Snap a photo, shoot a video and talk, too

Mobile phones introduced this year will feature a wide number of upgrades, including support for shooting videoes , built-in still cameras and wireless Internet, using Bluetooth technology. Kim Jong-in of Samsung Electronics Co. said, "Mobile phone technology that started with voice communication has advanced to images in black and white and then color, and camera features. That advance will go further, opening a market for camcorder-phones starting this year." Samsung Electronics is planning to market this month a camcorder phone capable of recording a 20 minute video clip with audio support. Also during the first half of this year a product using the wireless Bluetooth technology will be developed enabling users to communicate by a Bluetooth phone to a Bluetooth device located within a 10-meter radius. Other mobile phones expected in the market this year will boast a variety of features, including visual communication, built-in antennas and personal digital assistant functions. LG Electronics Inc. plans to market a Bluetooth phone and a visual communication device for IMT-2000, a third generation technology. The new camera phones will offer sharper images as development progresses from 300,000 pixels early in the year to 650,000 mega pixels in the first half and 1.3 mega pixels in the second half. Kim Seong-jae, a designer at Pantech, said, "We developing phones with improved picture and sound quality." Also, ring tones will progress to 64-note polyphonic from 40-note polyphonic. Display screens will use thin film transistor liquid crystal technology or organic electro luminescence. by Yum Tae-jung