At one time Cisco was the Hoover Dam of the technology sector. It was strong, majestic in size, and reliable. There were few cracks in the concrete and not a drop of water was coming through to indicate any kind of instability. Today the story for the company is much different. If the company is […]
Many Flip fans are already sporting black arm bands with little red spots in honor of the dying brand, and the New York Times reports there’s more bad news coming. Starting May 12th, all videos uploaded to FlipShare will expire 30 days after they’ve been posted. This applies to videos you’ve already uploaded as well — so you’ve got till June 11th to follow the lead of Google Video users and back up your collection of clips before they disappear into the digital ether. The FlipShare service will continue to live on for another two and a half years, if you don’t mind the one month limit, but clearly Cisco wants users to move on with their video-sharing lives. Check out the more coverage link for instructions on how to export your videos, and let’s have one more moment of silence for the tiny camcorder that could… at least until it couldn’t.
Cisco phasing out FlipShare: 30 days to save your videos originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sure, we’ll never see dreams of a 3D Cisco Flip realized, but Sony’s offering the next best thing: the Bloggie 3D. The latest addition to the company’s line of pocket camcorders was quietly made available this week for $249.99 a pop — $80 more than the recently released Bloggie Duo HD, because extra dimensions ain’t cheap. The camera takes a cue from Nintendo’s latest portable, with a 2.4 inch 3D display that eschews the need for glasses. Or, if you’re not in the mood to squint and don’t mind the eyewear, you can output the video to a 3D-enabled HDTV.
Sony Bloggie 3D now available for aspiring James Camerons everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Last week’s Switched On discussed some of the challenges the Flip camcorder faced trying to grow in the marketplace, an effort abruptly scuttled by an indifferent Cisco. But while Kodak, Sony and others are now poised to fill the Flip void, no competitor exactly matched Flip’s combination of simplicity and sharing. With point and shoot cameras, camcorders, traditional MP3 players and standalone GPS units in decline, the jury remains out on how long portable electronics can fight the smartphone, but Flip’s success taught the industry some valuable lessons that may have relevance going forward.
Continue reading Switched On: A legacy from the Flip side
Switched On: A legacy from the Flip side originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Flip might have died an untimely death, but spring is here, the birds are chirping, and the march of vacation-ready pocket cams continues — Toshiba just announced the Camileo BW10, whose rubberized coating makes it usable in water as deep as 6.5 feet. At $150, it’s a smidge cheaper than other rugged 1080p camcorders, but then again, you’ll pay a premium for models you can use in deeper water. In addition to video, it snaps 5 megapixel photos and has an SD card slot, USB port, and HDMI output, though Toshiba regrettably doesn’t bundle an HDMI cable. Not a deal-breaker? You can nab one in yellow or silver on Toshiba’s site today with an instant $20 rebate.
Continue reading Toshiba’s waterproof Camileo BW10 does 1080p video, 5 megapixel stills for $150
Toshiba’s waterproof Camileo BW10 does 1080p video, 5 megapixel stills for $150 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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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, and the chart below suggests that the handset 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 superior quality 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 400 percent 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:
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:
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
This week’s announcement that Cisco is shuttering its Flip Video business was but the latest twist in the history of the market share-leading device. The Flip got its start after its creator, Pure Digital, modified its original disposable camcorder to be reusable after hackers showed it could be done. And its success continued to defy convention that the product would resonate against a slew of digital cameras and increasingly competent smartphones that could shoot competitive — and even high definition — video.
The Flip also soared above the market share of companies with far stronger brands such as Sony and Kodak, although the latter made gains on a string of hits, including the 1080p-shooting Zi8 and waterproof PlaySport. It even fought back an initial foray from Apple’s iPod nano and was still holding its own after the debut of the latest iPod touch, which took the HD video capture feature from the iPhone and made it available without a contract. Yes, the Flip hung tough. That’s why its cancellation says volumes about Cisco, the company that acquired it for some $590 million in stock.
Cisco needed to show growth with a consumer product line that could not be easily augmented with acquisitions and that derived little connection with the mother brand — even less than Linksys, the company’s networking line. Cisco certainly tried. But the Flip group made a few false moves that stuck out like a pop-out USB connector, and with little of that spring-loaded joy.
Continue reading Switched On: Flip-flops
Switched On: Flip-flops originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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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
Here are the first photos of Flip’s never-to-be launched FlipLive. More »
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