So what do you want to watch on your video-enabled cell phone? Sex in the City? Music videos? How about the George Washington Bridge?

Matt Brennesholtz
Insight Media Analyst

WCBS 880 is a New York radio station that provides news and weather 24/7 to the metropolitan area (except during Yankees games). They also provide traffic updates every 10 minutes. But a one-minute traffic update every 10 minutes that covers the entire tri-state region may not cover the intersection, bridge or highway you’re interested in.

There is help, though. WCBS has recently made all 450 cameras in its traffic network available on demand and at no cost to data-enabled cell phones and other portable devices. These cameras are aimed at key traffic problem areas in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Cell phone subscribers with data plans on Sprint, Cingular and T-Mobile, as well as Blackberry and Palm Treo users on any network, can use the service. WCBS says it will expand the service to include Windows Mobile customers soon. The WCBS website contains instructions on how to get the service, including a list of the cell phone models that are supported.

Some of these cameras provide full-motion video, others update every few seconds. In either event, a glance at an intersection (but, please, not while you are driving!) will tell you if a bridge or other traffic choke point is jammed up and should be avoided.

hile the system is free to users, it is sponsored by BMW.  WCBS inserts the ads while images are loading.  Their FAQ says that you can think of the ad as a “Loading” screen or hourglass.  Some people like to look at BMWs, so that might not be such a bad thing.  The service, called Video Cellmate, is powered by 3rd Dimension Technology.  Somewhat surprisingly, these images are not available on your computer, so if you want to plan your route before you leave the office, you will need to do it with your cellphone.

If, instead of driving, you take a New Jersey Transit train to work, a separate service allows you to find out when your train is expected to arrive in your station.

And when you are sitting in traffic, stopped, watching on your cellphone while the police clear an accident on the George Washington Bridge, you can always switch over to the Holland Tunnel and see how much time you would have saved.