Sanyo

Sanyo SCP-5300 (2002)

Sanyo was the first to bring a camera phone stateside, although it wasn't the first to introduce such a device to the world--that credit goes to Sharp, which released the J-SH04 in Japan in 2000. Sanyo's SCP-5300 took 640-by-480-resolution snapshots, and according to PC World's first look, the clamshell phone was easy to use. But the quality of the photos was mediocre, and the only ways to get images off the phone were to send it to another person's cell phone or e-mail address or to upload them to Sprint PCS's Web site (the handset was available exclusively to Sprint customers). But, hey, it's almost impossible to find a cell phone without a camera these days. That's saying something.