Sharp GX-30

[s02264849]

check out the GX-30 on Phone Scoop:


http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?id=456

[Recom]

Cool, that looks good. Anyone know a rough release date?

[AL9999]

March 2004 is all that's being said at the moment.

Still waiting for the GX-40 though (yes I'm crazy). I read a post from a person working in Vodafone Germany who is saying that it will have a 2MP camera and be WCDMA/GSM dual-mode, to be released in Summer/Autumn (Northern Hemisphere).

Maybe they'll say something about it at Cebit? Would be cool if they did.

Here's the post from the guy who read about the Vodafone guy.

http://www.whatmobile.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5191

[AL9999]

Just a note though, the Phone Scoop pictures showing the GX-30 are partly fake... the phone is correct, but the pictures of the screens on the phone are not (or are a really early version of the phone or something), as it's got "Out of Range" written in Japanese in the top right corner of the sub-display, meaning it's probably a picture out of a similar phone at an exhibition or something.

[Anthony]

I've been thinking about this for a little while and wanted to ask around see if anyone can answer this for me...

Alot of the newer models coming out this year will have mega pixel cameras included. My question is, how will these pictures be sent? Will we be using MMS to send these pictures taken with a 1.1 or 1.3 mega pixel camera? Sending VGA quality pictures using MMS or email takes quite awhile. Using existing GPRS connections, how long would a MMS take to send to another user or email address? It seems that most carriers will be taking some time to deploy EDGE through out the country. It just seems like overkill to have a mega pixel camera on a phone that barely reaches 30 to 40 Kbps download speeds. Alot of the fun from using a camera phone comes from instantly sending your pictures to your friends. Either to their phones or email address'. It would seem like a waste to have to wait until you get home to upload your pictures via cable or bluetooth, just to send them out. That's what we have dedicated digital cameras for.

I dunno, just a thought...anyone care to comment?

[AL9999]

It's more for the convenience, that's all. The higher quality cameras aren't really designed for MMS, they're actually to replace digital cameras. If you only want to use the inbuilt camera to send the pictures, then you're better off buying a phone with a CIF camera, as phone screens can't display pictures at a higher resolution than CIF.

For me, I want a decent digital camera in my phone because of the fact that I take my phone around with me all the time, whereas the digital camera only comes to planned events. That means, if something happens and I want to take a photo of it, I merely whip out my phone and take a picture. Then I can offload it to my computer when I get home and print it out if I want to.

That's all it's about. The convenience.

Just for your information, there are forecasts on Japanese mobile news websites saying that they believe phones will appear there this year that will have optical zoom built in, which will complement the auto-focus that 2 MP camera phones over there already have. So you can see, camera phones are heading the way of digital camera substitutes.

[Anthony]

Won't having optical zoom in a camera bring the bulk up? Or will the process needed to shrink that type of component inflate the price of the phone?

Everything you're saying seems to be right on par with what I have been reading. I guess I'm wondering if there is a market for this type of phone hybrid. I'm guessing there is, but it remains to be seen. I barely use my camera on my phone. I like that it's there, but it not being mega pixel quality is not what holds me back from using it. For me it's the terrible drain on the battery that holds me back. Auto focus, optical zoom, mega pixel quality, all that seems like it will be a big burdon on a battery that already has enough of a burdon trying to handle the radio (read: RF ability) aspect of the phone.

Don't get me wrong, I like having a camera built into my phone. I carry my phone everywhere I go, unlike my digi cam which only comes with me when it's needed. So this isn't an arguement against built in cams...just where they are going and how they are getting there....

[Michael]

Originally posted by Anthony
Won't having optical zoom in a camera bring the bulk up? Or will the process needed to shrink that type of component inflate the price of the phone?

Yes, it will increase bulk, all other things being equal.

The quality of the lens(es) will suffer, too, in all likelihood, unless bulk is added.

They are going to have to make the lenses very small in diameter in order to get the zoom effect without the combine optics getting too long.

Look at regular SLR cameras. High-quality zooms are larger than cheap zooms. Cheap zooms are bigger than non-zooms.

Adding optical zoom without adding larger lenses is going to lead to poorer overall lens performance.

The best way to deal with that length problem, in my opinion, would be to run the lens on the side of the phone. There is plenty of depth to be had there without burdening the design of the phone.

The issue becomes the viewfinder, though, for phones that don't have fliping/twisting clamshell designs.

Plus the lenses can never get larger in radius than the thickness of the phone, which will be an issue eventually.

If the lenses don't get bigger as the megapixel count increases you will have to have more densly packed photo sensors. That means each individual photo-sensor will be smaller, and that increases the amount of noise in the photo (what you see when you run a digital camera at a high-ISO rating, such as for night shots).

But if you look at modern cameras like the Casio Exilims and such, you can see that they can indeed make small optical zoom cameras.

Just how small, and how many megapixel is the question, considering that you still need all of the phone electronics.

[Mr.fungus]

Oh no, is this Sharp also connected to Vodafone?
Ah, I hate that we don't have Vodafone here in Norway!

Gues I just have to vait for the LG G7200!

[jalu]

The phone looks sweet.

Could I live with the Vodafone branding though...

[Michael]

Usually Sharp releases a few non-Voda models eventually.

But usually they are Voda branded, which is annoying.

[Alberrisford]

Hi all, I'm new here!

I was planning on getting a gx-20, until I saw this! I think I will probably wait, although I did hear someone mention a gx 40 coming out in the autumn, but I guess that if I thought like that always, I would never get one!

[arcticice]

Vodafone have just e-mailed me confirming that the release date is March 12th - cant wait.

[Alberrisford]

Originally posted by arcticice
Vodafone have just e-mailed me confirming that the release date is March 12th - cant wait.

Thats great! Thanks for sharing!

Is it just me, or does the gx20 look much better than the gx30?

[froznefroze]

indeed the Gx20/21/22/27 seems nicer in design...

The Gx30 has the look of a Japanese Phone more.....the buttons does not have the nice placement....and curves for the cover