Originally posted by Not a Number The problem is the USB Battery Charging spec is only for 5V at 0.5-1.5A 2.5-7.5W. The Pentax battery chargers output 8.4V at 700mA.
USB Power Delivery V1.0 was finalized in July 2012 can deliver up to 12V 3.0 A, 60 W 5.0 A, 100 W and requires "PD Aware" Cables (type-A and B connectors) and PD compliant hosts. So you'd have to upgrade your charging devices to be USB PD compliant as well as having the proper cable..
USB Power Delivery V2.0 was not finalized until July 2014 which requires USB 3.1 which uses the new Type-C connector. So you would either have to upgrade your charging devices to USB 3.1 or have a standalone USB 3.1 charger.
I don't know about you but I'd rather take the battery out to charge it. That way you can just swap in a fully charged battery and not wait for hours for the battery to charge. You also don't have to worry about heat issues from the charging battery damaging both the camera and battery.
---------- Post added 02-11-15 at 06:41 AM ----------
As I recall some of the previews and reviews mention the IR port on front and back.
My D-Li90 charger has a USB input, and I charged a battery that was nearly empty in around 6 hours from a 500mA USB port. Maybe with some sources it will take a bit longer, but so what. I'm trying to charge a small battery, not run a desktop computer. It got a bit warm, but nothing bad. Even when I charge it with 1A (the most it will take) it won't heat up too much. And 5V/1A is barely less than 8.4V at 700mA.
The idea is more to be able to charge the camera over night, top up the battery when traveling for example. Or in emergency cases top up a bit while having lunch. If you need to instantly have a full battery you will of course need a spare and just swap it. It won't help you in all situations. Though if you have 2 batteries, you can only charge one at a time. Charging takes a few hours, so doing it over night is a bit of an issue. But not if you can charge one externally and one in the camera.
Also, another use case could be that you plug the camera into a portable USB battery, so that it gets charged while shooting. It would look a bit awkward perhaps, but it's fine. It can also help you take long exposures for star trails, without having to switch the battery or be located near a power socket. i.e. you'd start with a full internal battery, plug in a USB battery and start shooting. It will take the camera much longer to drain the internal battery, and when the USB battery is drained you can plug in another one to continue without interruption or finish the one inside the camera.
Selfies:
I think normal people like to be on their own photos. Of course photographers became that because that way they could avoid being on family photos...
Selfies have existed since people started taking photos, it's just the name that's new. Pentax wants to cash in on that... well, if that sells cameras, by all means.
I fully agree Marktax.
Funny story monochrome. I thought it was intentionally that way... the point of the LEDs being to indicate the status of the self timer for example.
As for touchscreen etc... perhaps the K-S1 was released premature? It should have WiFi built in to make (more) sense for who they supposedly aimed it at, yet it doesn't.