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QuickCam for iPhone is quick
As we use our iOS device cameras more and more, we get interested in squeezing out better performance from the built-in camera. That's where QuickCam comes in. It's a US$0.99 app (introductory sale price) that works on the iPhone and the iPad, and the name says it all. QuickCam is really, really quick. In my tests, the app started about a second faster than the stock iPhone camera. Most important for some users, it has a burst mode, where it will fire off a series of pictures very quickly. It is sort of like the old motor drives that started out on film cameras. It's nice for sports photography, and anything where shooting rapid images is important. QuickCam also takes video, with a twist. While you are taking a video, you can grab stills at the same time, which is definitely a neat trick. Other nice features are a single tap to set exposure and focus at the same time, and a double tap, which sets exposure only. Flash is supported, and of course, both the front and back facing cameras can be used. Saves to the camera roll are very fast. Even in burst mode, as soon as you are done taking your photos, everything is in the camera roll and ready to go. %Gallery-119331%
Logitech's flagship QuickCam Vision Pro is Mac only
Logitech, a name long synonymous with PC webcams, just announced its newest, flagship camera which -- are you ready? -- is Mac-only. A move which, quite honestly, makes us feel, well... dirty. The USB 2.0 QuickCam Vision Pro works with iChat and Skype and features a 2 megapixel sensor, a quick autofocusing Carl Zeiss lens, and the ability to record VGA video at 30fps while mounted to your display or, redundantly, to your MacBook which of course have featured an integrated webcam for the last few years. Hitting shelves across Europe and the US in July for $130. See this chunk of a webcam attached to an Apple Cinema Display after the break.
Skype and Logitech introduce 30fps VGA High Quality Video
Skype users, rejoice: eBay's VoIP giant has just given video calling a major kick in the pants by teaming up with Logitech to create a platform capable of displaying your ugly mug in full VGA glory at 30fps without the inelegant hack. With the release of version 3.6 for Windows (sorry Mac users, but you have your Leopards to play with), Skype now supports High Quality Video when employing one of three Logitech webcams already on the market -- the QuickCams Pro 9000, Pro for Notebooks, and Orbit AF -- along with a dual core-powered machine. Of course, performance is highly dependent on your internet connection as well; the HQV spec calls for a minimum of 384kbps, and both parties will probably require more than that if they want to avoid throttled frame rates. Updated software (v. 11.5) already being rolled out will teach supported QuickCams their new trick, bringing with it the all the facial imperfections and embarrassing quirks that are likely to remind us why video calling has never really caught on in the first place.
Logitech's QuickCam Pro 9000 and Notebook webcams bring Carl Zeiss glass
Logitech just stepped up their webcam game with the introduction of a pair of $100 QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks. These are the first two webcams to carry a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens under a new exclusive deal 'tween the two. Besides the highly touted optics, the cams feature a less than 3 second auto-refocus time, a 2 megapixel sensor, recordings at 30fps and 960 x 720 pixels, and compatibility with Skype and all the other popular PC video messaging applications. Both should ship in Europe and the US before July is done. Read -- Carl Zeiss deal Read -- QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro
Logitech unveils QuickCam / QuickCam Deluxe webcams at CeBIT
Just a few days after the zaniness that was PMA came to a close, yet another massive trade show is opening its doors, and Logitech is making sure its presence is made known. The peripheral company is kicking out a duo of new webcams aimed at notebook users, presumably feeding the flames of the video chatting bunch that we've become. Both the QuickCam and QuickCam Deluxe (pictured after the break) boast 1.3-megapixel sensors, offer up 24-bit VGA video at 15-frames per second, and a manual focus lens to boot. Both units also sport the company's proprietary RightSound technology, which purportedly throws in a dash of noise suppression, while the RightLight system supposedly allows you hold a video conversation in all but the dimmest situations. Additionally, the pair should play nice with Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and AIM, and of course, Vista users won't have any issues loading either of these up. As expected, these diminutive webcams seek to perch atop your laptop's display, and while the vanilla QuickCam will only run you $39.99 when it lands in US / Europe next month, the QuickCam Deluxe (and its "intelligent face tracking") will demand $59.99 when it launches alongside.
Logitech's "high definition" QuickCam Ultra Vision
While the iSight built into your new Macbook (or any laptop-integrated webcam for that matter) might meet your day-to-day needs, Logitech is hoping that their new QuickCam Ultra Vision can significantly raise the production value on your next YouTube masterpiece. For $129, you get a mostly glass lens -- there are still a few plastic elements in there, just less than usual -- that'll open all the way up to f/1.6, making acceptable results possible even in darkness that would turn normal cams into digital noise-filled nightmares. The press release also boasts "high definition" capability from its wide format, interpolation-free 1.3-megapixel sensor, but skimps on the hard resolution numbers, with the product page only making mention of its capability to do "live video up to 640 x 480" at 30fps. (That doesn't sound very HD to us.) Other amenities include a 4-megapixel (there's the interpolation) still camera, USB 2.0 connectivity, RightSound microphone, a heap of cheesy effects and the RightLight 2 metering system, which promises "twice the image clarity of conventional webcams." If you still feel your cinematic needs aren't being met, you can check out the rest of the updated QuickCam line, including the Orbit MP, Fusion, Pro 5000 and the Communicate STX, all which received minor spec bumps. These all should be available by the end of August, so you still have a little time to clean your room before exposing it to the world -- or at least your Skype contacts. [Via Tech Digest]
