Recently, Canon announced (again) that it is developing a photo storage device called the Cross Media Station. The details are slim – only stating that it will use NFC technology to store photo and video files from Canon cameras and those files will be viewable on a TV.

It is stated to have networking capabilities as well, but again, details are slim.

In fact, details were more prominent when Canon announced its Cross Media Station in 2010 at the Canon Expo in Paris, which was virtually the same concept.

I have so many more questions than I do answers about this device. If the implementation of the device is anything like the product Canon has been working on since 2010, it probably needs to die.

People want to connect with their cameras to smartphones, not televisions . . . and that smartphone connectivity still needs to be polished instead of creating a TV box to manage (using a clunky remote) the vast quantity of photos and videos we shoot.

Nothing in Canon’s press release, which you can read below, gives me confidence that this will be a product that I would want to own. [Read more…]