Aquapac
Aquapac is a registered trademark and brand name of a UK-based manufacturing company, Aquapac International Limited, specializing in waterproof cases and bags. The privately owned company was formed in 1983 and holds patents worldwide on systems for sealing bags and cases. The range commenced with a waterproof case for the original Sony Walkman known as the ‘Aquaman’, followed by cases for handheld VHF radios. Following Motorola’s invention of the first cellphone Aquapac launched the world’s first waterproof cellphone case. Nokia was an important customer for these cases during the 1990s, as were cellphone operators such as Deutsche Telekom and NTT DoCoMo. Aquapac went on to launch waterproof cases for other handheld electronics such as cameras and eReaders. The company operates out of factories in London, England.
Camera phone
A camera phone was patented by Kenneth Parulski and James Schueckler, two engineers at Kodak, in 1995. Their patent application was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 24, 1995. The patent application specifically described the combination as either a separate digital camera connected to a cell phone or as an integrated system with both sub-systems combined together in a single unit. Their patent application design included all of the basic functions camera phones implemented for many years: the capture, storage, selection, and display of digital images and the means to transmit the images over the cellular telephone network to any number of receivers via stored numbers or keyboard input. Upon receipt of the patent application the USPTO published the complete application in both a monthly printed volume of new patent applications and on the USPTO.gov web site as they do for all patent applications. Publishing the full disclosure of the diagrams and text of the patent application allowed any other party to file a claim of pre-existence. Publishing of all the details also enabled the concept and technology to spread; any other person or company could understand the technology so they could either license the patent from Kodak or extend the concept (e.g. rear-facing camera). On September 9, 1997, the USPTO granted US Patent 5,666,159 to Parulski and Schueckler. This patent is cited by 207 later patents as the invention of the camera phone.
On June 11, 1997, Philippe Kahn instantly shared the first pictures from the maternity ward where his daughter Sophie was born. He wirelessly transmitted his cell phone pictures to more than 2,000 family, friends and associates around the world. Kahn's wireless sharing software and camera integrated into his cell phone augured the birth of instant visual communications. Kahn's cell phone transmission is the first known publicly shared picture via a cell phone.