Wi-Fi Usefulness Still Up in the Air - Why Go Wi-Fi?
16 September 2008

With this year's string of Wi-Fi camera releases starting with the Nikon COOLPIX S52c and the Panasonic Lumix TZ50 to the more recent Nikon COOLPIX S610c, it seems Wi-Fi has slowly risen into a marketable feature for digital cameras today. Together with the introduction of the Eye-Fi card last year, a 2GB Wi-Fi enabled SD card which gave almost all cameras the ability to wirelessly share and transfer photos online, could Wi-Fi be the next big thing or next big flop in digital photography?

The Rise of Wi-Fi Cameras Wi-Fi technology for digital cameras first came to light in 2005 when the technology was first based around sending images to a nearby printer or a computer wirelessly. The Kodak EasyShare One camera in 2005, was one camera which took the meaning of Wi-Fi further by extending its usage to uploading images online and emailing them without the need of a computer. Putting Wi-Fi on cameras is actually a brilliant concept and one that encourages the photo sharing process. It makes sharing photos so much simpler, instantaneous, and more common. Moreover, it makes the internet an extra place for storing your photos at times when memory space is lacking. The Shared Drawback While the idea of Wi-Fi can be appealing, most of these cameras often limit you to just using one or two photosharing sites. Not quite so good, when you've been accustomed to using a photosharing site other than the ones provided. The Kodak EasyShare One camera in 2005 tied its Wi-Fi capability to Kodak's own EasyShare Gallery, while Nikon followed a similar strategy initially by allowing uploads to the Nikon COOLPIX CONNECT 2 (now called My Picturetown) on the Nikon COOLPIX S7c. Gradual Improvements While some users may be satisfied with this method of uploading and transferring photos online, both Kodak or Nikon could have done better by enabling uploads to more popular photo sharing sites on the web. This is precisely what Nikon did and gave their users more freedom when the Nikon COOLPIX S50c was launched. Besides Nikon's My Picturetown, users could also make uploads to Flickr, one of the more popular photosharing sites on the web. Since then, this method of photo sharing has continued through to its latest Nikon COOLPIX S52c and the Nikon COOLPIX S610c. As for the latest Panasonic Lumix TZ50, it has chosen Google's Picasa Web Album service as the sharing destination of choice.

Learn from Eye-Fi
While Kodak, Nikon and Panasonic have all delivered sufficiently good Wi-Fi cameras, they could all do better by exploring the option of uploading to a greater variety of photo sharing websites, where many loyal and avid users already exist. It also appears that they could perhaps learn a thing or two from Eye-Fi, a company which started in 2005.

Introduced in 2007, the Eye-Fi card is a 2GB Wi-Fi SD card which enabled uploads to 21 popular online photo sharing destinations, including sites like Facebook and Photobucket, and all done automatically once the camera is powered on. Recognizing the tremendous benefits of such a device, Nikon has also recently collaborated with Eye-Fi on the new Nikon D90 DSLR, which automatically detects when an Eye-Fi card is inserted and manages power settings to make sure that photos upload smoothly for sharing and storing.

Final Word
With all that said, is Wi-Fi as effective as it appears to be? Yes, but the current implementation of this technology still leaves rooms for improvements and it seems that more uploading destinations could help further its popularity on these cameras. There also appears to be a worry about the high power consumption in Wi-Fi usage but frankly, all it takes is an extra battery or two to end these worries. More importantly, if consumers became more aware of this technology, there could gain more demand for Wi-Fi.

With Wi-Fi devices and Wi-Fi hotspots becoming increasingly widespread and popular, Wi-Fi could potentially be a major hit for digital cameras as well. With countless photos taken from parties, events and other social gatherings, Wi-Fi cameras make sharing of these photos so much more quicker, easier and less photos forgotten.