CTIA: Tuesday, 2:12 p.m.

The general consensus here and throughout the industry in general is that wireless imaging applications are going to be very big--and after talking to Upoc, I’m starting to believe it. Upoc is the mobile messaging company known for user groups like “Celebrity Sightings” and “Mullet Watcher”--basically, let’s say someone in New York City sees J-Lo and Ben out for a romantic stroll, types the time, location and other pertinent info into their mobile device, and sends an SMS report out to thousands of fellow celeb watchers across the nation. Upoc is here at CTIA to announce the launch of imaging services, which means you can now take pictures of J-Lo, that guy with the hockey hair, whatever. This is gonna be big, and not just for users.

Here’s the breakdown: There are roughly 40,000 Upoc user groups already in existence--theoretically, each can adopt imaging and become picture groups. For some user groups, it might not be a big deal, but for Celebrity Sightings, Upoc’s largest and most infamous group, it’s quickly going to become de rigeur--why just write about showbiz creeps when you can take their pictures, especially in compromising situations? Picture this: You stumble on Dan Rather murdering a drifter (a weird and no doubt completely untrue rumor floating around CTIA, for what it’s worth)--it’s one thing to send a text message that no one’s going to believe. But the camera never lies.

There are 12,000 members of the Celebrity Sightings group--carriers can do the math. Although Upoc offers gating and refusal mechanisms allowing users to filter out messages users don’t want to receive, the really incriminating stuff is going to be essential viewing for all but a few members--so at 25 cents to 40 cents per MMS message, which Upoc said some carriers are charging, the revenue potential is enormous. Group members without camera phones receive website URLs corresponding to the images sent their way, but for user group diehards, a camera phone purchase seems inevitable. And on top of all that, Upoc is announcing deals with AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile promising MMS cross-carrier interoperability.

I keep going back to a quote I referenced yesterday from PalmSource CEO David Nagel--every app is the killer app for someone. I’m inclined to agree--there is never going to be a killer app that appeals across the user population. But for Upoc’s users, imaging is it. It’s now up to the hundreds of other wireless companies exhibiting at CTIA to introduce their killer apps as well.

We’re not getting any younger, you know.