Wi-Fi Comes to Cameras, Consoles, and More

TechXNY's Mobile Focus highlights smart phones, connected cameras, and other wireless wonders.

Tom Spring, PCWorld.com

NEW YORK-- Tech firms are hoping it will be a wireless winter, judging from the gear scheduled for the holiday shopping season and previewed Monday night at the Digital Focus/Mobile Focus media event here. The preview is part of the weeklong TechXNY, formerly known as PC Expo.

Wireless wares include a Bluetooth digital camera, a Palm keyboard, and smart phones that can link your Microsoft Outlook software to your mobile phone.

Wi-Fi Goes G

Wi-Fi products supporting the latest 802.11g wireless standard are emerging, with new offerings including a Wireless G line of networking gear from Microsoft and new products from Buffalo Technology and Belkin.

Buffalo Technology is expanding its AirStation G54 series with a 54-Mbps Wireless Ethernet Converter device that supports 802.11g. The $129 unit lets you make practically any piece of hardware a Wi-Fi-enabled device. You simply plug anything--from desktop and notebook PCs to peripherals, console games, and routers--into the unit via an ethernet jack.

Gadget-happy Belkin says to stay tuned for its own 802.11g Wireless Gaming Adapter, due to ship in November. The $129 device will be backward-compatible with slower 802.11b wireless networks. Belkin targets its Gaming Adapter at owners of Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation2 consoles. However, you can use the device to Wi-Fi-enable any ethernet device.

Camera Connects

A 2-megapixel Bluetooth camera is scheduled to ship by Halloween from Concord Camera.

In a demonstration, the Concord Eye-Q Go Wireless Camera was able to transmit images stored on the camera to any Bluetooth-enabled device. After you shoot a photo, the camera will try to detect Bluetooth devices nearby. You select the target device and choose "transmit," and a couple of seconds later the image reaches its destination. The Eye-Q camera is priced at $179 and will ship with a USB Bluetooth adapter.

Phones Get Smarter

Another Bluetooth-friendly device is a smart phone from Sony Ericsson that doubles as a simple digicam.

The stylish Z600 has a clamshell design and supports GSM/GPRS standards. It also integrates many of the advanced functions of a personal digital assistant and a gaming device, and it can transmit stored images via a wireless Internet link or a Bluetooth link.

The Z600 mobile phone has an estimated price tag of $300, and will be sold by wireless carriers this winter, says Ted Browne, Sony Ericsson product marketer. For mobile gamers, Sony Ericsson will offer a $100 game pad that snaps onto the back of the Z600 for a variety of action games suited for the phone.

Also on the mobile phone front, Motorola and Microsoft showed off the fruits of their partnership: the Motorola MPx200 smart phone, announced Monday. The phone sports Motorola hardware running Microsoft software.

In a demonstration, users could access a stripped-down Pocket PC operating system interface. Familiar Microsoft icons offer access to Microsoft desktop-centric applications.

The Motorola MPx200 lets you synchronize your Outlook e-mail, calendar, and contacts either via a PC using a built-in USB 2.0 connection, or wirelessly with a Microsoft Exchange Server. The phone has a memory expansion slot that stores digital audio and video for playback using the MPx200 Windows Media Player.

Palm's Wireless Keyboard

Palm has released a blizzard of handheld accessories targeted at gift-givers. Chief among the product announcements is a wireless keyboard and a 1.3-megapixel camera card.

The Palm Wireless Keyboard uses infrared radio wireless technology, making it compatible with most Palm handhelds. The $70, paperback-size keyboard accessory expands into a smallish keyboard with a shelf on which to place your Palm device. The keyboard will work up to three feet away from most IR-friendly Palms, according to Palm representatives.

While not wireless, another cool Palm device is making its debut this week: a 1.3-megapixel Palm Camera Card for the Tungsten family of Palm devices. The $100 digicam accessory is scheduled to be available in December, according to Palm.