 PM on May 3, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by greta simone at 5:56 PM on May 1, 2010