Ericsson CommuniCam MCA-10

A First Look
At first glance, the semi-oval CommuniCam looks like something right out of a sci-fi flick. Measuring 55 x 48 x 22mm and weighing 25g, the CommuniCam is actually a tiny digital camera that works when you attach it to the bottom of a compatible Ericsson mobile phone. The list includes the R320s, the R520m, and the T39. You also need a mobile subscription that supports data services.

The design of this device is simple. On the plastic body you have the viewfinder, the lens, and on the side, the shutter button. For those who love hanging stuff around their neck, the add-on also comes with a clip to attach to the included lanyard.

Setting Up Is Easy
Setting up the CommuniCam was a relatively painless process. We tested it with the Ericsson T39 and after attaching the camera, an additional entry appeared in the phone's "Extras" menu. The first time we snapped on the camera to the phone, we were prompted to enter our Internet Service Provider (ISP) settings which include the dial-up number, user name, and password. This is because the pictures you take with this device will be sent via your Internet account to your recipient's email address (with accompanying text message). When you detach the camera from your phone, the CommuniCam option will automatically disappear from the menu.

The CommuniCam doesn't need a battery as it draws power from the mobile phone. Fortunately, the device doesn't seem to suck up much power from the phone. The T39 still provided pretty much the same hours of talktime with and without the camera attachment.

Fun With Pictures
Of course, the best thing about the CommuniCam is that after you set it up, you can take pictures immediately. To take a snapshot, you can either use the phone's menu selection or the shutter button on the camera. The latter is preferred because that's where you can look through the viewfinder to take your pictures, just like any digital camera.

Unlike a digital camera, however, you cannot immediately preview the pictures you took. That's perhaps the biggest problem with this device. The CommuniCam can store up to five snapshots, each at 352 x 288 pixels, with a color depth of 24 bits (16 million colors). But to view them, you need to either send them to an email account or to the WebAlbum found on Ericsson's Mobile Internet Web site. This requires registration to use, which is free.

Pictures on the camera are sent via your dial-up Internet account. During our test, we transferred the pictures over a GSM connection. The time taken to upload one picture took about a minute while uploading five pictures required approximately 4 minutes. Even though we were using the T39, we were unable to utilize the phone's GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) feature to transfer the pictures as this wasn't supported by the camera.

Less Than Picture Perfect
As mentioned on the Ericsson Web site, the CommuniCam is not a high-performance digital camera. So don't expect picture perfect-quality snapshots from this photographic device. The pictures we took with the CommuniCam were blur and lacked contrast. You also need pretty stable hands while taking pictures as even the slightest quiver will cause the pictures you take to blur. Of course, without the option of previewing the pictures, you can never tell if the snapshot you took is clear or not.

Perhaps the fun begins only when you view your pictures on the Ericsson Web site. There, you can check out your images, name them, sort them in various albums, rotate them, and share them with other users. You can even turn your pictures into electronic postcards with embedded sounds, which you can then send to your pals.

Conclusion
All the cool things you can do with the pictures on the Web site do not change the fact that the picture quality is less than average. As a camera, the CommuniCam doesn't make the grade. With a price tag of S$268, it's too expensive. You can actually get a pretty good budget camera for the same price or less. As a novelty item, the CommuniCam is pretty fun and easy to use. The fact that you can take a photo and send this immediately via your mobile to someone with an email account can be amusing for a while. But when the fun wears off, you're left with a device that, to put it bluntly, is not something you'd want to use to preserve your fondest holiday memories with.