Joe Wireless is eagerly delving into the new camera phone he got during the holiday handset discount bonanza, but now that he can take pictures on the fly, what can he do with them? Post them to his own mobile blogging Web site for friends and loved ones to see, of course. And as luck would have it, a growing number of Web outlets are springing up to help him do just that. But whether these portals can make money is still a question. What's driving the interest in these moblogging sites is the barriers that prevent camera phone users from directly e-mailing photos to each other, according to Chris Hoar, founder and vice president of marketing at San Diego-based textamerica, a picture-oriented moblogging service. Hoar notes that most users cannot send camera phone pictures to friends' handsets if these friends subscribe to a different carrier. "That's a reflection of the backward attitude of all of the U.S. carries-that they are very inward looking," Hoar says. "In the U.S., it's like 'you are our customer, we subsidize the handset and we want your blood, your children and your house.'"
展开▼
