Some photos from the first camera phones were pretty bad, remember? Low to medium resolution, 400 px. wide (if that!), and difficult to send to friends and/or expensive to get off the phone.

Those days are quickly passing, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

"Until recently, camera phones haven't been very good at either of the main reasons people take photographs: preserving memories or sharing them. Most camera phones had less than one megapixel of resolution -- resulting in grainy shots -- and no flash or focus capabilities. They could only store a few dozen shots, and many phones couldn't move pictures to printers or PCs without going through the wireless network. Until 2005, pictures often couldn't be shared between different cellular carriers because of a lack of standards," William E. Bulkeley wrote in his article, "Finally, Cellphone Photos Worth Sharing."

The changes are impacting the cell phone industry (new technology and features, more expensive phones), the digital camera industry (declining sales and more layoffs, Eastman Kodak Co. announced earlier today) and the journalism industry.

In fact, citizen journalists have already been able to contribute to mainstream media event coverage through their cell phone cameras. Two recent ones of note: the hanging of Saddam Hussein (captured by a cell phone video recorder and posted on YouTube) and the crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's plane.