Apple?s fifth attempt of making the ipod Nano catchier are attracting eyeballs for two features-FM radio and video camera. And when Apple adds goodies to its personal music player, you know many more gadget makers will follow. So, it?s hardly surprising to see the latest iPod Nano beginning to ignite action in the video camera market.
Eight years back, Apple identified the consumer need for an easy-to-use portable digital media player. Four years back, it introduced a much smaller size in Nano devices to allow people to carry their devices practically anywhere and even during workouts. And now, it has crammed new features in the tiny player. New goodies include 8 or 16 gigabytes of memory, FM tuner, pedometer and a 2.2-inch screen, besides the videocamera.
For gadget makers, video camera is widely expected to be the new star after touchscreens. As more and more people want to capture memories on the go and share these via Internet, several Swiss army knife-like tech gadgets are likely to add video shooting capabilities soon. Quite a few mobilephones already pack in low-def video cameras. They might not match the video quality of hi-def personal camcorders, but would offer greater fun, simplicity and convenience for shooting. Several compact digital cameras and several mobile phones shoot video too. And if a Nano with a height of 3.5 inch; width of 1.5 inch and depth of 0.24 inch and a weight of 1.28 ounce can accommodate a video camera with a screen of 2.2 inches, practically all gadgets can house one.
Networking giant Cisco is already betting big on the video wave and is riding high on selling Flip. Cisco CEO John Chambers had predicted that video is going to be the next killer app in an earlier interview with FE. Cisco has just launched a multimillion dollar advertising campaign to create buzz around its Flip video camera with user-generated content shot on Flip.
Inexpensive video devices, mobile phones, and Flip cameras ensure that anyone can now create a video on a shoestring budget and share it with the world via video sharing sites likeYou Tube. Neilson ratings show that online video usage is up 53% from last year. Video communications traffic, including video over instant message and video calls, will grow to 10 times its current size in 2013, according to a recent Cisco study.
Obviously, these videocams are not aimed at the professionals but promise to spruce up your video recordings on the go. iPod video quality, for one, is good though nothing compared to dedicated camcorders or devices like Flip Mini. It can?t shoot hi-def video but is good enough for grabbing a quick spontaneous footage for Web sharing. It can capture VGA videos (640×480) at 30 frames per second in portrait and landscape. Micis also builtin, so one doesn?t need an external mic. Video camera, however, is not placed in the best position. You have to turn the device round to get your hand out of the view since the camera is at the bottom of the device.
With people carrying their entire libraries of music and sometimes, movies on iPods, the memory might not be enough for storing home videos. Also, there is no still camera. The new devices are obviously aimed at the Youtube generation and can be pulled out from pocket for instant video capture to quickly post on the Web later. It offers fifteen fun real-time video effects like film grain or motion blur that can be added to videos being shot. From sepia to Xray to kaleidoscope to film grain shoots like an old black and white movie. The only drawback here is that video clips need to be transferred to PC before uploading on YouTube or Facebook.
At the same time, HD video recording is gaining popularity in compact digital camera segment. Among compact cameras priced $200 and above, HD video enabled cameras represent 50% of the units sold in August this year, according to IDC. Also, Nano is not the only thin device sporting a video camera. Among HD-enabled compact cameras in August, 41% were in bodies less than 0.8-inch thick.
This could obviously create a problem of a different dimension as it will make taking videos of people without their knowledge easier. In iPod Nano, for instance, camera is like a pinhole on the lower corner of its back. And if picks up like the other tech goodies promoted by Apple till now, the gyms banning these music players might have a long list of banned gadgets soon.