Issues in implementing services for a wireless, web-enabled digital camera

The competition in the exploding digital photography market has caused vendors to explore new ways to increase their return on investment. A common view among industry analysts is that increasingly it will be services provided by these cameras, and not the cameras themselves, that will provide the revenue stream. These services will be coupled to e-Appliance based Communities (A2B (TM)). In addition, the rapidly increasing need to upload images to the internet for photo-finishing services as well as the need to download software upgrades to the camera is driving many camera OEMs to evaluate the benefits of using the wireless web to extend their enterprise systems. Currently, creating a viable e-appliance such as a digital camera coupled with a wireless web service requires more than just a competency in product development. This paper will evaluate the system implications in the deployment of recurring revenue services and enterprise connectivity of a wireless, web-enabled digital camera. These include, among other things, an architectural design approach for services such as device management, synchronization, billing, connectivity, security, etc. Such an evaluation will assist, we hope, anyone designing or connecting a digital camera to the enterprise systems.