Sprint was the first to deliver a built-in camera phone to the U.S. market and spurred growth in the wireless imaging market with the launch of an affordable camera phone, easy-to-use service and simple pricing last year. From August 2002 to March 2004, more than 100 million pictures and videos were shared over the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network.
“Sprint has seen tremendous success with its Picture Mail product and the ability for customers to share life’s moments either phone-to-phone or phone-to-computer,” said John Garcia, senior vice president of sales and distribution for Sprint. “The PM-8920 takes wireless pictures to the next level by delivering high-quality pictures that are ideal for printing as well as sharing.”
“Camera phones that deliver higher resolution images for printing should help drive further consumer adoption of picture messaging services,” said Linda Barrabee, wireless analyst at The Yankee Group. “As trailblazers in the adoption of advanced services such as multimedia messaging, the youth market represents one of several important customer segments that will continue to drive the evolution of devices and services to deliver higher quality.”
The PM-8920 gives Sprint PCS Vision customers the ability to capture, send, receive and print high-resolution pictures. The 1.3-megapixel (1280 x 960) built-in camera also features a built-in flash, self-timer and up to 8x digital zoom capability. In addition, the PM-8920 is Sprint’s first phone that features a powerful display on both the interior and exterior screens: both are 260K TFT LCDs.
“Audiovox and Sprint are keeping customers on the leading edge of wireless with another breakthrough product,” said Philip Christopher, CEO and president of Audiovox Communications Corp. “From compact color handsets to video phones and new megapixel camera phones, we’re keeping mobile America connected.”