It will be interesting to see what the students of America will set into motion to get at the prize in this competition - news services have already made the mobile camera to a part of their normal repertoire, with pictures and videos from the hurricane Katrina, the tsunami disaster and similar events having been taken with such.

In Norway, several major newspapers have made it possible to send pictures of ongoing events directly to the tip-phone, and what might be most amazing is that the pics and vids are ready to go the minute they tick in. With a variety of quality steps available, the pictures and videos are often put unedited directly onto the pages of the morning paper. This isn't a trend that will turn - rather, as cameras get more sophisticated, there will be an increase of this use for them. Not that they will replace the SLR's, but admit it; it's easier to flip open your phone than it is to set up the SLR.

From an artistic point of view, I still prefer my Hasselblad, and my two Nikon Digital SLR's - there's really no comparing the two, but I definitely see the possibilities. I think the biggest challenge the students that throw themselves at this competition will face, is to think outside the box, and take advantage of what a tiny camera like the mobile ones can do. There are so many possibilities, but as always, with prerequisites that are relatively unexplored, there is a fumbling-factor that one has to get by before the truly great products can emerge. It will indeed be exciting to see if the students can accomplish this.

But what about your own mobile phone camera? What can YOU do with it? Even if you're not a student in the US at the moment, that doesn't mean you can't have fun - and possibly make money from this. The making money part is still very much a luck-thing, unless of course you get a video-blog up and popular. In the mean time, use the phone to capture your kids' first steps, football match highlights, the perfect sunset, a piece of the concert you've been looking forward to for so long, or whatever else you can think of. Send it to your friends and family, upload to your computer and edit to perfection, or just keep it on your phone for when you need something nice to cheer you up.

Just like the students, your own possibilities are endless - only your own imagination will restrain you. :)

Article submitted via Creative Reporter

About the Author:

Gunnar Sommerfeldt is the man behind the Frontman Project, a website dedicated to informative articles, news relay, and updates on diplomacy, foreign affairs and happenings surrounding the EU/US relationship.

The website is meant to spread information on these topics to members of the public in a way that is easily understandable, and accessible to the lay person.

You can view the Frontman Project at http://frontman.vonsommerfeldt.com