Mobile users will soon be able to share images with people they're talking to while they're making a call.
Image Share technology for mobile phones is set to join photo messaging and video calling as the latest high-tech way to communicate pictures by phone. Users will be able to swap images in the middle of a voice call, enabling people to show off pictures and discuss them simultaneously.
Kids chatting about a gig and sharing their snaps of it is one example of how Image Share services could be adopted. An estate agent showing off the latest pictures of a property while talking to a customer is another.
The first wave of Image Share services are currently undergoing trials for interoperability. The first successful tests of the image-swapping gadgetry between devices from different manufacturers have just been completed, the GSM Association (GSMA) announced today.
The GSMA has been instrumental in drawing up guidelines for Image Share service technology, and believes there is a clear demand for such services. A spokeseperson for the GSMA told Tech.co.uk that they expect the first commercial Image Share services to be launched in 1 - 2 years' time.
The first Image Share interoperability trials were undertaken in China Mobile' s labs in Beijing, with Nokia , Ericsson , Siemens , Motorola , Samsung and Comneon supplying the test devices.