Spend some time with Philips' Wearable Digital Camera

This little camera doesn't have an LCD screen or a flash, and the pictures aren't that great compared to full featured digital cameras., but that's not the point of this camera. The Philips Wearable Digital Camera is all about having a tiny instant-on digital camera that's always with you and is always ready for some quick shots. We spent some time with it, and here's our review:

We picked up the Philips Wearable Digital Camera mainly to take apart and make some cool hack projects with, as its strong and compact casing makes it ideal for that kind of thing. But as we used it more and more we discovered this is a handy camera to keep attached to your keyring so that you�ll always have with it you. With one hand and one motion you can take pictures in some places where whipping out that 6 megapixel monster or even a cameraphone isn�t appropriate. The camera doesn�t do that well in low light conditions and doesn�t have a flash, so the best pictures will likely be outdoors.

Specs on the Philips wearable digital camera
Resolution: 640 x 480 pixels
Light sensitivity: ISO 100
Still image format: JPEG
Lens aperture: F/2.8
Focus adjustment: Focus free
Min focus range: 27.6 in
Flash: None
Exposure: Automatic
Memory: 64mb or 128mb Integrated
Image storage: 400 / 800 depending on model
Viewfinder type: Optical. No LCD
Connector type: USB 1
Battery: Internal Rechargeable Lithium ion Camera battery charged through USB port.
Body material: Magnesium alloy
Dimensions: (W x D x H) 1.1 in x 0.7 in x 3.4 in
Weight: 1.1 oz

It even works on all of the Mac, PC, and even Linux boxen here at Engadget HQ.

It shows up as disk drive on a Mac or PC:


Info on the device:

Folder view after inserting the camera:


These are the pictures we took (unedited, but we did resize them from 640 x 480 to 400 x 300 to fit on this page):

You can pickup the 64MB version for $99 or the 128MB version for $117 on Amazon.

[John Hughes @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

hasn't this model been on the market for awhile?

[Sparky @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

It makes me wonder how long it is before we have somthing that size that captures a 640x480 video stream constantly. I would really dig being able to record my entire life for future nitpicking/publication.

;)

[PixelBrat @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I've got the new Phillips Key019, which is similar to this cam but records 24 minutes of video at 30fps. (plays MP3's too but I don't use it for that) One difference is it has a miniature electronic LCD in the viewfinder! Great little gadget ! You won't be filming any blockbusters with it but for the size and the money it's great.

[geoff kim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Philips also as a Key010 that shoots at 2MP. Still no flash though...

[derek @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

that camera is pretty sweet for its size.. whats even cooler is that i recognize those shots as coming fromm gasworks park in seattle. thats awesome you're located here in seattle. hey are you guys hiring? hehehe

derek

[Edward Abello @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

My pc is 133mhz, 48 ram memory, win 98, port usb, but it won�t even detect the philip�s wearable camera (64mb) as extra drive, do you have any clue?

[Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

In win 98 you will need to have a driver loaded to see any of these devices. I've had a 128 meg "stick cam" for over a year now, same pic quality, 20 minute movie capacity, 120 minutes audio recording, I use it mainly as a usb drive and a camera for those times I don't have a good one with me.

[Felix @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have a problem. I formated the camera and now I can't take pictures. Waht can I do?

[Carrie Carney @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I did the same thing, amusingly enough. I called Phillips and they told me that I would have to send the camera along with the original documentation/accessories back to them and they would send a new one. You'll definitely want to contact Phillips to get any details I may have forgotten though as this happened a few years back.

[Marina @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Ok guys, I too formatted the camera... However, eventually found out that is suppose to be FAT file format and xp had formatted as FAT32... so I then reformatted as FAT and its working fine now... hope it helps...

[Ricky Van Oostveldt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I must say that Marina's entry helped me greatly.. I had the camera for about 6 months now, but 2 months ago it stopped working, and didn't know what it was.. Until I read his tip, formatted it into FAT instead of FAT32 and now it works again..
Thanks Marina, your help was very useful :oD


//Ricky

[wayne @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Nice camera, but the battery doesnt last long. Anyone know where to purchase a battery for it?