Swann's MovieStick begs to be used for nefarious ends

With all the layoffs we've been seeing lately, it looks like an increasing number of tech professionals will be going mercenary in order to pay the bills. Of course, Engadget does not condone industrial espionage in any way, shape or form -- but if you do happen to find yourself "in the cold," as Le Carré used to say, you might consider Swann's MovieStick. This thing is small enough to fit inside a packet of gum, includes a lithium-ion battery (rechargeable via USB) and can store up to 2.5 hours of video on a 2GB MicroSD card (not included). There is no word yet on release date, video quality or battery life, but we're sure that this $119.99 (retail) beauty is just the trick for all those patented industrial processes you plan on stealing. But don't steal them. For realz.

[ML @ Nov 7th 2008 7:36AM]

Screeners just became easier to film?

[Wwhat @ Nov 7th 2008 2:56PM]

Haha. ya I've seen screeners that were probably shot with such devices, well saw the first 7 seconds before deletion I mean to say.

[Anon @ Nov 7th 2008 7:34AM]

Been around for a while - http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/24/micro-camcorder-dubbed-the-worlds-smallest/

Swanns just bought them off ebay for $30-40 and then tripled the price.

[Chris @ Nov 7th 2008 7:54AM]

2.5 hours on 2 gigs is 1.25 gigs an hour.
1.25 gigs is approximately 1280 megs.
1280 megs divided by 60 minutes is 21mb per minute.
Must be some high quality stuff then? Right?

[Tim Brown @ Nov 7th 2008 9:09AM]

You got your math the wrong way round, its 2/2.5 which is 800Mb per hour or 13.3Mb per minute. So from that you can guess that it will probably be a 640x480 quicktime video, mpeg 2 DV quality or if your lucky (ignoring the noise problem) 720p.

[Evan @ Nov 7th 2008 7:58AM]

"...is just the trick for all those patented industrial processes you plan on stealing."
If it's patented, there's no need to steal it. Just download the patent on www.google.com/patents.

[iEye @ Nov 7th 2008 8:00AM]

Great, just what I need to swipe that secret new formula for WRIGLEY's "wintermint gum"... the ironing is delicious!

[SirPhunkee @ Nov 7th 2008 10:13AM]

"the ironing is delicious" ?? LOL

all your typos are belong to us

[gar3 @ Nov 7th 2008 12:42PM]

It's a Bart Simpson quote, my man.

[SirPhunkee @ Nov 7th 2008 7:47PM]

I see, didn't know. So that would be the joke then. Got it.

So the real irony is my failure to get the ironing joke. It's like an infinite ironic loop.

[Homer @ Nov 7th 2008 8:16AM]

Mmm, very wrigley.

[the movielife @ Nov 7th 2008 8:21AM]

Where's the read link?

[Mike @ Nov 7th 2008 8:30AM]

resolution is 176×144

[who? @ Nov 7th 2008 7:30PM]

640*480 AVI vivid Video/Audio Spy DVR stick

http://cgi.ebay.com/4GB-640-480-AVI-vivid-Hide-Cam-Spy-DVR-video-chat-stick_W0QQitemZ220305790563QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item220305790563&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

So yeah- 640x480 resolution

[NHAnimator @ Nov 7th 2008 8:35AM]

Gum comes in pellets now?

[absinthe party @ Nov 7th 2008 8:37AM]

Err, is this thing so secretive and spy-gadgety that I can't even see the picture and you don't give me a read link?

[Danial @ Nov 7th 2008 8:59AM]

I just happen to be in the market for a security camera system, and was flipping through "Super|Circuits #91"(A surveillance magazine) and on page 62 the have the exact same thing without the Swann logo, marketed as "Super mini DVR with built-in camera."

Some specs, to help you guys out:
Records at 30fps @ 176x144
Weight is 0.63 ounce
Dimensions are 2.87"x0.78"x0.43"

The two hour limit isn't because of the SD card, but rather the battery life. I'd give a read link, but I'm not sure there is HTML markup for linking to pages in a magazine.

[Jason @ Nov 7th 2008 9:13AM]

Both link and picture are down?

[aardWolf @ Nov 7th 2008 10:33AM]

So, does this thing have a camera? Because based on the blurb, I was thinking it might be a mini projector, or perhaps an MP3 player with video storage.

Is the name "MovieStick" supposed to be instantly recognizable as to its purpose?

[alex @ Nov 7th 2008 5:56PM]

Bought one off ebay for 80 bux barely ever use it the video quality is worse than a xbl webcam

[LongshotX @ Nov 7th 2008 12:04PM]

http://cgi.ebay.com/2GB-Micro-Audio-Video-DVR-Spy-Camera-Camcorder-CCTV_W0QQitemZ170276727280QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item170276727280&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

[inteller @ Nov 7th 2008 2:09PM]

"excuse me sir, would you mind repeating that, and would you like a stick of gum?"

[JeffEd @ Nov 7th 2008 2:41PM]

Seriously guys, this has been on Brando for months.
And it's nearly worthless because both the sound and audio quality would be unusable for the already very few scenarios where having A/V evidence is worth anything. The only thing it would work for is finding out if your little brother is trying on your sister's clothes or if you need to record a conversation, both of which could be done better with cheaper dedicated devices.

[Duh @ Nov 7th 2008 5:37PM]

Lots of potential uses:
Blurry video of super secret new gadget?
um, homemade super secret porn?
film where a bigger camera can't go? (or did I say that above?)