Anyone who might be interested in the remotes I'm building, please feel free to chime in and let me know. I'm trying to get a feel for how many I should build on the initial production run.
The units are going to be 2.6x0.9x0.6 inches (resembling a USB thumb drive) and will be all Surface Mount Devices (SMD) except for the battery, the pushbutton switch, the LED and the USB connector. The units will be constructed on a 1/32 inch printed circuit board and should be very professional in both appearance and reliability.
Each unit will be fully tested for proper operation and warranteed for 90 days. The remote will include and 18 inch long USB type A male to mini B type cable (same as you'd use to dump photos from your camera to your PC).
The wireless remote is not included at this time, but any standard Canon EOS wireless remote will work as long as it has the 2.5mm plug. I've seen these remotes range from $25 US to $100 US depending on the features and quality. I have personally tested it with the $25 and $50 wireless remotes and both work perfectly. Possibly later I'll package the remotes with the wireless options.
I'm planning on selling the remotes at either $30 US or $35 US. I'm not making any money on the first production run because the cost of the high quality parts and the small run of the PC boards. Hopefully if the remotes become popular and I am able to build larger production runs, the cost will drop accordingly.
For the techies out there, the remotes utilize a 6 volt battery with a zener diode regulating the voltage down to 4.2 volts. With the pushbutton you will see exactly 4.2 volts, which is entirely safe for the camera. With the wireless remotes there is some small internal resistance (varies slightly by unit) and causes a bit less than the regulated 4.2 volts, The voltage typically drops to about 3.8 volts, which is just fine to fire the camera. I've tested the remote on all my Canon P&S cameras including 1 - A720IS, 2 - A570IS, 1 - S5IS, 1 - A1000IS, 1 - S90, and 1 - G11. It works perfectly on all my cameras.
I will try to post photos of my prototypes soon. I'd also like to post a short movie of the operation of the remote.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely,
Gregg