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A Sony Camera Running Linux
jonr writes "At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, Sony presented the new camera from its Cyber-shot product line. The DSC-G3 comes with a Zeiss lens with 4x zoom, a large 3.5" touch display, and 4GB of internal memory. Most interesting is the camera's software that includes, among other things, face and scene recognition, based on Busybox and Kernel 2.6.11 for the Access Linux Platform. The camera also has built-in Wi-Fi."
Shh. Quite. The concept that a company can support Linux and DRM could cause some peoples on Slashdot heads to explode.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The last decade heralded the smart cellphone revolution. Cellphones with more and more features including camera, bluetooth, wireless, PDA yada yada.
I think what we are witnessing here is the beginning of the camera revolution. Smart cameras with wireless capabilities. Soon we shall see direct integration with social networks, ability to communicate over Skype etc. Innovation from the other end of the spectrum.
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
I have been watching this happen over and over and over again. Companies developing their products to use Linux but turn around and not support Linux client access. I had stupidly picked up a wireless networked video camera that was known to run Linux on the inside and made a very stupid assumption that Linux client access would therefore be a no-brainer. WRONG! It was Windows only for client access... not even Mac could access it. That was the beginning of the eye-openers for me. It is sad and annoying... they take from the community and then don't give back.
Personally, I just don't buy anything that has the Sony label on it any longer. Not Sony-BMG music, not Sony movies, not Sony games, not Sony cameras, not Sony TVs, not Sony anything else. Sony has burned this customer too many times for me to have any faith in them and so far, I see little changes in their behavior. Their computers are complete crap too, by the way. Sony once had astounding popularity as a name brand, but they have burned more bridges than my own to be sure. I know at least 50% of Japan is anti-Sony. It is amazing that they are still humming along as well as they are.
Whoever tagged this hardhack...
Why? A hardhack involves a hardware modification. This is not the case.
Typical uninformed slashdot person.
Not true. Sony Corp. owns the Sony Group, and has a direct historical and managerial relationship with them.
Nonetheless:
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Sony has no interest in making or selling Linux laptops or netbooks. I wonder why not.
Both cameras and laptops require an operating system. For cameras, nobody cares what it is, as long as the thing takes pictures. As such, Sony has a free hand as to which OS to install. Laptops, are different. Customers care which OS is on their laptop. Customers (like it or not) want Windows on their laptops. If Sony doesn't provide Windows on their laptops, the customers will find another laptop vendor who will.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
It's simple. Sony has multiple personalities. Haven't you never noticed how they sold DVD drives that had features in them whose only use was to make it possible to rip the very DVDs Sony sold?
I think it's pretty likely that the hardware guys at Sony are like most hardware guys: pretty cool (in geek terms). And that the media guys are just like most other media guys: crooks.
Same think for marketing, management, and so on...
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.