camcorder

Gadget of the Week: Aiptek 3D Camera

Whether you’re loving 3D or still hooked on 2D the new Aiptek 3D camera is a great way to get into to 3D filming as it’s affordable and easy peasy to use. It’s a funky looking, compact 5megapixel camera and even better It uses two separate lenses and image sensors to record sensational videos in 3D.

You can playback your recording immediately on the device, upload it straight to YouTube 3D using the embedded USB connector and 3D glasses (included), or watch it on your fancy-pants 3D TV, through the supplied HDMI cable. The Aiptek battery will last for up to 1.5 hours and has an expandable memory suited for 32GB SD cards.

If 3D isn’t really your cup of tea then the Aiptek camera will also record in high definition 2D and take stills too. This camera really is more than just a camcorder, 3d is pretty much the future of technology. Woohoo!

The Aiptek 3D Camera is available now from www.Firebox.com priced £199.99

Switched on Gifts for Tricky Teens

Teens can sometimes be tricky to buy for as you’re never quite sure what’s hot and what’s not. Check out John Lewis’ guide to getting some great pressies for your dahhhling teenagers.

Polaroid 300 Camera in Black - £79.95

This is a great gift especially if your kids are already playing Assasin a la Gossip Girl stylee. It has an automatic flash, four scene settings and just makes a nice change to get an instant classic photo - for once.  Perfect for parties and out and about too as it’s a whole lot less cumbersome than the old skool one!

Sony MHS-PM5K Bloggie HD Mobile Camcorder - £169

This pocket camcorder is super easy to use and shoots in HD and is SO simple to upload to YouTube with its built in USB arm.  The high quality lens can swivel over a 270 degree range for easy shooting from any angle including self-portraits. I’ve reviewed this on BBC2 Something for the Weekend and it’s fab!

 

XBOX 360 with Built in Wi-Fi and Kinect - £TBC

This new XBOX 360 will be at the top of any game loving teenagers wish list. With a sleek new design , 250 GB hard drive and built in Wi-Fi it delivers the ultimate gaming and entertainment experience. With built in Kinect, users will be able to play games without the need for a controller thanks to sensors and specially designed games.

Paul Frank Earbuds Ink’d Pink - £19.95

These fun looking quirky in ear headphones are great value for money and deliver great sound too.

Paul Frank Zoom Julius iPhone Case - £ 24.95

This funky Paul Frank case is made from durable rubber to keep your shiny iPhone looking lovely and new.

Gadget of the Week: Shoot in HD with KODAK Playsport

This sporty looking pocket size HD camcorder is perfect for all you sporty kids out there who fancy filming some of your action. The Kodak Playsport is waterproof up to 3 metres so is ideal if you have any summer holidays coming up.

It shoots in 1080p, as well as taking 16:9 widescreen stills at 5MP and you can get up close and personal with its 4 x digital zoom. It’s got a durable rubber casing so it won’t get damaged if even if your partaking in more rugged sports. You can even playback your most exciting of footage in slow motion on the high contrast 2″ LCD as well as connecting straight to your HD TV with the included HDMI cable. Perfect!

The vids are recorded to removable SD or SDHC cards, up to up to 32GB which to you and me is about 10 hours of filming. But don’t worry if you dont have a card lying around, you can start filming straight away on to the 128MB of internal memory.

Available online at Kodak Playsport   Price £129.00

What’s in the box

KODAK PLAYSPORT Video Camera
KODAK Li-Ion Rechargeable Digital Camera Battery KLIC-7004
HDMI and AV cables
Mains adapter
Wrist strap
User Guide
ARCSOFT MEDIA IMPRESSION Software for Kodak (PC only)

Dimensions

5.8cm × 11.25cm × 1.95 cm (2.3 × 4.4 × 0.8 in.)
Weight: 4.5 oz (128 g) without battery

Spec

Sensor type: 1 / 2.5-type 5 MP CMOS
Lens: 5.54 mm, 35 mm equivalent 48 mm @ 1080p 36 mm @ 720p 36 mm @ WVGA 36 mm still capture
Zoom: 4X digital
Image stabilization: electronic
Display size: 5.1 cm (2.0 in.)
Storage: 128 MB internal memory [1] , SD/SDHC card expansion slot
Focus modes: normal
Focus range: (39.4 in.) 100 cm -infinity
White balance: auto
File formats: video: H.264 (MOV), AAC LC still: JPEG
Capture mode: 1080p-1920 x 1080, 30 fps 720p / 60 fps-1280 x 720, 60 fps 720p-1280 x 720, 30 fps WVGA-848 x 480, 30 fps still-5.3 MP, 16:9 widescreen, interpolated
Microphone: 1
Speaker: yes
I/O interface: USB 2.0 (high speed), AV out, HDMI
Tripod mount: 1/4 in. standard
Power: KODAK Li-Ion Rechargeable Digital Camera Battery KLIC-7004, AC Adapter
N.B. Battery life approx. 2 hours. Once drained the re-charge time is around 2.5 hours. The Playsport will power down after 2 minutes on standby mode.

Teeny weeny HD pocket camcorder

 

This teeny weeny, high definition camcorder made by Veho is ultra-functional whilst the inclusion of 8 x digital zoom, stabilisation and motion detection features are really useful for those trickier shots.

You can also take stills, as well as storing your favourite tunes as it can be used as an MP3 player. Simply connect the camera via USB to your computer and watch it back or copy to DVD and share the fun with everyone else.

Charges via USB and has an internal memory of 64MB with the option of inserting an SD memory card for extra storage. This is a nifty little camcorder and a great stocking filler with Chrissy approaching.

Price £99.99

Flip Mino Camcorder now in HD

Following on from the succes of The Flip camcorder, Pure Digital have taken a big step into the world of HD and brought out the Flip Mino HD, shooting in 720p.

It’s dubbed the world’s smallest camcorder, weighing only 3.3 ounces and it is very cute looking. It comes in loads of funky designs and you can even customise it with your own images.

It comes with 4gb of internal memory for up to 60 minutes of high quality video. The built in FlipShare editing software has also been upgraded allowing you instant viewing, editing and one click emailing. And dont forget it has direct upload to You Tube and MySpace for sharing those emabarassing video moments with the world.

I think this is a great Christmas pressie idea, it’s available on line for around £200 at http://www.bitesizedeals.co.uk.

Product Specification:

  • Internal Memory:  4GB (60 minutes)
  • Screen Size:  1.5″ (transflective TFT)
  • Screen Resolution:  528 x 132 pixels
  • Video Resolution:  1280 x 720
  • Frame Rate:  30 frames per second (constant frame rate, progressive scan)
  • Video Bitrate:  8.8Mbps (average - auto adaptive algorithm)
  • Video Format:  H.264 video compression, AAC audio compression, saves as MP4 file
  • Lens Type:  Fixed Focus (1.5m to infinity)
  • Aperture:  f/2.4 (fast lens for great results in low-light environments)
  • Zoom:  Smooth multi-step 2x digital
  • Interface:  8 Touch-Sensitive Capacitive Buttons (Power, Play, Delete, Record and 4 way navigation)
  • Dimensions:  3.94″ x 1.97″ x 0.63″ (H x W x D)
  • PC Connection:  Built-in flip-out USB arm (up to 2.0 USB speed)
  • TV Out:  NTSC (cable included)
  • Battery Life:  Rechargeable lithium ion battery, charges using built-in USB arm
  • Tripod Mount:  Yes
  • Operating Systems:  Windows XP, Windows Vista Mac OSX
  • Min. Requirements:  (Windows) Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz processor, Windows XP SP2 with 512 MB of RAM or Windows Vista with 2 GB of RAM, display monitor and video card support for 1024×768/24-bit color, Windows Media Player 9.0, Microsoft DirectX 9.0, USB 2.0 port
    (Mac) 1.66 GHz Intel CoreDuo or faster processor, 1 GB of RAM, OS X Tiger 10.4 or Leopard 10.5, display monitor and video card support for 1024×768/24-bit color, QuickTime 7, USB 2.0 port
  • Software:  Built-in FlipShareTM software with upgraded features: 
    Browse, playback, organize and archive your videos
    Create movies with videos, music & titles
    Edit clips and save still photos from video
    Instantly upload to AOL, MySpace, YouTube and other video sites
    Share your videos using email or greetings cards (free and unlimited video sharing)