AUGUST 2004 – An unedited image file shows the river Limmat in Zurich, Switzerland, captured with a Siemens S65 smartphone. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Back in 2004 I worked for the applications and services group of Siemens mobile phones in Munich, Germany. The companny developed, manufactured and marketed mobile phones, and our team took care of the applications that were embedded on the phone. For younger readers: back in those days, applications were provided as part of the phone but it was not possible to conveniently expand the capabilities of your phone. There simply were no application stores and no ecosystem for application developers.
Anyway, Siemens launched the new flagship of their premium product line, the Siemens S65, in the third quarter of 2004. The key feature of this phone was its integrated digital camera that provided a 960 x 1280 image (1.2 megapixels). In 2004, this was pretty unique. Sure, you had cool (and incredible expensive) DSLRS. You even had cool (and affordable) digital P&S cameras. But a somewhat decent camera on a tiny smartphone? No way.
In August 2004 I visited Switzerland, and I took the brand new S65 with me. I took a number of images, and one of the best I’m sharing above. It shows the unedited photo file – straight from the camera. I did not even apply a watermark! The image quality is mediocre, but you can make out the beauty of the place.
Admittedly, the Sony DSC-P72 did a much better job (see below), but that was a genuine point-and-shoot camera, not a smart phone.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 27-AUG-2004, 12:44 |
| Location | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Camera | Siemens S65 |
| Digital Image Source Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | n/a |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 960 x 1280 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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