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OK, so there is sufficient question out there about whether there are really any phones with infrared. So, here is the list I have personally found with IrSimple. I have not bothered with the slower IrDA 1.0 versions which are 115kbps or even the slightly faster IrDA 1.1 at 1Mbps. Just to prove to myself that the next generation IrSimple with 4Mbps that the Infrared Data Association members are talking about is real.
I will continue to update here when I see new models introduced. Watch this space!
Here is something you don't see everyday - beaming photos from one camera to another.
I came across these Fujifilm FinepixZ cameras at London Heathrow's Terminal camera shop and decided to check it out. (notice the security attachments still on the cameras as I played with them at the counter!)
I took a random picture at the shop with the black camera and beamed it to the pink camera at the counter (see video).
10 megapixel photo beamed in about 6 seconds - not bad! This uses infrared. Definitely faster than Bluetooth. There was no indication if the Finepix camera implemented IrSimple. The button I pressed was simply labelled "IR". The sales assistant did not know that the camera had this capability until I showed it. I sure hope Fujifilm would promote this capability more visibly! A quick check on Google showed that these cameras are already available in UK, Europe, USA and also parts of Asia. So why would anyone want to take a picture and beam it to another camera? I can see the instances when you and your friends on holiday have just taken a group picture and everyone also wants the one. All the cameras pop up and the group hangs around for the next 15 min while one camera after another is used to take 'just another photo'. If the cameras had infrared, the group photo could be beamed to each other at the bar!
Is that all? I suppose if a handphone has the same infrared standard, the camera can beam the photo to the phone too. Now, that will be an interesting situation. I can then imagine camera-to-cameras be primarily beaming photos. But if a handphone had infrared too, the camera can beam photos to it and vice-versa. But the handphone can also beam to each other - other file types can be beamed too. How about music and music videos? Wouldn't it be great if iPhone had infrared?
The big $74million dollar question once you have developed a cool standard is how to get the industry to adopt it quickly. Most industry associations are formed to develop and propagate the standard that is developed.
Some options include whether to provide the standards document free to anyone and everyone who wants it or charge for it, cover only printing costs or other overhead costs too. Or perhaps insist that only members can get access to the standards document, and as members, there are membership dues - which itself is not unreasonable.
The argument gets more complicated if the model gets complicated, such as charging per unit royalties, or charge sliding scale depending on certain criteria. This certainly generates more revenue into the association's coffers but starts impacting whether the model is to create an industry standard or to generate revenue. If early adopters have to stop and think about whether they like the charging philosophy, it detracts from the impulse of jumping on the bandwagon and crossing that chasm.
The fundamental issue for product managers who are deciding to deploy the standard is whether the standard itself has sufficient value to warrant the cost of adding it to the product. Just think of Betamax vs VHS - where Betamax was clearly superior but charged too much and eventually lost to VHS.
The value for the standard has to be high and obvious. These product managers have to be assured through market data or other means that the standard will be demanded by users and if their products do not incorporate the feature, their competition will win. That is always the deciding factor. In this case, then the cost in getting the standard is no issue. Consider Qualcomm - the licensing fee is very high but it was still adopted by many companies because there was no choice!
But if the value of the standard is in question, then there will always be a discussion of price. Once that happens, it is almost better to charge minimally using one of the earlier options - because the objective is to propagate the standard. Without the rest of industry adopting it, the industry association will eventually cease to exist anyway.
So, the best strategy for any industry association is to focus on spreading the word - about the standard, its utility, its adoption and let the resulting demand drive new members to the association.
The diligent developers at IrDA have come up with a new standard that will address most of the complaints about IrDA 1.0, SIR, MIR, FIR, and the alphabet soup. And have called it IrSimple.
Simple to use - you can point any virtually anything that is IrSimple and press a button - and it works.
I say 'vitrually' because it is not clear yet if there are any incompatibilities when real products are produced. And if there are any exceptions, then this will again be a big disappointment because once again there will be products that will be called IrSimple, but not really work - I really hope not!
Anyway, the good news is IrSimple will be 16 Mbps - that is 4 times faster than IrDA FIR! It means we can realistically beam an MP3 file and not have to wait 5 minutes and more!
Unless the Bluetooth SIG has been working secretly for a while, it does not seem they have a high speed version of their well known standard yet.
In addition, the IrDA folks have also agreed that this function can be implemented as a single button push, much like how your remote controller works - and I understand some products will even have its own hardware button on the product. So no more clicking through the menus to find the IrDA function to switch on and then click through to find the file to beam! Hurray! This alone will significantly increase the user awareness of IrDA in any product.
Get more information about IrSimple at the IrDA website: http://www.irda.org