Live Camera

Hannover, Germany - Sony Ericsson unveiled a unique rolling camera at CeBIT Thursday that's designed to wirelessly extend the visual range of cell phones.

The Bluetooth Motion Cam ROB-1 is just slightly bigger than a tennis ball, and is designed to roll around a room, letting a user snap pictures from up to 150 feet away. The device consists of two independently rotating hemispheres, and an inner center slice that contains the electronics and the camera.

The built-in VGA resolution camera can rotate down 20 degrees -- so it can view the floor -- as well as up to snap photos. ROB-1 sends a live video stream wirelessly via Bluetooth to a paired phone, and will be able to store pictures on its internal memory – 2 to 8 megabytes, according to the Sony Ericsson representative demonstrating the camera.

The ROB-1 is piloted via special Symbian software that will run on Sony Ericsson's V910 and V900 phone. A J2ME version is also under development, which enables the K750, along with other, non-Sony Ericsson phones to work with the device. The rolling camera will include the phone software on-board, which should make it reasonably easy to pair with many feature phones. The company will also release the specifications to its developer program, so additional controller applications may become available.

The unit runs on standard or rechargeable AA batteries and should last for 3-4 hours of use before needing more juice. For stability, a tiny balance wheel extends from the rear of the unit, and the leading edge of the "wheels" is coated with rubber for traction.

Sony Ericsson plans on releasing the ROB-1 during the third quarter for under $300.

Media Center: Sony Ericsson also showed off a device designed to connect a phone to a TV and stereo. The Media Center MMV-200 plugs into a television or stereo, and plays music and photos streamed from your phone via Bluetooth. It also includes a multi-card reader that supports Bluetooth and other cards.

Flash-based slideshows and music playback can be controlled by a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone, and non-Sony Ericsson phones will be supported. The device will be available in the second quarter, but the company would not divulge pricing details.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.