Kodak makes wireless leap with new digital camera
Unit sends images directly via WiFi Glitches held up unit’s introduction
ROCHESTER, N. Y.—
After a summerlong delay, Eastman Kodak Co. has begun shipping the first digital camera with WiFi wireless technology to email photos directly to friends and family without a computer.
Users of the new EasyShareOne, priced at $599 ( U. S.), can send photos directly through a Wi- Fi transmitter at home or work, or pay $ 4.99 per month to connect the camera with any of T- Mobile USA’s 6,000 hot spots at stores, airports, hotels and other establishments.
However, subscribers to other WiFi services will not be able to connect an EasyShare-One to those wireless accounts. The EasyShare-One’s LCD screen contains an easy- to- use instruction menu: Shutterbugs can either email pictures and video clips or post them on Kodak’s online photography site. Though the photos are routed through the Kodak site, users can set up their accounts so that the messages appear to arrive from a personal email address. Camera-equipped cellphones offer photo- sharing capabilities but typically produce low- resolution images. The new Kodak boasts 4 megapixels of resolution and a 7.5 cm touch screen — big enough for the camera to double as a portable album. The EasyShare- One, first unveiled in January, was supposed to hit the market in June but ran into engineering, marketing and other logistical glitches.
Japan’s Nikon Corp. looked like it might steal Kodak’s thunder by shipping its own WiFi camera last month. But while the Nikon P1 can wirelessly transfer pictures to a computer, the Kodak is unique in its ability to bypass downloading.
“ It’s the next step forward in cameras. No more worrying about plugging in the cable,” said photography analyst Ed Lee of InfoTrends, a research firm in Weymouth, Mass.