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OmniVision's OV10810 image sensor handles 1080p video recording, 10 megapixel image capture
OmniVision has just let loose its OV10810, hailed as the first native 16:9 CMOS image sensor to enable simultaneous 1080p HD video recording and ten megapixel image captures. The chip is built upon the company's 1.4-micron OmniBSI pixel architecture, and it's obviously aimed at digicams, camcorders and higher-end smartphones. Generally speaking, any camcorder that can snag stills on the side does so at a terribly low resolution, but this bantam slab of silicon would obviously serve as a solution. The technobabble's there after the break if you're interested, and you can commence waiting for this to make it to your favorite smartphone / camera maker... now.
Skype teases video recording and sharing 'as it happens,' inventing synonyms for 'video calls'
It's hardly a secret anymore that Skype will be making some manner of video-related announcement at CES, but now the company's stepping up the hype offensive with a series of teasing videos and tweets. The common thread between the vids is that they're all shot in remote locations or on the move, eliminating the current PC / Mac dependency for video chat and forcing our minds to consider mobile, perhaps smartphone-shaped, devices instead. What Skype's promising is that we'll be able to share our favorite moments "as they happen," which together with all this video recording stuff seems to point to only one thing: video calling on mobiles. Only mystery left now is which platforms will get it when.
Nexus S shows off its camera, video recording abilities
At this point, there's essentially nothing that we don't already know about the Nexus S... except when it'll be officially revealed, of course. But up until now, we haven't had a good look at what exactly the impending smartphone's camera sensor could do. Thanks to an unsuspecting Picasa stream, we're now being treated to a handful of images captured by a Samsung GT-I9020 -- or in other terms, a Nexus S. Better still, someone uploaded a brief video clip of its HD motion capturing abilities, and that's embedded just past the break (horizontal and portrait versions, to boot). Have a peek yourself and see if you're impressed. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Sony A55 / A33 video recording limited by overheating sensor
So this is why the promo video accompanying Sony's launch of the A55 and A33 was set against a snowy backdrop. It turns out that these oh-so-revolutionary translucent mirror shooters can't keep their cool for any longer than 11 minutes when recording video at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius with Image Stabilization turned on. The A55 is even quicker to overheat at 9 minutes, though it's worth noting that with IS switched off you can obtain the maximum of nearly half an hour of footage -- provided the weather doesn't heat up. Sony blames this on the APS-C-sized sensor within, and it' true that plenty of DSLRs come with artificial time limits -- our D5000 won't let us get past five minutes however we try to sweet-talk it -- but it's an irksome limitation to consider if you're thinking of buying either of these Alphas for their otherwise awesome video capabilities.
Droid Incredible now getting big OTA update with 720p recording?
That rumored software update for HTC's Droid Incredible is apparently now hitting some devices, and it's a doozy -- it's impressive enough, in fact, that it darn near gives you a new phone (short of Froyo, anyway). The headline features are the addition of Verizon's mobile hotspot app (for which you'll pay $20 a month for 2GB in order to use) and 720p video recording, a feature that's becoming virtually standard on top-tier smartphones this year -- including Sprint's EVO 4G, which essentially shares the Droid Incredible's camera hardware. You'll also get the Skype app integrated and some other Verizon-related software goodies plus a sweet new boot animation, so overall, you're definitely going to want to accept this update once you're phone notifies you that it's available. Don't be afraid -- remember, it's the evil Droid eye that you really need to fear.
Palm's webOS 1.4 update now available for Sprint, O2 and Movistar phones
No leaks or release date rumors this time, a mere 39MB download is all that separates your Sprint, O2 or Movistar connected Pre from video recording, Flash, enhanced message notifications and much-desired performance and battery life improvements. Verizon, Bell and Telcel customers are unfortunately still waiting for their day in the sun, only specified by the official Palm blog as "soon." Check out Palm's trailer for the new features and the full webOS 1.4 changelog after the break, after queueing up the download of course. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Pegatron on board to make next iPhone, might do 720p video recording?
The silly little sensor in the latest-gen iPod nano might have you thinking that high-quality video recording isn't anywhere on Apple's radar, but if you look in the smartphone space, HD video is shaping up to be the next gotta-have-it feature among the world's most buzzworthy handsets -- and sure enough, we're getting some hints here that it'll be on board the next iPhone. Remember that mysterious "N89" device in the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK? We've been tipped off that a gander at the MediaValidator.plist file reveals a few telling stats: the maximum video width is up from 768 pixels to 1280, and the maximum number of pixels per frame is up to 921,600, which just happens to work out to 1280 x 720. The device's AVC profile has been bumped from 3.0 to 3.1, too, which adds in support for 720p -- so yeah, all the signs are there, and industry trends pretty much require that we expect it at this point. On a related note, DigiTimes notes that ASUS spin-off Pegatron has allegedly been picked up as an OEM for the N89 (or whatever the new iPhone's internal code happens to be) -- but it won't be alone. The indication seems to be that Foxconn will continue churning out phones for Cupertino, too, perhaps a sign that these guys are expecting the need for more capacity than the old OEM alone can deliver, or that there could be multiple generations in the retail channel (a la 3G / 3GS) at the same time. Given Apple's typical iPhone cycle, it could be a few months before we know for certain -- so go ahead and take your sweet time speculating on this round. [Thanks, Dan L.]
Video recording coming to all webOS devices in February (updated: Flash on the Pre, too!)
High on the list of conspicuously-missing features for the Pre and Pixi has been video recording -- but happily, Palm's looking to close that gap shortly. Both devices will get hooked up next month with the goods, including integrating editing (that admittedly looks a bit like the iPhone's setup) and uploading to YouTube, Facebook, email, and MMS. We're not sure what actual webOS version this'll be launching in, but hey, who cares? Important thing is that it's hitting very, very soon. Update: So it turns out it'll be part of webOS 1.4, which also includes beta support for Flash 10 on the Pre (sorry, Pixi owners). We know which one we're more excited about!
Apple greenlights ridiculously crappy video recording app for older iPhones
At just 3fps and 213 x 160 resolution, we hesitate to call iVideoCamera a "video recording app" -- it's really more of an extremely low-res continuous-shooting still camera -- but at least owners of iPhone 3Gs and original iPhones now have some sort of option for capturing their most treasured moments as one o' them newfangled moving pictures. Jailbroken solutions are nothing new, but this marks the first time a video recording app for older iPhones made it all the way through to the App Store, and at just 99 cents, it may not really matter that the output sucks. At any rate, the real news here might be the fact that iVideoCamera is believed to be using unpublished APIs, so this might signal the opening of the floodgates -- not to say the App Store necessarily needs any more floodgates opened.
Broadcom announces 1080p camera phone chip, single-chip Blu-ray decoder
Broadcom's busting out some big muscle on the video chip front today, launching both a 1080p smartphone camera chip and a single-chip Blu-ray player chip. The BCM2763 mobile phone chip supports full 1080p video recording and playback, as well as 20 megapixel stills with face / smile detection and image stabilization. There's also support for 3D gaming at 1080p, and HDMI support is included so you can plug into a TV and actually see all those pixels -- and a 20-to-50 percent reduction in power usage means you'll be able to play video over HDMI for "up to 16 hours," although we'd like to see that claim tested in a real handset before we totally buy it. Broadcom's also hyping its new BCM7630 single-chip Blu-ray solution, which offers BD decoding and support for streaming apps like Netflix, Pandora, Vudu and CinemaNow all on a single chip -- and manufacturers can combine it with the new BCM7632 for 3d-Blu-ray support. Single-chip means cheaper Blu-ray decks -- so sure, we'll take it. No word on when any of these chippies are going to end up in production hardware, but we're hoping to hear more about that at CES.
Palm Precorder brings video recording homebrew to the Pre
If you like your software homebrewed with just a hint of alpha then boy do we have an app for you. The WebOS homebrew community just released Precorder; an app that lets your Palm Pre record audio and 30fps 480x320 pixel video in H.264/AVC format -- you can even control the built-in LED for recording in low-light situations. Unfortunately, there's no video preview presented while recording but hey, it's alpha software bro... and it's free. Check a video sample after the break.
Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon
Cernium's just announced something that should really please the 'I know the cat is putting my stuff on Ebay while I'm at church' crowd. The Archerfish Quattro is a full scale, no messing around video monitoring and recording system that pays attention to the little details while you're not around. Analyzing info in real time, if the Archerfish Quattro spies something funky, it'll send a message to your mobile phone or email. The system is expandable so that you can have as many cameras in the setup as you want (well, up to four), and best of all? It's available at Amazon now, so you can order it without having to leave home -- which you don't want to do yet. It's just not safe. The Archerfish Quattro system can be purchased now for a starting price of $1700. Full PR is after the break.
Video recording hacks for the Pre making nice progress
The Pre's proven to be an eminently hackable platform pretty much from day one, and given that, it stands to reason that major "missing" features are going to either be added in the hard way or a few good programmers are going to die trying. The virtual keyboard developments are seen as a big win for users, and next up is true video recording -- something inexplicably missing from the device considering its ample (well, theoretically ample) processing power. Work on homebrew recording tools seems to be moving along nicely, with some open-source tools already available -- so far, they're apparently able to push it to 480 x 320 at 30fps, but it comes out encoded strangely and doesn't resemble anything your average end user would want to be dealing with. That's where Palm hopefully comes in with a future webOS update, but for now, at least we're able to play around. Follow the break for video of the hack in action. [Via PreCentral]
More next-gen iPhone whispers: video recording, faster CPU, July release?
John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has a pretty good track record when it comes to Apple rumors -- remember his spot-on predictions for the unibody MacBook Pro? -- so when he's got a thing or two to say about all the next-gen iPhone chatter, we listen. While not making any promises, he does say he'd wager quite a bit on a new model coming to WWDC, with about twice the CPU horsepower (and possibly twice the RAM, too) as the current model. He also adds some credence to all that talk of video recording, but makes no mention of potential background apps and plays down any surprise tablet or "iPhone mini" cameos. He goes on to add release date would be sometime in July in 16GB and 32GB varieties. We can't say we're willing to bet against him, but that doesn't mean we'll take his word as gospel. We can safely say, however, that we're anxiously waiting to see what kind of shenanigans Schiller has in store for next month.
Elgato Video Capture allows Macs to record analog video
Sure, the MPAA won't be happy that you're not just videotaping your TV, but the Mac users out there still looking for some real-time SD recording action might want to check out Elgato's Video Capture box. Nothing too fancy here, just RCA / S-Video / SCART input and some software to trim clips and export to H.264 and MPEG-4, but it could be just the ticket if you've got a stack of VHS tapes or something. Out in Europe now for €100 ($134), we'll let you know when it comes Stateside. [Via Electronista]
Pre deets continue to trickle out; Office 2007 support in the mix
Still no word on pricing or a release date, but the kind chappie running Inside Sprint Now has posted up a little Pre FAQ to tide us over. If you're inclined to believe this information indeed comes from deep within Sprint customer service -- and we've no reason to not to -- you'll find some interesting factoids in the mix, including full support for Office 2007, ringback tones, and custom ringtones. There's also a promise of video recording support and wireless PictBridge printing sometime down the line. Great, great -- but we'd really rather learn all this stuff on our own after release, you know?[Via PalmInfoCenter]
iPhone 3.0 video recording interface, compass support spotted? (Update: voice dialing, too)
iPhone OS 3.0 is riddled with hints that video recording is on the way, and the latest is this supposed screenshot of a revised camera app with a video toggle. MacRumors says it comes up when certain config files are edited to make it seem like a video camera is present, but it's not clear exactly what steps have to be taken, so we're treating this one cautiously until we can confirm it. Other secret features buried in the plists are said to include "auto-focus camera," "voice control," and "magnetometer," which is assumed to be a compass. Yep, all stuff we'd expect from an iPhone revision around, say, June, but nothing earth-shattering -- and if the video features are as mediocre as the current iPhone camera, we don't think the Flips of this world have too much to worry about.Update: Boy Genius Report has scored some other 3.0-culled goodies, including what appears to be voice dialing ("Voice Control" as they're calling it), a digital battery strength readout, and further evidence of video support. Beta 3, where are you?
Hack provides Liveview Canon EOS DSLRs with video recording
If you're just now starting to come to grips with the fact that Canon's utterly succulent EOS 5D Mark II is just way, way out of reach, here's a little something to lessen the impact of your inferiority complex. An enterprising young buck with a passion to bring video capture abilities to other EOS cameras figured out a way to enable that very capability on all Liveview EOS DSLRs. Of course, there's still the whole "manual focus" requirement -- which means that the bulk of your captures will be way out of focus -- but it's a new feature for your existing camera nonetheless. Now that the cat's out of the bag, why don't you just push out an official update to add this into more cams, Canon? We mean, can you imagine the look on Nikon's face if you really came through?Read - The hackRead - Video capture from a Canon EOS 40D
Modder adds CCD eyepiece to binoculars, Bill Belichick seems interested
Oh sure, you've been able to buy digital camera-equipped binoculars for years now, but finding one that does video (particularly with the camcorder you already own) has been a continual struggle. Thanks to one engineering soul, you can forge ahead with your plans to video all sorts of sights by adding a CCD eyepiece to any 'ole set of binoculars. Once installed, you simply hook up your camcorder (hope it has video in), mash record and get to gazing. Be careful what you look for, though.
