Remote camera control offers 10-year battery life

Maytel, a Korean consumer electronics specialist has released the Nordic Blue System-on-chip remote control, which is said to offer a ten year battery life under normal operating conditions.

Nordic Semiconductor has announced that Korean consumer electronics specialist Maytel has released the Nordic Blue nRF8002 System-on-Chip (SoC) for remote control of its SD-100 SmartDSLR Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth low energy) DSLR camera. The chip, using a wireless remote and smartphone app, is claimed to offer a 10-year battery life under normal operating conditions.

In operation, the SD-100 SmartDSLR comprises a matchbox sized receiver that is connected to the ‘hotshoe’ metal pad on top of the DSLR traditionally used for connecting an external flash. Once paired with a free partner iPhone or Android app running on any Bluetooth Smart Ready (Bluetooth v4.0 which includes Bluetooth low energy as a hallmark feature) smartphone, the receiver can then be controlled from a range of up to 20 meters and used to set and trigger a wide variety of photographic parameters including manual shutter control, focus, delay and repeated interval timers, exposure times, and number of exposures.

“By using the sophistication of modern smartphones we are able to offer users a much wider range of functions than traditional proprietary infra-red [IR] DSLR remotes with the convenience of using a device they will already be carrying around with them,”” comments Maytel CEO, Steven W Bae. “”In addition, the ability to use a large color touchscreen makes the remote much easier to use then conventional ‘button’ alternatives and will ultimately help the user to be more creative and take even better quality pictures.””

Maytel claims that the use of an ultra low power Nordic nRF8002 Bluetooth low energy SoC enables its SD-100 SmartDSLR to offer a 10-year battery life under typical usage (3-10 shots per day) from a pair of regular AAA batteries. “”Obviously this will actually be beyond the recommended operating life and expiration date of the actual batteries themselves which is why we would advise users to change batteries every 1-2 years even though they will appear to be operating normally,”” adds Bae.

“”Bluetooth v4.0 enabled smartphones make great remote controls of any portable device consumers tend to use outside of the home,”” comments Geir Langeland, Nordic Semiconductor’s Director of Sales & Marketing. “”Compared to traditional button-based IR remotes they offer an incomparably advanced touchscreen user interface allied with previously impossible levels of functionality thanks to the smartphones built-in processing and memory power. And by using Bluetooth low energy wireless technology, smartphone-based remotes benefit from an ultra fast, non-line-of-sight RF wireless link that is unaffected by environmental factors such as direct sunlight.””

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