TechCrunch » Flip

Cute Obituary For A Flip Accessory

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:47:44 +0000

This is cute — but sad. After all, the short-lived Flip line of camcorders was popular and fun, and little doodads like Blue Microphone’s Mikey made it that much better to have around. RIP Flip, and RIP Flip accessories.

Cisco To Shut Down Flip Video Business; Will Give Pink Slips To 550 Employees

Leena Rao — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:46:14 +0000

Wow. Cisco has just issued a release stating that in a strategic plan to “align its operations,” the company will exit parts of its consumer businesses and realign the remaining consumer business to support four of its five key company priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. One of the casualties of this realignment: Cisco’s video camera Flip business, which was part of its $590 million acquisition of Pure Digital.

As part of the plan, Cisco close down its Flip business and “support current FlipShare customers and partners with a transition plan.” Cisco will also refocus its Home Networking business and integrate Cisco umi into the company’s Business TelePresence product line.

Wi-Fi Flip Camera Hits FCC, Launches In May?

Devin Coldewey — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:20:30 +0000

We’ve heard for a while now that Cisco plans to put out a Flip camera with wi-fi built in, but so far the rumors haven’t produced an actual product. Until now.

The FCC has taken a gander at a new digital video camera from Cisco that has 802.11a/b/g/n support. The confidentiality request asks that setup photos remain confidential May 1st, so I’m guessing that’s when they’re going official with it. Not much beyond this, but I’d say we’re looking at the real thing here.

[via Wireless Goodness]

Scosche Announces The freedomMIC For The Flip UltraHD

Contributor — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:30:17 +0000

Looks like Blue isn’t the only company getting in on the Flip camera microphone market. Scosche’s offering is quite a bit more advanced though, with wireless Bluetooth controls, a rechargeable lithium ion battery pack, and DSP noise cancellation.

Scosche’s new freedomMIC plugs into the Flip UltraHD’s FlipPort, and will allow a user to have a microphone that works like a true wireless microphone system. To me, this significantly improves the usability of the Flip camcorders; we’ve never particularly cared for their audio quality. The freedomMIC will be available mid to late December, with an MSRP of $99.99. Not a bad deal.

From the press release:

Scosche Designs freedomMIC™ Lavaliere Mic for new Flip UltraHD 2HR Video Camera

The new mic is the company’s first Designed for Flip Certified product

Oxnard, CA, – September 21, 2010 – Scosche Industries, an award-winning innovator of iPad, iPhone, iPod and now Flip video camera accessories, is proud to announce its first Designed for Flip certified product – freedomMIC™ lavaliere mic for the Flip UltraHD 2 HR/8 GB video camera. The Scosche freedomMIC receiver plugs directly into the UltraHD’s FlipPort™, which will come standard on all future flip video camera models, to provide users with the ability to wirelessly record high quality audio to accompany the Flip’s HD recording capabilities.

The freedomMIC features a high performance condenser microphone with DSP noise cancellation. Users can also wirelessly control record and stop functions remotely from the microphone/transmitter. The wireless system operates on Bluetooth Class 1 technology and provides up to 100 feet of wireless range. The complete system features the wireless transmitter and the microphone that that clips directly to the subject.

The freedomMIC is powered by rechargeable lithium ion batteries in both transmitter and receiver, which provide up to 4 hours of recording time. The receiver also features a pass-through tripod mount for securing the receiver to the camera and retaining the ability to use a tripod.

The Designed for Flip initiative teams Flip Video with leading companies in multiple product segments to provide a wide selection of general purpose and specialized products for both current and future Flip video cameras.

The freedomMIC will be available at scosche.com/flip/ and from retailers that selling the new Flip cameras that feature the new FlipPort line in mid to late December 2010 for $99.99 MSRP.

Follow Scosche at twitter.com/scosche or facebook.com/scosche for the latest news on the freedomMIC and all of Scosche’s award-winning products.

Blue Microphones' Mikey For Flip: The Add-On Mic That Your Flip Camera Desperately Needs

Nicholas Deleon — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:00:29 +0000

This should fix one issue I’ve always had with Flip (and Flip-like) cameras. It’s a “professional-quality” external microphone called Mikey for Flip. Developed by Blue Microphones, you plug it in, and then you’ll actually be able to hear audio produced by a Flip camera. A novel idea!

It’s not out yet so don’t get too excited (it’s said to debut next January, at CES), but we can use the next few seconds to think this over.

First, it only works with Flip cameras that have a Flip port. As you can see, it doesn’t even really look like a traditional boom or shotgun mic you’d see attached to a camcorder. Nope, it’s tiny, sitting right on the base of your Flip.

It has two sensitivity settings, Loud and Automatic, depending on what you’re recording, and it’s powered by a single AAA battery—wouldn’t want the mic draining power from your Flip!

So yeah, could be pretty solid for those of you still slinging to your Flip. And even though it won’t be available for some time, Blue Microphone already has a price in place: $69.

Flip goes off-mission, releases lumpen Flip SlideHD

John Biggs — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:44:50 +0000

Remember when Flip was all about video cameras in your pocket? Well those days are gone thanks to the lumpen, misshaped SlideHD. The new model has a landscape screen that “slides” up so I can put the device on the table and rock out with my sad-eyed friends to some video of us guys sitting around playing Russian Roulette with an empty gun at my last house party. According to current reports it’s much to large to fit comfortably in your pocket but you can put it in your iPad Man Bag, when and if you buy one.

The SlideHD costs $279.99 and holds four hours of HD video (16GB). It comes in multiple styles and can even be customized with your own photo, thereby personalizing your feelings towards the technology.

Product Page

iFixIt Tears down the Flip Mino HD

John Biggs — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:00:48 +0000

Ooots outs outs. It’s Wednesday morning and there’s nothing you deserve more than a little soft house music and a Flip Mino HD teardown. The folks at iFixIt know you’re feeling the need so they prepared this detailed slideshow and teardown description for you and yours.

They got down to the money shot and found all of the major chips, including a Zoran COACH (“Camera On A Chip”), something I had never seen before:

The big players on the logic board include:
A Zoran COACH (camera on a chip) 12 processor featuring real-time lens distortion compensation and noise reduction.
Samsung’s 934 KMCMG0000M-B998 8 GB NAND flash memory for video storage.
One Samsung K4T51163QG 512 Mb DDR2 SDRAM chip.
Texas Instruments’ TPD12S521 to protect the board from electrostatic discharge through the HDMI port.
Cypress’ CY821434-24LXTI PSoC presumably for encoding signals received from the capacitive touch controls.

CrunchDeals: Flip MinoHD camcorder for $120

Contributor — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:13:00 +0000

Ho ho ho, this may be the lowest price you’ll see on a new Flip MinoHD camcorder for a while. Amazon’s got them for $120, today only, down from $160. To be honest, Cisco just bought Flip and they’re expected to unveil some new products at CES (like, perhaps, Wi-Fi enabled camcorders?) so Flip might just be blowing these things out to make room for the new stuff. Either way, today you get a somewhat reasonably-priced pocket camcorder.

The Flip MinoHD features an hour of recording time, flip-out USB connector, 1280×720 resolution, 1.5-inch LCD, rechargeable battery, and tripod mount. It’s small, too. Right in your pocket it’ll go.

Flip MinoHD Camcorder [Amazon via dealnews]

Wham: FlipShare video is handled by Mossberg

John Biggs — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:23:03 +0000

If you’ve been waiting for some way to put your low- to middling-resolution videos onto a big TV, your prayers have been answered. Flip, through their mouthpiece Walt Mossberg, just dumped out a big bucket of howsyerfather and announced the Flipshare for all to enjoy.

Not much has changed since we spotted this device in October. It’s not even live on the Flip site yet so it’s abundantly clear that the WSJ servers jumped the gun on posting.

The device will cost $150 and plugs into an HDMI or component video input. It streams videos wirelessly thanks to a white wireless dongle and includes a remote. The device can share Flip video files with ease, other files not so much.

Does the world need another specialized streaming device? With Roku boxen working so well and especially with channels enabled, the Flipshare makes sense if you’re totally into your Flip. Our original hope was that this thing would stream everything to everyone. It won’t.

Oh well, at least we can still use their cameras to film the moments of our lives.

The next Flip camera will have Wi-Fi

John Biggs — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:52:35 +0000

Cisco has confirmed that the next version of the Flip Video camera, everyones favorite tiny video camera, is getting Wi-Fi. The model is described as having “a large screen that slides to reveal the record and menu buttons underneath.”

Pocket-lint is also reporting there won’t be a touchscreen. You can, however, upload video that you take over Wi-Fi.

Clearly the iPod Nano and iPhone video availability is making things hard for Pure Digital by essentially stealing their entire market. This will definitely even things up, at least for the folks who already love their Flips. Expect great deals on non-WiFi models in the weeks to come.

Vidly Brings HD Video To Twitter

MG Siegler — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:40 +0000

First, there were the Twitter picture services. Soon, there were a lot of those. Then, there were the Twitter video services. And now, there are getting to be a lot of those. So how do you choose which one to use? Most people base it on two things: First, third-party Twitter client support. And second, features. Today, Vidly is launching one such feature.

Vidly is claiming to be the first HD video service for Twitter. HD video on the web has always been sort of a hazy thing due to varying expectations of resolutions and bitrates, but it seems safe to say that Vidly’s video is the highest quality out there among its competitors. Several of them offer video quality that can be grainy or choppy, but these new Vidly videos are smooth and clear.

So why bother? After all, most of these videos are relatively short and storing and serving HD clearly costs more. Vidly is doing it because they see it as a great tool for brands to use to further promote themselves on Twitter. That makes sense, if someone like National Geographic is going to tweet out videos, it probably doesn’t want them to look bad. In fact, Vidly’s biggest competitor here may be that these brands figure out how to store their own HD media and simply tweet that out.

Along with the HD launch, Vidly is hosting a new competition alongside mobile video camera maker Flip. Each Friday for a few weeks, Vidly and Flip will give away a branded MinoHD device. To enter, you simply have to tweet something with the #vidly hashtag.

Vidly underwent a namechange (it was TwitVid.io) in August, and picked up some fresh funding. It already has several brands using its service, now it’s just a matter of convincing them, and others, that it’s the go-to Twitter video service.

It’s also worth noting that any HD which was previously uploaded to Vidly will now also be in HD.

CrunchBase Information

Vidly

Twitter

Flip Video

Information provided by CrunchBase

FlipShare TV: yet another way to access your PC's videos on your TV

Devin Coldewey — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:30:20 +0000

The number of techniques for getting content from your PC to your TV is getting alarmingly high. It’s possible that it’s so simple at this point that anyone can put out a product and sell a few — so you can either get a basic one cheap now, or wait for the inevitable breakthrough product that will do something awesome but cost a bundle. The FlipShare (pdf from FCC) ain’t that breakthrough, but it does look like a nice, simple way to watch your home videos on the TV.

The older generation doesn’t want to fiddle around with codecs and all that nonsense, they want to shoot a video and then watch it later. That’s all. And if they have a Flip camera (good present by the way), they’ll be comfortable using the FlipShare TV. It’s simple to set up: just plug it into your TV, then attach the USB dongle to your PC. Then you can watch videos using a simple file browser interface and included tiny remote.

There’s no pricing information yet, but considering Flip likes to keep it low, I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing went for $99. We’ll update when there’s more, of course.

[via Wireless Goodness]

Picsio: Victor JVC goes after the Flip with new 1080p camcorder

Serkan Toto — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:20:13 +0000

Victor JVC seems to finally have realized how well the Flip sells over in North America. The company has now announced the Picsio GC-FM1 [JP], a mini camcorder recording video at 2.03MP and shooting pictures at 8MP. The Picsio offers 1080p output at a 4:3 ratio (1,440×1080, 30fps). Alternatively, you can go for a 720p, VGA or QVGA mode.

Weighing just 95g, the device measures 53x97x17mm. It features a 2-inch LCD screen, an HDMI interface, USB 2.0, and 4xdigital zoom. Users can record video on SD or SDHC cards in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and upload them easily to YouTube or iTunes through a special “media browser”.

The GC-FM1 will go on sale in Japan within this week (street price: $220). There will be models in black, blue and purple. Victor JVC hasn’t said yet if the Picsio will ever be available outside Japan (which is highly likely).

Via AV Watch [JP]

Flip camcorder, iPod nano video quality compared

Contributor — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:30:00 +0000

The folks over at NewTeeVee took the “Flip SD,” as they called it – no real clarification if it was the bigger Flip Ultra or smaller Flip Mino camcorder – and did a side-by-side video quality comparison against the new iPod nano. You’ll recall that during the Apple presentation last Wednesday, Jobs and company took a few direct shots at the line of Flip cameras.

So what did NewTeeVee find? In a nutshell…

“Overall — the Flip offered a MUCH better picture both indoor and out, providing way more detail in the image. The Flip microphone was also a little more discerning in our test, able to distinguish our subject’s voice in a crowded room much better than the Nano.”

Again, no word on whether this was the bulkier Flip Ultra or more pocketable Flip Mino. Both of those aren’t nearly as tiny as the iPod nano, though. And the nano does all that other stuff, too, like movies and music and whatnot.

Still, it appears that buying the new nano solely based on its video recording feature might be something you’ll want to put some extra thought into.

Hands-On- iPod Nano vs. Flip SD [NewTeeVee]

CrunchDeals: Refurbished Flip camcorder for $50

Contributor — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:31:19 +0000

Everybody who’s anybody has a Flip camcorder, am I right? Am I right? If you’ve been unable to justify the purchase of a Flip camcorder because of the relatively high price tag, you may be happy to find out that you can get your hands on one of the older, clunkier ones for just $50.

It’s a refurbished unit, yes, and it’s only got 512 megabytes of storage, but that’s still good for 30 minutes of so-so video. Plus, now you can go to all those sweet Hollywood parties you haven’t been able to get into in the past. That, or film the ever-interesting goings-on at the bus stop every morning.

Pure Digital White Flip Classic 30 Minute Camcorder [Buy.com]

Kodak outs the 1080p Zi8 pocket camcorder

Matt Burns — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:59:42 +0000

Oh man, we nailed it. Remember that dumb Kodak viral video we posted where a marketing dude was showing off the latest Kodak product but it was blurred out Japanese porn-style? Well, we said it would be an updated pocket camcorder and it’s a new, 1080p-recording pocket camcorder.

The Kodak Zi8 packs a lot into the small form factor. It has 1080p recording, along with face tracking, image stabilization, an external mic jack and a 2.5-inch LCD. All your precious moments will be recorded onto an SD card. Just like the Zi6, videos can be uploaded to YouTube directly, but this model also supports Facebook uploads.

At $179, the Zi8 comes in $20 under the MSRP of the Flip UltraHD. Hopefully the quality of the new Kodak passes the Flip as that little camera is a tad disappointing despite the 720p video recording mode. Expect the Zi8 to hit stores sometime in September.

KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera brings sleek style and high-performance to pocket video

Easily shoot and share high-quality 1080p HD video

Rochester, NY, July 29, 2009 – Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) today announced an exciting new addition to its popular line of Digital Video Cameras – the KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, featuring a sleek design, high-quality full 1080p High Definition video capture, and built-in electronic image stabilization.

“Images and video have tremendous power to help us stay connected to family and friends,” says Phil Scott, Worldwide Director of Marketing, Digital Capture and Devices and Vice President, Consumer Digital Group. “The KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera makes it easy to spontaneously capture HD video – of heartwarming moments, of ‘can you believe that?’ moments, and of just plain laugh-out-loud moments – and then quickly and easily share them.”

The slim and stylish KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera is designed to meet these needs at the touch of a button — no lens cap, dials to turn or settings to adjust. The new camera’s range of advanced features includes:
• Full HD 1080p video capture wherever you go;
• Built-in electronic image stabilization for sharper videos and reduced blurring;
• Vivid 2.5″ color LCD;
• Flexible swing-out USB arm for fast uploading, sharing, and charging;
• 5 MP 16:9 widescreen HD still pictures;
• Easy upload to Facebook and YouTube;
• Compatible with PC and Mac operating systems;
• Record up to 10 hours of HD video* with the expandable SD/SDHC card slot that can hold up to 32 GB;
• Capture family and friends in their best light with smart face tracking technology;
• See more details and accurate colors in low light;
• External microphone jack;
• In-box HDMI cable;
• Record from a distance or playback on your TV conveniently with optional KODAK Pocket Video remote control;
• Grab attention and define your style with the ultra compact design, stunning looks, and a range of colors.

Uploading to Facebook and YouTube
The KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera provides one-button upload to Facebook, the premiere social networking and sharing website. Content can also be quickly and easily uploaded to YouTube, the world’s most popular online video community. The built-in software on the camera allows seamless upload of your video and pictures from the same desktop interface used for video editing and movie creation.

Accessories
A range of accessories are available for the KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, including:
• KODAK SDHC Memory Cards, available in 4, 8, and 16GB capacities customized for optimal video capture;
• KODAK Pocket Video Remote control;
• KODAK KLIC-7004 Lithium Ion batteries;
• KODAK Flexi-tripod;
• KODAK Adventure Mount for helmet, handlebars and more;
• KODAK cases, camera bags and neck straps.

Pricing and Availability
The KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera will be available in aqua, raspberry and black** from September, 2009, and retail for US$179.95 MSRP.

Flip announces Flip Channels, adds easier video sharing

John Biggs — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:50:24 +0000

Not content to let others do the heavy lifting, Pure Digital, now part of Cisco, has added Flip Channels to their popular – and surprisingly useful – FlipShare software. The software is pre-installed on every Flip devices (we have the HD) and the Channels are yet another way to upload and share your videos in the interwebs.

Videos sent to your channel can be viewed at FlipShare.com or using the FlipShare iPhone app, also available today. The software also supports DVD authoring and standard sharing with YouTube and MySpace. I sent a video to myself using the service, a real cinematic magnum opus. You cannot formally embed videos sent to channels – you can embed them on the sly using the actual HTML or grabbing to a site like Posterous – but obviously you can embed videos sent to YouTube.

http://www.flipshare.com/swf/FlipSharePlayer_400.swf

via flipshare.com

The rest of the software is surprisingly snappy. I rarely use the built-in software that comes with most cameras but this seems like a quick and easy way to share video anywhere. It is Mac and PC compatible (there are two versions right on the Flip’s Flash memory) and it has a clean, easy to understand interface. In fact, adding a video to your channel is as easy as dragging it to the sidebar.

Overall it’s an impressive addition to an already interesting product. You can upgrad your current Flip hardware and software here and the iPhone app is available in the iTunes store.

Latest FlipShare™ software makes it simple to share video publicly, privately, or with groups

June 16, 2009 – San Francisco, CA

Taking video sharing to a new level, the makers of Flip Video today announced the latest version of its onboard FlipShare software that makes sharing personal video easier than ever before. FlipShare now gives users the ability to publish personal video channels online with Flip Channels™, in addition to easy uploading to popular sites like MySpace™ and YouTube™, and one-click private video emailing capabilities.

The innovative new Flip Channels feature enables users to easily share their favorite Flip content with groups of people they designate. Once created, their personal Flip Channels can be instantly viewed online at FlipShare.com or on an iPhone by using the new FlipShare iPhone application, also announced today.

“Flip Video changed the way people use video by making it simple to capture and fun to share,” said Jonathan Kaplan, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Business Group at Cisco, which recently acquired Pure Digital Technologies, makers of Flip Video products. “Our latest FlipShare software, with the new Flip Channels feature, takes video sharing to the next level by making it incredibly easy to share video with a friend, a group, or with the world.”

With FlipShare’s new Flip Channels feature, consumers now have a simple way to share their favorite Flip content – both video and snapshots – with many different groups such as friends, family, classmates or teams. Once a user creates a Flip Channel, it can be viewed online at FlipShare.com or on an iPhone using the breakthrough FlipShare application for the iPhone. This new application gives FlipShare users, as well as their friends and family, instant access to their favorite Flip Video content from anywhere.

These latest software innovations build upon the success of the wildly popular Flip Video camcorder line. Since its launch in 2007, more than 2 million Flip Video camcorders have been sold and millions of videos have been shared using FlipShare software. Flip Video models are ranked as the number one and number two top-selling camcorders in the U.S. for the first quarter 2009, as ranked by leading market research firm The NPD Group.

The new version of FlipShare software will begin shipping as the onboard software for all Flip Video camcorders as of June 16, 2009. The software can also be downloaded for free by visiting www.theflip.com. The FlipShare for iPhone application is available for free in the iPhone App Store.

FlipShare Software Features:

• Preloaded software to save, organize, and edit videos with ease
• Works on any PC or Mac
• Email videos and video greeting cards
• Upload videos instantly to YouTube and MySpace
• Capture HD snapshots from videos using enhanced freeze-frame capabilities and share them along with videos
• Create Flip Channels to share content privately with groups of friends or family or to access your own content on the web
• Watch videos on-the-go at flipshare.com
• Create custom movies with your own music
• Enjoy your videos in full-screen play mode
• Order DVDs and have them shipped anywhere in the world

FlipShare Application for iPhone Features:

• View your favorite FlipShare videos and snapshots on your iPhone
• Access Flip Channels instantly from anywhere
• Watch Flip Channels from friends and family
• Download for free at the iPhone App Store

About Pure Digital Technologies, Inc.

Pure Digital Technologies was acquired by Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) in May of 2009 and operates as part of Cisco’s Consumer Business Group. Its revolutionary Flip Video camcorders changed the way people capture and share video by making it simple, accessible and fun for anyone. Flip Video camcorders are pre-loaded with FlipShare software to enable easy organizing, editing, and seamless uploading to YouTubeTM, MySpaceTM Video and other video sharing sites. Flip Video products are currently available in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. More information about Flip Video products can be found atwww.TheFlip.com.

CrunchBase Information

Pure Digital Technologies

Flip Ultra

Information provided by CrunchBase

Review: Flip UltraHD camcorder

Contributor — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:30:26 +0000

Short Version: Joining the ranks of the Flip family, the UltraHD is one of the easiest-to-use digital camcorders on the market. This version features 8GB of storage, high-definition video capture, the ability to use an included rechargeable battery pack or off-the-shelf AA batteries, and HDMI output.

At $200, though, it’s pretty expensive considering its feature set.

Long Version:

Let’s get one thing out of the way. Flip camcorders — no matter which model — aren’t for the budget-conscious shopper. They’re targeted at people who want to casually shoot video without fumbling around with a bunch of settings and memory cards and cables. And even though Flip camcorders are priced at almost double what you’d be able to pay for competing compact camcorders with similar features, they’re still selling like hotcakes. So, yes, they’re too expensive for people who know how to use camcorders and want a bunch of features at a decent price, but they’re apparently priced just right for everyone else. And so we dance.

Features:

1280×720 H.264 video recording, 9.0Mbps average bitrate
8GB of memory (not expandable), 120-minute recording time
1/4.5″ HD CMOS sensor
Two-inch 960×240 LCD
2x digital zoom, no optical zoom
Up to 2.5 hours battery life, 6 hour recharge time via USB
HDMI output (cable not included)
Built-in video editing software with YouTube upload
MSRP of $199

The Good:

The Flip UltraHD is a decent portable camcorder that features a big red record button, a four-way rocker, and play, delete, and power buttons. Put it in the hands of someone who rarely, if ever, shoots video, show them where the power button is located, and watch them go. It honestly couldn’t be easier to use.

The switchblade-style USB connector flips out for quick and easy connection to your computer and the included software (stored in the camera’s memory) makes simple edits and YouTube uploads a relatively painless process. Video quality is decent provided you have adequate light available. Audio quality is also acceptable assuming you’re not dealing with too much wind or ambient noise.

Again, the main focus for these cameras is ease of use and, in that respect, the UltraHD shines. You can do everything with one hand and the camera fits easily into an average pocket, purse, or small bag. The addition of user-replaceable batteries is a big plus; if the internal rechargeable battery pack runs dry, you can pop in a couple of store-bought AA batteries and you’re back in business.

The Bad:

While the ability to output video to your TV via HDMI is a nice, easy, and welcome addition, the UltraHD doesn’t come with an HDMI cable. And if you have an older HD television with RGB connections, you’re out of luck. Flip sells an HDMI cable for $25 on its website and considering the average person who buys a Flip camcorder probably isn’t all that technologically savvy, that’s going to be an unwelcome added expense. Even worse, I picture people buying this thing at Best Buy and getting talked into buying HDMI cables for $30 and up.

Also, aside from recording video, the UltraHD does little else. There’s no still photo feature (you can grab stills from video footage using the included software, though), the 2x digital zoom is an afterthought, there’s no optical image stabilization unless you mount the camera on a tripod, and taking videos of yourself is a no-go since the camera contains a fixed, non-swiveling LCD.

The Ugly:

Video quality, while decent, is certainly nothing to write home about. Your best bet for this camera is to shoot something outdoors with the camera mounted on a tripod, with as little side-to-side motion as possible. And while daylight and quality indoor lighting make this camcorder usable, low-light video is downright atrocious, producing a grainy mess.

Here are three sample clips. The first was taken outdoors on a somewhat overcast day with a bit of motion and some digital zooming, the second was taken indoors in my well-lit office with a fair amount of side to side motion, and the third was taken in a dark stairway, also with a fair amount of side to side motion. These are the actual clips from the camera, unedited and uncompressed.

Clip One: Outdoors, overcast

Clip Two: Indoors, well-lit

Clip Three: Indoors, low light

Conclusion:

The Flip UltraHD is an easy-to-use and very-portable camcorder that works well for casual video capturing by novice technology users. More experienced users, however, will likely find the camcorder’s high price tag, lack of features, and poor low-light performance to be a deal-breaker.

Flip UltraHD [TheFlip.com]

Flip UltraHD and UltraSD officially announced

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:29:45 +0000

It’s a little late to be announcing anything, since the things are already at Best Buy, but I guess Flip had better at least acknowledge that the Flip UltraHD and SD exist. We guessed that it was 720p and had 8GB of built-in storage when we saw the leaked pictures, and that’s pretty much what the news is. The price is lower than we expected, though, so that’s good news for all you on-a-budget video lovers out there.

The new UltraHD is thicker than the MinoHD, but has twice the storage and a larger screen (2″ vs 1.5″). It also can take two AA’s or a rechargeable pack, and will recharge via the flip-out USB connector. Other than that and the slightly , things are pretty much business as usual. The UltraSD will record to standard definition, obviously, and the battery will last longer — but do you really need 5 hours versus 3 when it’s so easy to recharge? Anyway, the SD goes for $150 and the HD for $200.

If you’re in the market, remember that there are competitors, in the form of every digital camera sold since last year (they all shoot 720p now) and also with similar devices like Kodak’s Zx1 (weather resistant) and Sony’s Webbie. Personally I’d go with the Zx1 because its weather sealing makes it more hardy — but the built-in USB thing in the Flips is awful handy. Best to go somewhere and try them both for yourself. Video quality on either one will be passable.

Flip Ultra HD unboxed and toyed with

Devin Coldewey — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:44 +0000

Flip, makers of the Mino line of portable digital camcorders, have released the slightly less portable, but more capable Ultra HD. It’s chunkier than the Mino and has enough built-in storage that it can record a total of 2 hours of footage — the MinoHD records an hour of 720p to 4GB, so it’s a fair bet that the Ultra HD has 8GB inside. There aren’t any real specs available just yet, but I think we can suppose with some confidence that they’ll have updated the internal components to bring them up to level of the MinoHD. New video engine, possibly a better sensor, and all the other little tweaks. As for price, I’d put it at around $250, but that’s pure guesswork.

Lots more images here, but unfortunately not a lot more information.

[via Engadget]