Promote Systems recently released Promote Control, an advanced remote control enabling you to remotely connect to your Digital SLRs, change settings, perform mirror lockups, do an HDR setup or remotely take photos. For $299, you get a piece of HW that fits in the palm of your hand, has a small b/w LCD screen and a few dials for selections and remote capture.
What does this have to do with the iPhone? A lot more than you think..
My first thought when I saw this product was: Why did they not release this on the iPhone or the iPod Touch? Upon closer inspection, probably 90+ percent of all its hardware requirement would have been met or exceeded by the iPhone. For some DSLRs, everything could have been done in software on the iPhone. For others, a HW add-on, now possible through iPhone 3.0, would have been needed to connect the camera with the iPhone through a shutter cable (or wirelessly). Thus, Promote Systems might have been able to save hundreds of thousands of dollars on hardware development cost and been able to offer this product at a $129 or even $99 price point.
Of course I realize that the iPhone was not where it is today when Promote Systems started the development of this product. But going forward, the iPhone and the iPod Touch, esp. if the latter will be released in the fall with the same or better camera than the iPhone, will deliver on almost all the HW requirements that this product has. And many other devices as well.
By no means do I want to pick on Promote Systems — in fact, this problem or opportunity is certainly being faced by a lot of hardware/software companies today. Do I rely on Apple’s HW and have the chance to bring out my product quicker and at a totally different price point or do I still need to make big investments to develop and design my own hardware? How much can I rely on Apple being my distribution channel and the lack of predictability that my app/HW will get re-approved in the future?
I’m not sure Apple is aware how much potential the iPhone 3.0 hardware interface has to disrupt industries other than the ones Apple targets. Nor how exciting or tempting the iPhone / iPod Touch could be as a hardware platform for many developers. But with that opportunity comes an obligation to Apple – as more and more companies stake their future on Apple or Apple as a distribution channel, the expectation will continue to rise that Apple will deliver, be transparent and provide a level playing field for all participants in these markets.
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