Wireless Hacks

Photo Blog Automatically with the Nokia 3650

Instantly publish your photos from the road, without even logging in.

To me, digital photography is something of a mixed blessing. The instant gratification of being able to view your photos immediately is many times offset by two small details: you need to have your camera with you and it has to be charged. My camera is much too large and fragile to carry with me all of the time, and I’d hate to have yet another device to keep track of and plug in at night. This means that I end up with lots of “event-style” photos, but relatively few impromptu snapshots of daily life. All too often, by the time I run to grab the camera, the moment has passed, and the perfect photo is gone forever.

A number of manufacturers have realized that there is a device that people habitually carry with them and nearly always keep well charged: their cell phones. Nokia has managed to merge a whole slew of nifty technologies into their 3650 phone, including Bluetooth, GPRS, GSM, and of course, a digital camera. This leads to all sorts of fascinating possibilities. Not only is it simple to upload photos to a laptop using Bluetooth, but the interface for sending photos via email is also dead simple. As if IM spam weren’t bad enough, mankind is now developing the ability to spam each other with video.

Rather than throw photo bits at your friends and relatives, it is much more efficient to publish your photo album to a web page, and IM your friends and family ...