'Message Cam' mobile phone accessory with connector cable to enable mobile internet access using WAP and digital photo sharing, manufactured by Casio, Japan, 1999-2001. Sold for use with Siemens C35i mobile phone.

'Message Cam' mobile phone accessory with connector cable to enable mobile internet access using WAP and digital photo sharing, manufactured by Casio, Japan, 1999-2001.

When the personal digital assistant, or PDA, arrived it offered personal computing power that could fit in the palm of the hand. The Casio Message Cam was a basic PDA that, unusually, came with a built-in camera. The Message Cam was designed to be used over the mobile internet and was sold with a Siemens C35i mobile phone to enable photographs to be shared using WAP, an early mobile internet service. The idea of using a camera in this way was novel, but Casio’s device did not sell very well and only around 5000 units were ever made. It was not until cameras began to be fully integrated into mobile phones that sharing photographs over the mobile internet became a popular activity.