Cisco buying maker of Flip Video camera?

Pure Digital, maker of the popular Flip Video camera, is reportedly nearing a deal to be acquired by Cisco, according to a report in TechCrunch.

TechCrunch cites several anonymous sources saying that San Francisco-based Pure Digital is considering a sale. Another source says the Cisco sale "is a done deal," and puts the price tag at "north of $500 million."

Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan wasn't available for comment.

Pure Digital had been in the business of making one-time-use cameras for about five years before it hit the jackpot with its Flip Video, a small, flash-based video camera that allows easy uploads of videos directly to YouTube and other online video sites.

The Flip Video went from basically nothing to grabbing an outsize chunk of the video camera market in two years, inspiring more established electronics brands like Kodak and Sony to follow suit with their own small video cameras.

Pure Digital has discussed possible sale at least once before. CNET News reported in January that Sony tried to buy Pure Digital--but balked at the price--before developing its own Webbie HD camera.

Via Crave CNET

Eye-socket camera films from inside the head

There's a blurred line between challenge and opportunity.

Having lost his eye in a childhood accident and suffered a lot of pain, Rob Spense, a 36-year-old filmmaker, has decided to do something that'll put filming and seeing into just one eye, quite literally.

His work is called the Eyeborg project, and involves his friend Kosta Grammatis, a photographer/engineer, and a team of ocularists, inventors, and engineering specialists. The team is building a prosthetic eye that can capture and transmit video.

While the idea is simple, it's a great engineering challenge. For the project to be successful, the smallest, lightest, most power-efficient technologies have to be found and implemented.

The team is using the world's smallest CMOS camera for the project. This device is about 1.5 millimeters squared. It's so small that if you sneeze while it's resting on your open palm, you may never find it again.
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A literally trashy camera

Unlike most photographers who buy their equipment from retail stores, Czech shutterbug Miroslav Tichy makes his own. What's special about his shooters is that they are made from rubbish.

Using a mix of cardboard, paper tubes, strings and thread spools, Tichy fashioned each camera to be used only once. After he finishes a roll of film, he discards the snapper and makes a new one.

However, the eccentric Tichy only grew to fame after his out-of-focused, blurry and weathered images caught the attention of a European art house. Now, his prints (mainly of women) are sold at a price of up to 10,000 euros each. Despite his fame, the photographer still rummages through trash bins to find material to make his camera. His most famous quote is: "If you want to be famous, you have to do whatever you're doing worse than anyone else in the whole world."

Maybe Tichy can consider using a discarded Starbucks cupholder as a lens hood to reduce the flare in his photographs.

Pan-tastic Pancake-thin Pandigital PanTouch Clear

The Pandigital PanTouch Clear 10.4-inch frame (also known by the far-catchier name PAN1000DWPCF2) is not only fully loaded with features, but it's really thin, too, at just 0.3-inch thick. The 4:3 frame uses an HD-quality LCD with a 1,024 x 768 resolution and it has a full touch-screen interface on fingerprint-resistant, clear glass. It's all very exciting.

With an MSRP of US$229.99 you better be getting more than just a thin, pretty touch-screen frame, and you do. There's integrated Wi-Fi for connecting to a home wireless network and you'll be able to use an add-on Bluetooth USB dongle so letting friends and family send photos from Bluetooth-enabled devices is an option.

The multiformat card reader supports Compact Flash, SD, XD, MS/MSPro, and MMC or there's a USB connection for attaching an external flash or hard drive. Playback is limited to JPEG photos, Motion JPEG video, and MP3 files, though.

Via CNET News.com

D-Link's Wi-Fi frame: Customize to the max

D-Link today unveiled its take on the ubiquitous digital photo frame. This one is a bit different from the standard vanity frame though--equipped with Wi-Fi, it lets users manage photos on their computer and stream image content from sites such as Flickr, Picasa and Facebook.

We've seen plenty of examples of these sorts of frames before--like Kodak's W series--but the DSM-210 can grab images from a much larger range of devices, including a NAS. It's also capable of connecting to FrameChannel, a free library of dynamic content which ranges from weather forecasts, RSS feeds and even English Premier League results for the football crazy.
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