Ya'know.. I don't see Canon adopting a standard. I can only guess that if anything, it'll just be cr3. Or whatever.
If they were to make anything open, you know what I'd want? I'd kill for them to release an SDK to allow end users to modify the firmware of their cameras.
No, I'm not holding my breath.. recent history seems to have been a case of Canon dragging their feet as long as possible in adding in new features that end users have been screaming for for years. I just don't see them allowing the end users to add in all the new features that they want. Not to mention the obvious problem that it could result in many more people trying to do firmware flashing resulting in more failures. But in my opinion no flashable firmware hardware system should be lacking a failsafe option that would provide enough functionality to attempt another flash if the first one fails, such a thing can even be done on the Nintendo DS which was never supposed to flashed by end users in the first place.
It's just that I've seen what can be done by the obsessive hacker fan community.. I can only imagine the sort of insanely feature rich operating system that could be developed for the cameras that are already on the market.
As an example.. my common consumer grade cable modem router that distributes the internet connection throughout my house can be turned into a much more flexible tool with advanced security features and even the ability to act like an internet "hot spot" with start page redirects and the like. I haven't messed with it because it does everything I really want it to do now and I don't want to mess with success.. but I could sure use a bit more flexibility in my camera, like definable preset modes (so that in one click I could switch between different shooting styles instead of having to reconfigure many different functions) and the like.
The router upgrades are mainly possible because Linksys (the manufacturer of the hardware) released an SDK for them.. I'm not quite sure why, since they too rely on proprietary feature sets, I'd think they'd have considered that allowing people to expand the functionality of the hardware they already own would reduce the demand for future products.
But anyway.. interesting article, it's nice to see them expanding the use of their CMOS sensors. Dare I hope that that heralds a new generation of big sensor low noise P&S cameras? Eh.. probably not.. but one can hope.