mobile phone operators have high hopes that, fol- lowing the success of text messaging, ‘picture mes- saging’, using camera phones will establish photos as a new genre in mobile communication. Although sales figures are good for camera phones, it’s not clear to what extent people are using camera phones, to send picture messages. Recent media reports have described early results as disappointing. Possible explanations include obstacles such as cost, reliability and interface complexity. Alternatively, a camera phone’s value might not lie in sending images but in using the captured images for other activities.
A team of researchers (Kindberg et al. 2005) decided to establish what users actually do with their camera phones. The research had two main objec- tives. The first was to explore the range and diversity of use to help broaden the team’s outlook on current and future camera phone use. The second was to elu- cidate the characteristics and context of use for differ- ent activities to learn how such activities may be better supported.