Lights, Cell Phone, Action!

Picture phones were all the rage last year and they're still very popular, but now the industry is upping the ante with videophones.

The new Sanyo VM4500 from Sprint lets you record video and watch TV news programs along with those now oh-so-old-fashioned features such as web surfing, e-mail, audio programming, instant messaging, voice memos and "walkie talkie" functions.

You can also use the phone to download application programs (I have one that helps me keep track of my diet and exercise) and get restaurant information, movie listings, directions and more. This phone, which is about the same size as most of today's cell phones, is the Swiss Army Knife of pocket communicators.

Of course, it's not cheap. Sprint sells the phone for $380, but offers a $150 rebate to new customers or longtime existing customers willing to extend their contracts.

I'm not a big fan of cell phone add-ons. After all, I mostly use my cell phone to make and receive calls, but after playing with the new Sanyo, I have to give it an A-plus on the gee-whiz factor. Although this distinction is fleeting, for the moment at least, this has got to be one of the coolest phones on the planet. The video and still picture functions are based on technology from Lightsurf Technologies, a small Santa Cruz, California, company that specializes in helping cell phone companies add photo features to their phones.

While it's amazing that you can even use a phone to take and transmit videos, don't expect the video function to be anywhere near as good as what you'd get with a stand-alone camcorder. Video clips are limited to 15 seconds each and the quality is far grainier than what you would get with even the most basic camcorder. For a sample of some videos I took, visit http://www.pcanswer.com/sprintmovie.htm.

Still, there are advantages to having a camcorder or a still camera built into your phone. To begin with, a great camcorder or terrific digital camera won't do you any good if you don't have it with you when you need it. Most people I know carry their phones around with them just about all the time, so having a phone with still and moving video capabilities means you're always ready to capture the moment.

Another advantage to a phone/camera combination is that you can easily share those video and still pictures with others, without having to go back to your home or office to upload the images. Once you capture an image or video, you can immediately send it to anyone via e-mail, post it to your personal Sprint web page or send it to anyone who has a compatible videophone.

There are also implications when it comes to broadcast news. You remember what happened when an amateur captured the police beating of Rodney King. Someday, any of us can go into the business of immediately capturing and uploading video for TV news and footage-hungry reality shows.

There is a potential downside to these phones. Just as with phones that take still pictures, there is the danger that a camera could be used for voyeuristic purposes. That's why some health clubs now ban cell phones in locker rooms. Parents should certainly be on guard to make sure that their children aren't using these phones in a way that could jeopardize their privacy or get them into trouble with the law.

With the Sprint system, you can post either a video or still image to a password-controlled web site or, if you wish to share photos and videos with friends and family, you can e-mail a link to an individual picture or an album of pictures and videos they can access without having to use a password.

You can also transfer the images and videos to your PC. Videos are .mov files that can be opened by Apple QuickTime and some other media players. Still images are .jpg (JPEG) files that can be used with any photo viewing or editing program.

This particular phone can also be used to, sort of, watch live TV. You can't use it to watch your favorite soap operas or the movie of the week, but you can watch live video from 29 channels including MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, CNET, Discovery Channel and ToonWorld TV Classics where you get to "relive the golden era of television cartoons."

The video is a bit crude but definitely viewable although it's extremely hard to read any text that news shows put up on the screen. The audio is quite clear, even if you listen via the phone's external speaker.

The phone has two types of voice dialing. One, called Voice Command, is a service offered by Sprint. You can use the Sprint web site to add up to 520 names. To dial, you press * Talk and five seconds later you're connected to the Sprint network that places the call after you speak the name you wish to call, such as "Call John."

The other service, called Voice Dial, is built into the phone itself and lets you call anyone in your phone's contact list by saying his or her name. Before you can use it, you program it from your phone by speaking the name and selecting the number you wish to associate with that name.

In addition to buying the phone and paying for your regular Sprint service, you also have to pay $15 a month for Sprint's Pictures Pack plan, as well as another $5 a month if you want the video mail service. If you want to watch live video, you pay an additional $9.99 a month for MobiTV feature.

Talk may be getting relatively cheap, but mobile video is still quite pricey.

By Larry Magid