This Korea Times article says “digital cameras have been taking on additional functionalities in line with a convergence trend cramming as many applications as possible into a single device. Samsung Techwin, the country’s primary maker of digital cameras, plans to lead the way by equipping the cameras with the function of sending a picture to Internet sites wirelessly. “Together with SK Telecom, we are to debut a product early next year with a universal serial bus (USB) slot where a communication `dongle’ can be installed,” a Samsung Techwin official said. “After incorporating the dongle into the camera, people will be able to transmit pictures on the spot to Web sites via SK Telecom’s next-generation mobile network,” the official said.The USB dongle is a thumb-sized portable modem, which hooks up diverse digital devices to connect to SK Telecom’s high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) network. Further,”the versatile digital camera is expected to come to the market by next January. It will enable multimedia messaging, music services and social networking on Cyworld,” an SK Telecom spokesperson said. “In the not-so-distant future, the regular Internet will be added to the possible service lineup of the camera,” the spokesperson said. The convergence crest in digital cameras began several years ago after the devices gobbled up such functions as playing MP3s and even TV programs”.

Digital Camera Gets Smart