Cisco said to be buying Pure Digital for around $500 million
Believe us people, popularity pays off. Just ask Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan, who is reportedly scrambling for ways to spend $80 million of the $500 million Cisco Systems is about to hand over in order to acquire the company. Granted, none of this has been confirmed just yet, but TechCrunch has it that the deal is all but done. Reportedly, Cisco's interested in bringing the firm into its portfolio in order to further push high-bandwidth using services. Obviously, user generated HD video fits pretty perfectly into that agenda. We suspect we'll be hearing more on the subject as the work week begins in earnest, but it sure sounds like Linksys is about to get a new cousin.























Smart move cashing out before the coming tax hikes.
Except you don't get taxed for sitting on cash.
Getting $80 million from cisco isn't sitting on cash. One way or another it's going to be taxed.
Wireless Camcorders hmm? Nice.
When is TechCruch actually right about anything? I'll believe it when I see the press release.
dude totally agree. i was going to say the same thing - i'll believe it when i see it somewhere else.
after that last.fm thing I refuse to believe anything techcrunch says
I use my Flip camcorder often. Great product. Cisco will only make it better with their resources. I like this deal and I think it will benefit the industry. Perhaps Cisco will give the Flip camcorder to Linksys and they will put a Wireless G or N adapter into it. Now wouldn't that be nice?
your comment may be right. But it lacks the controversy, flame, or troll that the majority population here only respond to.
I still don't understand the flip. Nowadays, one can simply buy a compact digicam that can also record video (some in HD), have expandable memory, much larger screen, optical zoom, and only a couple bucks more, if not the same price. Oh, and those digicams take great pictures too.
Of course you can just buy a camera instead, but would the video quality be comparable to that of the Flip Mino HD?
@Jacob: The Flip Mino HD is the only one that may sound okay, since it's HD. But no expandable memory? No optical zoom? Casio and Panasonic have digicams that can do 720p for about $250-$300, plus you're getting a great digicam too. Besides, people that are looking into the flip are probably price conscious and only concern in uploading to youtube, thus most will look at the cheaper non-HD models. At the same time, pretty much any low end compact digicams under $150 now can do 640x480 movie.
The flip is commendable for using CMOS sensor, but the lack of expandable memory and pricing are not competitive anymore. Shooting video on an LCD screen that small is just painful.
I've had my Flip HD for awhile now. I really like it, because it's small, it has the side flip out USB connector, and it's while it does have some obvious draw backs, it's still pretty darn decent for the money.
I just hope Cisco doesn't screw anything up.
Is it just me, or is that white cam really ugly? It looks like a spaceship prop from an 80's sci-fi movie...
I've seen their other designs and they are fine. Is that white model the first one ever released or something?
$500M?? No way - Kodak has flip camcorders like the Zi6 that are kicking Flip's butt and they have a total market cap of $600M.
Half a billion sounds overpriced if you ask me.
the fact that you use the word "flip" to describe another camera is exactly why Pure Digital and Flip are worth $500 million
…it's like saying "Kleenex" in place of "tissue"
Why is everyone in the tech industry (and the entertainment industry, for that matter) so eager to sell their birthrights for a bowl of lentils? It's aggravating... not only are they cheating themselves out of future opportunities for chump change, they're only contributing to the market consolidation that reduces competition and ultimately product quality.
How in the world can pure digital be worth $500million?
I could start up new company with a better product for $1m, and sell it to cicso for 1.5million.
The Flips are pretty cool, in that they give you a decent (enough) camcorder for a few bucks, but no one serious about HD recording is going to get one. Cisco getting into the mix, I dunno, not sure what they might want to do with it. Maybe they are just getting it for patents...
Wouldn't the fact that Cisco's official twitterer made a "does not comment on speculation" comment on TC suggests that it is credible?
The Cisco Kid rides again!
the photo that engadget used is of the original flip camera from 2007, not the current models.