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  • Wearable Google Helpouts streaming camera shares GoPro heritage, we go hands-on (video)

    by 
    Alexis Santos
    Alexis Santos
    01.09.2014

    Ambarella isn't exactly a household name, but the 10-year-old company's silicon has long found its way into GoPro cams and other hardware thanks to its video-compression chops and low-power tech prowess. Word broke last month that Google commissioned the outfit to produce a reference design for a wearable camera that would stream to its Helpouts service, which lets folks ask experts for help over video. Here at CES, the manufacturer's brought along a few samples of the device, and we've just put our paws all over one. Inside a plastic housing the size of a chunky matchbox, Ambarella's placed a custom chip (an A7LW, if you're curious) that endows the package with the ability to stream 1080p video at 30fps for a minimum of one hour. The housing also comes with a micro-USB port, microphone, 500mAh battery, 8GB of flash storage, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with power and "connect" buttons up top.