According to Ontela, studies have shown that 98 percent of the photos taken on mobile phones never leave the device. The company says its platform offers carriers and imaging services an opportunity to deliver "image application value" to their customers.
PicDeck platform concept
(Click image for larger view)Ontela says its patent-pending installer provisions new users in less than 60 seconds, and requires no actions on the part of the user once set up. As soon as a photo is snapped, it is sent over the data channel to selected PCs and imaging services with full resolution. Only one copy of each image is sent from the handset, even if multiple destinations are specified.
Ontela envisions a broad range of potential mobile services that leverage the combination of full-resolution imaging on the handset, plus communication with server-side applications performing functions such as image processing, image recognition, and image-based search. As an example, the company cites the
ActiveSymbols service that scans images for barcodes and popular product box art; when a match is found, users are presented with pricing information, reviews, and "buy-it" buttons on the handset.
PicDeck supports many Windows Mobile, BREW, J2ME, and Symbian camera phones, according to Ontela. PC connectivity is supported on Windows 2000 or later, the company says. No specific product launch date was given.
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