DigitaOS

Last updated
Digita Operating Environment
DigitaOS logo.jpg
Developer Flashpoint Technology, Inc
Written in C
Working stateDiscontinued
Source modelClosed-source
Initial releaseMay 20, 1998;26 years ago (1998-05-20)
Final release 1.5 / November 18, 1999;24 years ago (1999-11-18) [1]
Marketing target Digital cameras
Official website digitadev.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001-08-14)

DigitaOS was a short lived digital camera operating system created by Flashpoint Technology and used on various Kodak, Pentax, and HP cameras in the late 1990s. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

DigitaOS debuted with the Kodak DC220 and DC260 on 20 May 1998; [5] both cameras were equipped with PowerPC 800 processors and USB interfaces. [6] In total, it was released on 11 camera models [7] before it was abandoned in 2001. [8] DigitaOS was notable for its ability to run third-party software, [9] a concept that was not again realized until the release of various Android based digital cameras in the early 2010s. [10] [11]

DigitaOS applications were programmed either as JIT compiled scripts using "Digita Script", [12] [13] which ran on the cameras, [14] or AOT compiled programs written in C [15] using an official SDK. [16] The operating system abstracted away most camera functionality and hardware platform differences, allowing software to be compatible with most DigitaOS cameras. [17] Additionally, DigitaOS handled the GUI presented to the user and basic camera functionality. [17]

DigitaOS was intended to extend the features of the camera. Examples of functions provided by scripts included in-camera image database and document generation, in-camera image editing, and custom logo / watermark and/or date imprinting. Printers with DigitaOS could resize photographs without connecting to a computer. [14] Digita File allowed the user to rename and copy image and system files on the camera, while Digita Presents was able to output a slideshow with audio and transition effects. [18]

Because of its ability to run third-party software, several games were ported to it. The most notable of these being DOOM [19] and MAME. [20]

Cameras using DigitaOS

DigitaOS cameras, clockwise from top right: Minolta Dimage EX, Kodak DC290, Kodak DC265 Various Digita-Enabled Digicams.jpg
DigitaOS cameras, clockwise from top right: Minolta Dimâge EX, Kodak DC290, Kodak DC265

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References

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  8. OUT!, Froyo Tam 💽 Ferrite Core DX (2019-07-06). "DigitaOS was abandoned after 2001, with digicams reaching their end of life after just 1 year. The promise of upgradeable digicams quickly burst. The millennium vision of smart devices came to pass, but it wasn't until a decade later the vision was fully realized with Android". @FroyoTam. Archived from the original on 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
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  19. DOOM on a Digital Camera from 1998! , retrieved 2020-05-13
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