28 June 2008

Weekend reading - Ricoh Camera
Shows Drool Worthy Hardware Inside

Mark Rutherford of C-Net's News Blog has published an article on a new geotagging digital camera from Ricoh, the 500 SE-GPS.

What caught my attention was some of the equipment and capabilities of the camera. I always read the hardware contents of gadgets, and when I read it had a GPS module with a built in digital compass, and was able to record location and directional data into the geotag, I immediately impressed!

When I found it also includes a laser viewfinder for also measuring and recording distance from the subject, my jaw dropped and I was as green as Kermit the Frog with envy!

This is exactly the type of hardware Nokia's Nseries must bring to the LBS table. Maps could stay oriented in 3D view without cost. Geotags would have the location of the photographer, as well as the exact distance and direction from said photographer to the image subject.

Maps could include points of interests, with attached landmark image views that could take into account the perspective of the landmark to the user. The laser rangefinder would make a device popular with golfers who could use it as a caddie assistant, finding distances to holes.

Hardware is more capable everyday. It makes me wonder what is in the near future. It also tells me today's technology is ripe to grace mobile devices, and the next 5 years will be exciting for the mobile data industry.

Mobile devices will soon surpass desktop PC's, and peripherals and low cost distributable and removable storage media must evolve soon to speed that progress. The future seems bright for gadgets, and will reveal futuristic Star Trek like features later than previously expected, but sooner than most expect today.