Friday, August 15, 2008

Wireless Cameras

Built-in Wi-Fi has proven to be handy in consumer electronics such as laptops, smartphones, and PDAs (personal digital assistants).Manufacturers such as Nikon and Sony have now applied built-in Wi-Fi support to digital compact cameras so that you have more flexibility over where, when, and how you transfer and share photos. The Kodak EasyShare-One was the first to adopt wireless capabilities (it has since been discontinued), and others followed suit. Nikon offers the Coolpix S51c ($279.95; www.nikon usa.com), and Sony has the Cybershot DSC-G1 ($299.99; www.sony style.com), which both include wireless support. Also, Panasonic has recently announced plans to add wireless capabilities to its Lumix line.

A New Way To Share
Some wireless-enabled cameras give you the ability to email pictures to your friends and family, quickly upload pictures onto your computer from Wi-Fi hotspots, or let you wirelessly connect to other compatible cameras and devices to instantly share your photos.

The Sony DSC-G1 lets you wirelessly share photos between four linked DSC-G1 cameras or through wireless peer-to-peer communication with compatible cameras. The DSCG1 also lets you view photos through wireless transmission to DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)-compatible devices, including televisions and computers. DLNA is an industry standard for many electronic devices. Because consumers often find that their digital devices aren’t always compatible with each other, DLNA was created by some of the world’stop manufacturers to ensure that digital devices could work together. To determine if your computer or any other device is DLNA-certified, look for the DLNA logo, check with the device’s manufacturer, or go the DLNA Web site (www.dlna.org/products) for a list of DLNA-certified products.

DLNA-compatible devices can connect over Ethernet or Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g), so you should be able to send files from your camera to your computer over your wireless network. In the case of the DSC-G1, the camera can send files to a computer, but it cannot receive files from the computer. You can use the Nikon Coolpix S51c with your home wireless network or a T-Mobile HotSpot (after you sign up for a T-Mobile HotSpot account). A T-Mobile HotSpot account gives you access to Wi-Fi in over 8,000 U.S. locations, such as hotels, airports, and coffee shops. At press time, Nikon and T-Mobile were offering six months of free service, which automatically begins the first time you connect to a Hot-Spot with your Coolpix S51c. To learn more about T-Mobile HotSpot services and locations, go to the T-Mobile HotSpot Web site
(www.hotspot.t-mobile.com).

Get the most out of your wireless digital camera by pairing it with a wireless digital photo frame. For example, Digital Spectrum offers the MF-8104 Premium MemoryFrame ($349.99; www.dsicentral.com), a 10.4-inch frame with 256MB of internal memory. You can share your pictures via Bluetooth (USB Bluetooth dongle not included), the Web, or any 802.11b/g wireless connection.You can also share pictures among multiple frames.

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