What was the first camera phone? Do you think they knew what was to come?

[Beamin]

Who said "Hey lets take a shitty VGA camera and try to make it put out of focus pictures on a tiny LCD screen? That way in the future we can hold law enforcement in the US to new level of culpability!"

and with that the first camera phone was born.

[Ampera]

It's really up to your definition of camera and phone.

Bell labs created a "Video phone" that was supposed to use it's own specialized network. It cost absolutely too much, and the people who could afford it didn't like it.

If you are talking portable, it would have to be in the 90's as CCDs didn't really become a thing until then.

[bsudbrink]

Arguably, the first solid state digital camera. Definitely, the first consumer available solid state digital camera:

[Vtile]

The first mobile seems to be by Sharp in Japanese markets. I had one Sony-Ericson camera phones back in 2004-2005 totally useless device, the Wolfenstein 3D had more photorealism and resolution. That 5110 were my first phone back in the days. There were all sorts of phone hacks* floating around between teenagers back then as always someone had family member in Nokia or phone service provider ranks.    

* Phone jamming sms messages, free messages / calls from somewhere deep down from the service mode etc. etc. Funny times.

PPS. I remember from that era a one case where Nokia had a battery model that took fire in random cases. What a hell it did arise and they solved the problems. Then ten years later no-one seems to care that Iphones et al were catching fire in normal use. 

[Beamin]

The first mobile seems to be by Sharp in Japanese markets. I had one Sony-Ericson camera phones back in 2004-2005 totally useless device, the Wolfenstein 3D had more photorealism and resolution. That 5110 were my first phone back in the days. There were all sorts of phone hacks* floating around between teenagers back then as always someone had family member in Nokia or phone service provider ranks.    

* Phone jamming sms messages, free messages / calls from somewhere deep down from the service mode etc. etc. Funny times.

PPS. I remember from that era a one case where Nokia had a battery model that took fire in random cases. What a hell it did arise and they solved the problems. Then ten years later no-one seems to care that Iphones et al were catching fire in normal use. 

when its not spying on you its burning your leg and pubic hair off. Meh...