Future Watch

New Design for Cheaper Digital Cameras

A new design guideline for digital cameras should make these devices work better with PCs and cost less. Started by Intel and supported by HP, Eastman Kodak, Microsoft, and others, the Portable PC Camera '98 Design Guideline places the responsibility for compute-intensive tasks (such as image decompression and enhancement) with the PC processor instead of the camera. Only minimal compression takes place in the camera, reducing the compute requirements for on-camera microprocessors. Minimal compression means the cameras will require more storage, which is why the guideline also calls for removable flash memory. Other key components include support for the FlashPix format and Universal Serial Bus. Intel says the spec, by giving more of the image capture work to the PC processor, will reduce the price o f a camera by about $100. But just as important, the guidelines call for smoother integration with PCs. Products based on the guideline should start appearing next year.