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The Wi-Fi Cameras are Coming
Vcullen writes "This week will see many 'new' digicams released at CES but few will be more than cosmetic tweaks and updates on current models. However Kodak have just announced something new (for them) - a Wi-Fi enabled digital camera that enables online photo sharing and viewing without the need for a computer. It also has 256MB of internal memory and stores up to 1500 images." Of course, to actually get on a wireless network, a special card is required for the camera, and the firmware has yet to support WEP, so one has to wait until a Q3 2005 update to join most authenticated networks.
canon already have wireless adapters for their high end cameras
hardly a first
and, it's been around for a while, AND has ALWAYS had WiFi ... and you won't believe what this multisession, multiuser camera can do. Too bad they don't have the marketing clout the Big Boyz do, but that is how it goes I guess. I don't know what I would do without the six I have... exactly what was needed and still going great http://www.iqeye.com
ahem, its the online picture service:
"..people can upload the pictures and videos for near instantaneous electronic sharing with friends around the world.
On-the-spot sharing of up to 1,500 favorite pictures, synchronized with a person's PC-based picture collection..."
The camera itself has 256mb of memory, so it will fit a reasonable amount of pictures on, you choose your favorites and upload them to kodak.
You can then steer your family and friends and anyone interested to the site - instantly, certainly cuts out the initial middlestep.
Not a bad idea if you ask me, its like iTunes and the iPod in reverse.
liqbase
The aperature is too damn small, everything comes out grainy, blured, and the quality is just plain crappy.
Consumer camera yes, but Kodak is hardly the first to wifi in a digital camera.
i just recently saw one with a 2 mega pixel camera in it, and i'm sure it's only a matter of time until we see great quality 4 mega pixel cameraphones (4 megapixels seems to be the break point for cheapish snapshot digital photos).
The megapixel count seems to be the big selling point to uneducated consumers. They think that the more megapixels, the better the camera. But in actuality the quality of the picture doesn't usually depend on the pixel count. You can have a crappy lens and a 99 megapixel sensor behind it, and you're going to get a very big blurry, distorted picture. Also, if the sensor is not a very good one, you'll get a picture made of a lot of washed out pixels.
Take an older high end camera where they put effort into giving it a quality lens and quality sensor and compare it to a heavily marketed modern camera with lots o' megapixels. The difference in picture quality will speak for itself. There are lots of 5 mp cameras nowadays, but lots of them still take crappy pictures. They're just BIG crappy pictures.