In Depth: Flashback: the past, present and future of the camera phone

13 years ago, phones with cameras inside seemed pointless, heavy bricks that gave you grainy approximations of images. Fast forward to today, and we now have a phone with a 41MP camera sensor, one with 10x optical zoom and phone that's adept at nabbing low light shots sitting sleekly in our collective pocket.

Today, with the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 as the most popular cameras used on photo sharing site Flickr, camera phones are clearly the new medium for taking and sharing photos, with the likes of Samsung and HTC also making the top ten.

And look at Instagram, an application dedicated to people taking photos on their mobile devices - predominantly mobile phones - now boasts over 150 million active users and sees 55 million photos posted from said devices every day.

Tell someone 15 years ago that phones would be the most popular cameras and they'd probably laugh. Today the two are synonymous. But how did this all happen so quickly?

November 2000 saw the first camera phone hit the market, the Sharp J-SH04, but it failed to make much of an impact. In fact the J-SH04 never made it out of Japan - we could go as far as to say the first camera phone was actually a bit of a flop.

Read the specs of the Sharp J-SH04 and you'll understand the reservations people had about camera phones back then.

A 0.11MP snapper adorning the rear and a 256 colour display is enough to make you weep, but at least it was lightweight at just 74g. You won't find a camera phone weighing as little as that nowadays.

Maybe the world wasn't ready for the technology, or perhaps no one cared. Either way the camera phone had arrived and a couple of years later the landscape changed completely.

Released in early 2002, the Nokia 7650 is arguably one of the most important phones ever. Promoted around the film Minority Report, it brought camera phones to the mainstream with the help of endorsement deals and heavy promotion.

Essentially, having a camera on your phone suddenly became rather desirable even if you couldn't do much with the picture.

Nokia Lumia 7650

In terms of specs the 7650 stepped things up over Sharp's original camera phone, with a 0.3MP camera, 2.1-inch display, 104MHz processor and a whopping 4MB (yes MB, not GB) of internal storage.

The Sony Ericsson T68i was the only other camera phone available at the time, although the camera was an entirely separate module. In the US, the T68i was available for $199 (around £120), the camera was another $130 (around £80).

This gave rise to the first MMS services in the UK, from Orange and T-Mobile.

By today's standards, the Nokia 7650 is pretty poor as it has a maximum 4 hours talk time, and the 2.1-inch screen is smashed by the 5-inches we see today, but toting a VGA 640x480 camera inside put it ahead of its camera devoid rivals.

It wasn't until November 2003 that the next big step was made, with introduction of autofocus in the Panasonic P505iS.

By 2005 things, things had improved greatly. The Sony Ericsson K750i was one of a select few phones to be rocking a 2MP camera, and it even had a blindingly bright dual-LED flash. This was next-gen stuff, seriously.

Alongside the Nokia 7650, the Sony Ericsson K750i was a handset that we clamoured for. We remember pulling it out of a pocket, only to find a friend had bought the same phone, but in a different colour.

The K750i also highlights just how far the rest of the mobile world had progressed, with 9 hours talk time and Bluetooth 2.0. It may have only had a 1.9-inch display, but the addition of a memory card slot meant a photo sharing revolution had begun.

A dedicated lens slider showed Sony was serious about camera phones, and this continued with the introduction of its Cyber-shot camera technology in the Sony Ericsson K800i.

Nokia followed up its 2005 Nokia N90 (the first with a Carl Zeiss lens) and the 2006 Nokia N93 (with 3x optical zoom) with the technically gifted Nokia N95 in 2007.

The N95 had much to shout about; 3.5G internet technology, GPS and impressive multimedia capabilities. The camera was also no slouch, it too carried Carl Zeiss optics. The 5MP sensor was aided by an LED flash.

The 330MHz processor took 20 seconds between shots, something that was considered reasonable at the time. Compare that to today where smartphones are able to process many images per second, and 2007 seems an age ago.

The other stand-out camera phone of 2007 was the LG Viewty KU990. It too packed a 5MP camera with lenses made Schneider Kreuznach.

Design-wise, the Viewty resembled a compact camera, coming complete with a movable wheel on the back that allowed for up to 16x digital zoom.

It also rolled up with a Xenon flash, an upgrade over the LED offerings, as well as a 3-inch touch screen to put images front and centre.

There was little to choose between the LG Viewty and the Nokia N95 for cameras, but the Viewty offered far greater image editing, slow motion video capture and the touch screen is something that we have now come to expect from smartphones.

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In Depth: Why the smartphone is about to beat the PS4 at its own game

In the US alone, smartphone gaming has around 126 million players, making it one of the most popular segments. By 2016 that's expected to rise to 144 million, according to a report by MediaBrix, which would equate to more than 8 in 10 smartphone users.

The popularity of smartphone games in the UK isn't quite so high, but according to a report by comScore, 52.4% of UK smartphone users were playing games on them at least once a month in the three months ending February 2012 and if those US figures are anything to go by the numbers are likely to be even higher now.

So why such a sudden surge in popularity? Are games getting better or are we just spending more time at bus stops and doctor's waiting rooms?

One of the main reasons is cost: games are cheaper to buy on smartphones than their PC or console counterparts. They're also a lot cheaper to make in general, meaning that the various app stores, particularly Google Play and the Apple App Store, have become flooded with an enormous selection of titles.

Then there's the fact that, according to eMarketer, 48.4% of the UK population will have a smartphone by the end of the year, essentially meaning that almost 1 in 2 people will already have a device capable of playing portable games, rather than needing to invest in extra hardware.

But graphics, content and control schemes still often hold phone games back. The question is, can the console experience ever be replicated by a smartphone and even if so: can gaming on a smartphone ever be as good as gaming on a console?

For many people the term 'console quality' means high end graphics, which is understandable, since graphics are the most immediately obvious sign of a game's quality.

They don't make or break a game by any means but they are a major factor in how high quality a game is perceived to be.

Ultimately, smartphone games just aren't up to the same graphical standards as console games. That said, there is some crossover between low end console games and high end smartphone games, which demonstrates that the gap between the two may not be that enormous.

Take Asphalt 8: Airborne for example. It obviously doesn't look as good as something like the console version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the PS3 or Xbox 360 as there's far less graphical detail.

But when played on the small screen of a smartphone it does arguably look comparable to Test Drive Unlimited 2 on the PS3 or Xbox 360, which is an impressive feat given that Asphalt 8 is free to play, while Test Drive Unlimited 2 cost around £40 at launch and even now costs over £15.

The difference in screen sizes also means that smartphones don't necessarily need to be as powerful as consoles to deliver high end graphics, as while smartphone games may not look great blown up on a big screen, the small display size of a phone hides many of the rough edges and lets them shine.

Even though smartphone games may not be able to compete graphically with most recent console games, top end smartphones are certainly at least as powerful as older consoles such as the Xbox and the PS2; in fact they're actually quite a bit more powerful on some metrics.

The PS2, for example, had just a 300 MHz processor, a 147 MHz Graphics Synthesizer GPU and 32 MB of RAM. Compare that to the Samsung Galaxy S4, which has a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, a 400 MHz Adreno 320 GPU and 2 GB of RAM and, on paper, smartphones should be way ahead.

Of course the PS2 was specifically built around gaming, while the Galaxy S4 and other phones aren't, so the difference might not be as pronounced as you'd think.

So how close are they really? We had a chat with Gameloft to find out the real challenges and benefits you get when making a high-end smartphone game.

"Mobile chipsets are very competitive compared with current-gen consoles," a spokesperson told us. "With the exception of the polygon throughput, the latest chipsets already reach most of the shader rendering quality of current-gen consoles." They even went so far as to say that "the latest chipsets are capable of running current generation console games," albeit not referencing the recent PS4 / XBox One line-up, more their predecessors.

And if proof were needed that smartphones can match or exceed the PS2 for gaming performance just look at how easily they cope with ports of last generation games, such as GTA: Vice City.

This runs well on high end handsets and isn't even as good looking as many smartphone games, such as Horn and Dead Trigger 2, so presumably it's not pushing phones to their limits.

Smartphones seem an unlikely new home for old favourites, but if more get ported they could soon be the go-to place for a dose of nostalgia, resurrecting games that were lost when we sold our old consoles or when they finally gave up after years of faithful service.

With new and more powerful smartphones being released all the time the gap between phones and new consoles may close too. Sure, the next generation of consoles has just arrived and initially they're likely to blow away anything a smartphone can do.

But five years down the line people will still be using the Xbox One and PS4, while Samsung will likely be up to the Galaxy S9 and there's no telling how powerful that will be, especially now that 64-bit chips are making their way into handsets.

These will be important, according to our Gameloft spokesperson, who said they will "help to push vector processing speed with less machine cycles, which is the main performance bottle neck in processing polygons."

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In Depth: The tech behind the Queen's Christmas speech

The Queen has been making Christmas Day broadcasts since the death of her father, King George VI, in February 1952

As well as following a religious framework, her address always reflects the events of the past year and her own experiences. And, as well as being part of the British and Commonwealth heritage, how the message is delivered shows the evolution of broadcast technology.

Following her Accession earlier in the year, the Queen broadcasts her first Christmas Message live on the radio from her study at Sandringham, Norfolk, using the same desk and chair as her father, King George VI, and his father, King George V, had done before her.

This first Christmas address paid tribute to the late king and spoke of carrying on the tradition passed to her. "Each Christmas, at this time, my beloved Father broadcast a message to his people in all parts of the world ... As he used to do, I am speaking to you from my own home, where I am spending Christmas with my family ... My Father [King George VI], and my Grandfather [King George V] before him, worked hard all their lives to unite our peoples ever more closely, and to maintain its ideals which were so near to their hearts. I shall strive to carry on their work."

This wasn't the first time the queen had been on the radio though, as you can hear here:

The advent of television during the Queen's reign gives a new dimension to her Christmas Messages in 1957, which was the first year to have a televised Christmas broadcast.

The Christmas Broadcast, 1957

The broadcast was made live from the Long Library at Sandringham, Norfolk and was the first time viewers were able to see the Queen in her own surroundings, decorated for Christmas. The Queen talks about the new technology in her speech: "That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us ... television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes."

This year the Queen reverted from television back to radio to deliver her Christmas Message as she was pregnant with her fourth child, Prince Edward.

Tradition was broken in 1969 as there was no Christmas Message – this is the only year during her reign that Her Royal Highness has not addressed the nation. The lack of broadcast was down to the fact that a repeat of the documentary, Royal Family, was already scheduled. This break with tradition resulted in a tremendous amount of public concern, so much so that the Queen issued a message reassuring the public that the broadcast would return in 1970.

This year's Christmas Message was broadcast with the addition of the BBC's Ceefax, the world's first teletext information service to provide subtitles for the hard of hearing.

This year saw the Queen's Christmas Speech broadcast online for the first time – an important move considering the growing popularity of the internet. This was also the year that the Queen launched www.royal.gov.uk during a visit to Kingsbury High School in Brent.

The Royal website launched in 1997

Following the 2001 TV broadcast of the Christmas speech, it was released as a free download for Amazon's Kindle e-book reader. This was big news, as it allowed people to digest The Queen's speech in a completely new way.

A spokeswoman at Buckingham Palace told the BBC: "We would like The Queen's Speech to be broadcast or read as widely as possible, and allowing Kindle to make the text available is just another example of this."

The arrangement was an e-book exclusive and caused a stir in the book industry, with some describing it as a coup for Amazon, although the text was also available on the Royal Household's official website, the BBC and Facebook.

Moving with the times, in 2006 the Queen made her Christmas Day message available as a podcast for the first time. The message could be ordered in advance, for free, via the British Monarchy website and users then received the podcast on Christmas Day at 3pm – the same time it was shown on television in the UK.

2007 saw another technological advance with the launch of a dedicated Royal YouTube channel. The Christmas message went out on YouTube on Christmas Day at 3pm, when it was simultaneously shown on television.

The Royal Channel has 124,463 subscribers

This was the first year the message was broadcast in High Definition.

Last year's Christmas Message was broadcast to the UK and Commonwealth in 3D for the first time. Viewers needed a 3D television 'side-by-side' mode and 3D glasses and had to watch on Sky or the now defunct BBC HD.

Last year The Queen delivered her Christmas Speech in 3D

This use of new 3D technology came 80 years after George V first broadcast a Christmas speech on the radio and started the December 25th tradition and was the 60th message that the Queen has delivered to the nation and the Commonwealth, in commemoration of her Diamond Jubilee.

How long will it be before we're watching the Queen in 4K?

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In Depth: TechRadar's ultimate Christmas day: our best gifts revealed

Nostalgia, eh? It's that thing that creeps up at you over the festive period. It makes you fondly think back to the days of Christmas past when gifts weren't just iTunes cards and apps, PS4 games and e-readers.

Here the TechRadar team looks back at the tech gifts received at Christmas that they remember the fondest. The ones that made us geeky about gadgets and forget the family squabbling.

Enjoy reading and reminiscing, and thanks for helping to make TechRadar in 2013 one of the most-read technology websites on the planet. Oh, and don't forget to add your tech-mas memories in the comments below so we can all wallow in nostalgia together.

And on that note, let us transport you to the year 1987...

Patrick Goss, editor in chief (UK)

@patrickgoss | +patrickgoss

I remember being so excited when I got a Commodore Amiga 500 one Christmas that I wanted to rush off and plug it in right away, which given that my other pressies were the games was probably a mistake.

I will always have a place in my heart for the Amiga - from Sensible World of Soccer to Cannon Fodder, from Kick Off 2 to Football Manager and from Lemmings to Speedball 2, this was one of the all time great gaming machines. I'll still fight the death with anyone who suggests the Atari ST was better...

Paul Douglas, editor in chief (global)

@pdouglas | +pauldouglas

Aah, the Aiwa tape-to-tape deck I was given in the eighties. Like most ghetto blasters, this hunk of black plastic and metal was too big to comfortably carry around and would have needed about 50 batteries, but plugged into the mains it was perfect for making mixtapes. Of course, there was no Spotify, or even an internet, to stream music to it from but it did a mean job of recording the Top 40 from Radio 1 every Sunday.

Nick Broughall, editor TechRadar Australia

@bruff | +nickbroughall

I remember getting a joint PS One with my brother in the mid nineties. We had two controllers so we could play together like we had with every console before it, but that wasn't enough to stop the arguments. Because the game we both wanted to play was Final Fantasy VII, and the single Playstation just wasn't enough. Nor was the single analogue TV.

Still, we somehow managed to survive, and I still have that copy of FFVII. Although sadly I think my brother has the Playstation to play it on, so I guess we're right back to where we started from...

Desire Athow, editor, TechRadar Pro

@desireathow | +desireathow

Unfortunately, I never got a tech-based gift for Christmas. The closest thing to it was a (paper) Argos catalogue from the late '80s that one relative sent to me from the UK. Flicking through it, I discovered Amstrad, Commodore, Atari, Amiga and so many other tech brands, most of which have now disappeared. It kickstarted my passion (addiction??) for technology, something that lasts till this day and that big, fat bible-like directory of stuff is probably why I am the editor of TechRadar Pro today.

Dan Grabham, associate editor, TechRadar Pro

@dangrabham | +dangrabham

My favourite Christmas tech memory was when my parents bought me an Acorn A5000 computer (which was a next-gen Archimedes with the ahead-of-its-time RISC OS). I'd wanted one for ages and they really pushed the boat out as they were quite expensive, (although they used it as well). I was about 11 or something at the time. My friends used to come around after school and we'd play games like Stunt Racer 2000. And eat Jaffa Cakes.

Marc Chacksfield, deputy editor

@mchax | +marcchacksfield

While my first proper tech memory was inheriting my uncle's Atari 2600, the best tech present I ever received was a small, plastic watch... that turned into a frickin' robot. It was around 1985 and I was really into Transformers, so a watch (which after hours of looking on the web, I think was the Quartz Robot Watch) that 'transformed' blew my tiny mind.

To be honest, the watch probably broke every health and safety regulation going - I remember its legs and arms falling off a lot - but I didn't care. My watch could tell the time AND become a robot - nothing since has excited me as much. Well, not until I saw Sonic blast through Green Hill Zone catching all those rings a few years later.

Gareth Beavis, phones and tablets editor

@superbeav | +garethbeavis

My best ever gadget was the first ever Nintendo console. The NES. The greatest day in my childhood.

It came with the Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt combo, and even had the light gun. I played it all day long, switching between the games, and quickly became adept at puffing air on the cartridge to make it work.

In a way I've never hit those heights again - subsequent games and even consoles never matched up to that joy. I'd liken it the way the first astronauts felt, knowing that the rush could never be repeated, as adulthood has wiped away all vestiges of my childlike wonder.

Kate Solomon, news editor

@katiesol | +katesolomon

There has never been a games console that has smelled as good as the NES. It's pretty much the only thing I remember about Christmas '92 - the almost burnt smell of fresh plastic mingled with woody cardboard and polystyrene, the tang of Christmas tree, the smokey coal of the open fire. I didn't even know I wanted a NES until I ripped the paper off and saw the box because you weren't a hashtag gamer if you had a NES or a Megadrive, you were just a lucky kid who was about to lose a year praying at the altar of Nintendo.

John McCann, phones and tablets writer

@jjmccann | +johnmccann

Let's travel back to 2000. All my friends (and even my dad) have the Nokia 3210 and are rubbing it in my spotty, pubescent face. Since school started in September it's been a constant barrage of abuse, but come December 25 I have my revenge... wait... what's this?

A Motorola T180. Crap. This isn't a Nokia.

That aside, the T180 will always have a special place in my heart. It was my first mobile phone and kick started a love affair which landed me a killer job.

Kane Fulton, staff writer, TechRadar Pro

@kanefulton | +kanefulton

Funnily enough, I've just bought an Xbox One for myself to unwrap on Christmas day. It'll be sure to evoke memories of when I last took the wrappings off a festive console - an unexpected Sega Saturn with Bug!, Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter inside the box. A Commodore Amiga gamer at the time, I was spellbound by the Saturn's polygon-driven graphics and arcade thrills. I hope Microsoft can emulate that magic on December 25.

Hugh Langley, staff writer

@hughlangley | +hughlangley

For me, it was opening my original Game Boy on Christmas morning – it set the bar to unrepeatable high. I don't remember anything else about that Christmas so I can only assume I was too buried in Super Mario Land to eat or speak to anyone for the rest of the week. It wasn't so much the games that excited me but the idea of being able to play them on the move. Sure, opening my Motorola V550 years later was good too, but I couldn't play Pokemon, could I?

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