Why aren't digital cameras better connected?

The market research company, InfoTrends, recently declared that digital cameras are under threat from smartphones because they offer limited connectivity. I think they have a point. I upgraded my phone a couple of weeks ago and here it is, the Samsung Galaxy Note:


Yes, its 8MP camera is a glorified pin-hole shooter and there is no optical zoom, but it can take surprisingly good stills - the macro mode is especially good - and it records respectable 1080HD video. There are dozens of Android apps that enhance the camera facility, too. But all of that is rather irrelevant to the point InfoTrends is making.

When I take a picture on my new Galaxy Note I can send it immediately to someone via email, to any one of host of social networking sites from FaceBook to Twitter, or I can upload it to my cloud storage or an online photo print service. If I want to take some time and care over my smartphone photography, I can use photo apps to enhance and add effects to my photos before sharing them instantly.

Most smartphones now have WiFi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and the standard or optional software capability to help you get your photos onto the Net. On top of that they can geo-tag your photos because most new smartphones, apart from the very cheapest, also include GPS capability. Other sensors include a digital compass, digital level, accelerometers, and so on. My Galaxy Note even has a barometer, not to mention an amazing 1280x800 Super AMOLED touch screen and a Wacom-designed pressure-sensitive pen stylus.

We're all facing the reality of tighter budgets, and something like a smartphone may well mean a decision to buy a new digital camera is delayed and even cancelled.

Camera manufacturers have been slow to respond to the threat of smartphones. There was a time when smartphones had truly awful image quality and you could make a cup of tea in the time the camera took to respond to your press on the shutter release. That's not really the case any more. Samsung's new NX compact system camera range features WiFi across the board, but not Bluetooth or GPS. Nikon offers a WiFi module for its D3200 DSLR but its functionality is crippled, apparently because Nikon doesn't think its target users are able to grasp the more advanced capabilities of WiFi.

I think one day we will wake up to find that digital cameras will have inherited much of the connectivity functionality that, today, is the preserve of the smartphone. But for the sake of the camera industry that day must surely come sooner rather than later.