Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a clue how popular smartphones have become as cameras: Apple’s iPhone 4 is quickly approaching the No. 1 spot to become the most-used camera on Flickr.

Nikon’s D90 DSLR camera is still Flickr king, but the iPhone isn’t far behind. The chart below (which includes only the cameras with the biggest shares) suggests the iPhone should surpass the D90 pretty soon. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler was first to make this observation.

That’s not to say general-purpose devices are killing the camera market. Worldwide still-camera sales increased 10 percent to 141 million units last year, according to research from IDC. Canon remains the world’s largest camera maker, and Sony is in a close second.

One thing contributing to the growth of handheld cameras is the advent of mirror-less cameras with bigger sensors and better, sometimes interchangeable, lenses — aka EVIL cameras. These cameras are still a relatively small part of the camera market, though.

The explanation is probably even simpler: Most dedicated cameras still have quality superior to most smartphone cameras, and people want their photos to look good. Plus, these cameras have things that a smartphone doesn’t, like a zoom lens and more-complex controls to change the appearance of photos.

The Flickr data more directly suggests that people aren’t carrying around cameras as much as they do their iPhones — which shouldn’t be a surprise, because which device would you rather keep in your pocket everywhere you go?

The smartphone’s impact on the video world is a bit more interesting. The iPhone has driven massive growth in mobile uploads on YouTube. When the iPhone 3GS released in 2009, YouTube saw mobile uploads jump exponentially each day.

Incidentally, Cisco just killed the Flip camcorder division last week. A few argue that Cisco made this decision solely because it no longer wanted to focus on consumer products. However, that’s a bit difficult to believe when you consider that smartphones shoot video that’s just as good, if not better, than a Flip. Plus, they have an internet connection to send videos straight to the web.

In the case of the Flip, Cisco didn’t adapt to the changing, increasingly interconnected world where people want to share videos and photos as fast as they create them. That left an opening that smartphone vendors are happy to fill.

However, camera vendors are making the right moves by focusing on quality images and a wider range of features to keep still cameras alive and well.

See Also:

• iPhone 3GS Driving 400-Percent Growth in YouTube Uploads
• Creepy Bug Gives Some iPhones Unwanted FaceTime
• Just How Bad Is the iPad 2 Camera?

An image of the FlipLive, the camcorder Flip was going to reveal April 13. Photo: Gizmodo

Cisco axed the Flip business division just a day before it was supposed to debut a live-streaming Flip camcorder.

Called the FlipLive, the camera would have been able to stream video to Twitter and Facebook, or e-mail a link to a real-time video feed, using Wi-Fi. Gizmodo got exclusive access to images of the device, which sports the Flip’s signature candy bar design.

Live-streaming content used to only be available to big-budget news teams with large, satellite-laden trucks. Today, most smartphones and tablets are equipped with cameras, making it dead simple to upload media to the cloud.

But live-streaming continues to be a bit more of a hassle, requiring a smartphone, a hefty data plan and an app for broadcasting live video such as Ustream. Combine this with the unreliability of U.S. 3G networks, and it makes live-streaming a pretty difficult feat.

FlipLive, which relies on Wi-Fi rather than 3G or 4G services, sounds like it could have been a pretty cool gadget, providing kids, soccer moms and citizen journalists with a simple way to deliver live footage to an audience for a low price. But alas, it will probably never see the light of day.

On Tuesday, Cisco officially shut down the Flip camera business. Blame for Flip’s demise has been placed on both Cisco, who purchased Flip maker Pure Digital in 2009, and on the the rise of the smartphone. Rumors of a Wi-Fi-enabled version had been floating around since late 2009, but nothing ever surfaced (until now).

Reportedly, 550 employees will be laid off with the Flip business’ closing.

Exclusive Images of FlipLive /the Giz

Cool your jets, buster — Cisco’s still no closer to rejoining the consumer realm. If you’ll recall, this here Android tablet was actually introduced at the front-end of the year, but it remains one for the business sect. Rivaling the PlayBook as the working man’s tablet, the Cius is now orderable through your Cisco field representative and / or authorized Cisco channel reseller. Of course, tracking him / her down on a Friday is another thing entirely, but you can expect the first shipments to go out “this month.” Excited? Jazzed? Bubbling over? You betcha.

Cisco’s Cius Android tablet now orderable, requisite ‘field representative’ still MIA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The retro-looking Flip Mino from 2008 contained 2 GB of memory for storing up to one hour of video. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Cisco is shutting down a business unit that it bought for over half-a-billion dollars: the Flip camcorder division.

That’s a shame, considering how high the Flip was flying a few short years ago. It’s also a waste, considering that Cisco bought Flip from Pure Digital only two years ago for a cool $590 million. But Cisco probably had to act fast, because its earnings fell 18 percent in the second quarter of 2011, and CEO John Chambers had to show he was doing something decisive to stanch the flow.

It’s not like the Flip was doing that well of late. When was the last time you saw someone actually using one of these low-quality, “good-enough” Flips? Probably about two years ago.

Just what murdered those cheap, adorable camcorders? The obvious culprit is the general-purpose smartphone. When iPhones and Android phones began shipping with decent cameras for shooting stills, the Flip seemed excessive. When phones got HD video recording, the Flip was downright redundant.

But the smartphone wasn’t the sole cause of the Flip’s fate. The Flip would still be around if Cisco had bothered at all to adapt to the market. After all, there are plenty of camera businesses like Canon that are still alive and well.

Here are a few reasons why the Flip flopped.

Smarter General-Purpose Devices

Let’s get the obvious reason out of the way first. When Steve Jobs introduced the camera-equipped iPod Nano in 2009, he made it clear that the Flip budget camcorder was Apple’s primary target.

“We want to get in on this,” said Jobs regarding the budget-camera industry, while showing a slide of the Flip at the 2009 iPod event.

Why buy a cheap camcorder if you could buy an iPod Nano that shot video, too? In addition to the Nano, Apple had already released the iPhone 3GS, also capable of capturing standard-definition video.

Eventually, a slew of Android smartphones also shipped with video-capable cameras, and so did Apple’s iPod Touch. The iPhone 4 and others brought HD video recording to smartphones, eliminating the Flip’s last possible advantage. Suddenly, the notion of carrying around a cheap camcorder in addition to a general-purpose smartphone or iPod seemed impractical — extra bulk in your pocket. A slew of general-purpose devices made the Flip irrelevant.

The Shift to Real-Time Social Networking

The Flip probably wouldn’t have been murdered so easily if Cisco had caught on to something that’s been trendy for years: real-time social networking. To make that work, the Flip would have required an internet connection.

You’d think that would be an easy addition, considering that Cisco is a networking company.

After Apple released the video-equipped iPhone 3GS, Cisco should’ve quickly shipped a Wi-Fi–enabled Flip for customers to immediately shoot and post media on social networking sites such as Flickr and YouTube.

Instead, existing Flip camcorders require a wired connection to a PC in order to transfer the files and upload them to a website. That’s old-school, PC-centric social networking. These days, people like to share their media wherever they are, when it’s happening. Because the Flip lacked a wireless connection to the internet, this was another reason to just buy a smartphone.

Here’s where the Flip had a chance to survive. Kids love social networking and sharing pics and video, and they can’t afford smartphone plans. An affordable, cheap camera with an internet connection would’ve been pretty compelling.

Furthermore, Flip customers didn’t particularly have anywhere they belonged to feel special. Cisco could’ve bolstered an internet-enabled Flip with a unique social network made just for Flip users.

To be fair, evidence shows Cisco was trying to ship a Wi-Fi–enabled Flip, but it moved too slowly. At this point, smartphones are already too far ahead, with popular social media apps such as Instagram and Ustream making them even cooler.

No Compelling High-End Option

Cisco’s line of “high-end” Flip products are yawn-inducing. The high-end Slide HD ($230) includes 16 GB of storage, 720p video and 2x video zoom. For the same price, a low-end iPod Touch includes 8 GB of storage, 720p video, an internet connection and access to hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store. Which would you choose?

If Cisco had focused on optimizing the high end of its Flip camera line, it would’ve offered a compelling reason to buy a Flip versus a smartphone or iPod.

Imagine a high-end Flip with a Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection, 1080p video, a decent zoom lens, and a touchscreen with apps made just for Flip video and photo. A solid, premium multimedia device would’ve enabled Flip to stand out among the “jack-of-all-trades” multifunction devices out there.

But alas, the Flip is dead. RIP, Flip.

Oh Flip, how far you’ve come. And, of course, how far you’ve fallen. Once a spunky upstart with oddly shaped camcorders, you got snapped up by Cisco in Spring of 2009 for a hefty $590 million in stock. Now, according to Pocket-lint, you (and your moustaches) are done for. Cisco CEO John Chambers says the brand is being dispatched as the company refocuses, done in by the proliferation of high-definition sensors into smartphones and PMPs and the like. We had been waiting for the company’s next products (if you’ll recall, a WiFi-enabled Mino HD hit the FCC just a few months back), but at this point, it looks like those hopes and dreams will remain unfulfilled. We’re awaiting comment from the company, and will update as it flies in.

Update: Looks like the “exit of some consumer operations” will lead to 550 employees being left out of work. If you’ll recall, the outfit reported in February that sales of consumer products sank 15 percent, while profits slipped 18 percent as margins slid for a fourth consecutive quarter. Meanwhile, Umi will be integrated into the company’s TelePresence product line and operate through an enterprise and service provider go-to-market model. In other words, Skype just ate Umi’s lunch.

Continue reading Cisco killing Flip line of camcorders, axing 550 employees in restructuring effort

Cisco killing Flip line of camcorders, axing 550 employees in restructuring effort originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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