While there were so many interesting announcements out of CES I am positive the most important one was overlooked completely by most. For years I have been predicting that video cameras would one day be WiFi enabled and the entire video conferencing industry will grow exponentially once this happens. It was my dream, my prediction, my desire.
Today that dream has come through. Not entirely but enough to say that we are heading in the right direction and the future is bright. What I mean is that WiFi enabling these cameras is only part of the equation. we now need ubiquitous WiFi networks on cruise ships, them, parks and everywhere else video conferencing can be done.
You see, the reason videoconferencing doesn't take off is that there is little to see and worth seeing in our cubes and no one wants to have to dress up to video conference at home. For these reasons the market for video is outside our homes and offices.
The natural first place is theme parks where families will conference with relatives who have broadband connections. The way we see people on the phone in a them park today, we will see video conferences everywhere in the future. I am sure of it. We just needed a catalyst... Something to jumpstart the market.
In my opinion that catalyst is the following camera, the Kodak EasyShare One. This is the first camera I am aware of with an optional 802.11b WiFi adapter in an SD card. This is huge. In theory it will eventually support 802.11g, WiMAX and any other standard that comes down the pike.
Truth be told, this thing cant video conference as there is no way you can see the screen while looking at the lens but that misses the point. This is the first step in our journey towards mobile broadband video conferencing. Thank you Kodak for being a pioneer!
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| Kodak EasyShare One |
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This camera generated more news than I was aware of yesterday. While I wrote this yesterday, over 1,000 people were viewing the following release on TMCnet:
Groundbreaking KODAK EASYSHARE-ONE Digital Camera Wins Two Prestigious Best-of-Show Awards at 2005 CES; Awarded CNET's 'Next Big Thing,' G4techTV 'Best of CES' Honors for Digital Imaging
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/Jan/1106438.htm