Originally posted by monochrome I spoke directly, personally, with Jim Malcolm about this (in a conference with ten other PF members posted in the Q Forum). He told me Ricoh had extensive discussions with Apple and others over the course of more than a year, but Ricoh decided they simply weren't willing to comply with (particularly) Apple's requirements if Ricoh was to make use of the API and apps.
Apparently, that decision closed the on-board Wi-Fi door, so they worked with Eye-Fi to develop the card-sensing Menu system and with Flu to develop the card. Ricoh isn't stupid, folks. There's a reason for this solution.
I can understand those reasons from a development perspective, but from a consumer standpoint the Flu card is a poor and expensive alternative. It adds $100 to the cost for a feature that many customers are coming to expect standard in gadgets. Unless I had an existing catalog of Pentax lenses, why would an upper-entry level consumer choose the KS-1 over the WI-FI enabled Nikon D5300, which also has an articulating screen, GPS ($249 extra from Pentax), three colors and of course "more megapixels"? The specific colors of the KS-1? The LED lights on the front?
I'm sure they have crunched the numbers and think they know how many sales they will lose, but it's hard to put a value on being perceived as low tech in a field where they certainly aren't.
Personally, I was very disappointed with the remote control options offered by the Flu card. I hope they don't think they are done with it if that's where they are pinning their WiFi hopes.