This USB webcam is for the egotistical with glowing white LEDs to nail those perfect internet first impressions. Although anonymity is what most internet users strive for, if you need clear shots with bright environments the USB Big Eye does just that.

Resolution is 1280 x 960 and focal points from 5cm to infinity, built-in image compression, dynamic image e-mail and 24-bit RGB color it’s a decent USB web cam.

Brando has this for under $30.  International shipping is quick and cheap (I’ve order from them several times)

AMD and ATi teamed up some time ago and now they are starting to crank out some products not even closely related to processors. The latest is the TV Wonder 600 USB HDTV tuner. Not at all Mac friendly the ATi TV Wonder features AMD’s Catalyst Media Center software which works seamlessly (so I read) with Vista Media Center and XP Media Center from Microsoft.

In addition to the ATi TV Wonder 600 USB tuner itself, you also get a slim credit card-sized IR remote and an A/V input adapter to grab video from a camcorder or VCR. Naturally, while it is being marketed more toward the notebook side of things, the TV Wonder 600 USB is perfectly suited for operation with a desktop computer as well.

Don’t reach for your car keys just yet, the TV Wonder 600 USB TV Tuner isn’t expected to ship for another couple months. No price points as of yet. (more…)

IO Data is looking to broaden your viewing horizon with their USB to RGB dongle. Ideal for laptops without video or D-Sub output this “could” help improve your viewing experience by replacing the laptop screen with a bigger monitor. Then again, if you are missing video out, you’re probably missing USB too.

Before you consider building a panel of monitors from your laptop be sure to check your video card capabilities as most laptops can’t support more then original screen plus one monitor anyway. Another option is trying a new USB monitor which does the video processing for you. (more…)

Ian Murchison is an Industrial Design engineer at Carleton University in Ottawa Canada and came up with some outstanding product ideas.

Ian’s most recent design is the Video Player Slideon with USB connectivity (above). From a recent email interview Ian developed this product design from his original Slideon concept (below).

A follow up design was needed as a lot of people liked the original design, but some were also looking for a more “video player” type design.

As with the original, it’s a slider concept meaning; (more…)

Excited to see the new Spiderman 3 movie? Well nothing would show off your enthusiasm better then a Spiderman themed MP3 Case.

For the new release, Sony Pictures teamed with Proporta, a leading MP3 case design firm and manufacturer to develop a spider web like silicone case fit for the latest Sony MP3 player, the NW-A800.

Katrina from Proporta said, “The soundtrack to Spiderman 3 is packed with class acts such as The Killers, Snowpatrol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs which can all be downloaded onto your new Sony NW-A800 – the latest offering from Sony’s MP3 player range.”

The Spiderman web silicone case along with a Sony Video Walkman are free at the movie premier (more…)

Last week Apple sent out an email (screenshot courtesy of TechCrunch.com) to video podcasters asking them to increase the quality of their productions and start formatting their videos for the big screen. Since the launch of the Apple TV (full review here) in March, Apple TVs have been selling like hotcakes and video podcast subscription numbers have skyrocketed.

Apple TV owners, who don’t necessarily want to spend lots of money in the iTunes Store, are gobbling up video podcasts like never before. Even though there currently isn’t any HD quality videos for sale in the iTunes Store, the Apple TV is capable of HD video playback. So several popular video podcasters, including The Washington Post, TWIT (MacBreak), Revision3 (Diggnation) and Vintage Tooncast, have decided to fill the void of HD content by distributing their podcasts in HD or hi res quality.

Why hasn’t everyone started distributing their video podcasts in HD? Money. Not only does producing an HD podcasts require extra hard drive space (roughly 4 times more), special cameras and editing software, but just hosting these giant video files on the Internet can be enough to bankrupt your entire production. For example, the iPod Video version of MacBreak episode 63 is 21 MBs. The HD version is 93 MBs. To help alleviate increased HD production costs, many podcasters have reached out to HD television manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic to get them to sponsor their new HD podcasts.

For video podcasters who are still producing content at 320×240 but want to do something to increase quality, there is an intermediary step before going HD. Podcasters can start by migrating their productions to 640×480, or even 640×360 (letterbox). This way their video files will still be compatible with portable media players like the Zune and iPod, but will also work on the Apple TV. If the material is carefully encoded, it will look as good or better than typical TV.

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More often then not design ideas never get past the prototype stage. Case in point, Greg Schramek created this concept of a disposable digital video camera where the simple shell is intuitive enough anyone could use.

Once the footage is recorded you connect the disposable video camera to a processing station via USB for conversion to DVD. Nice idea, but Greg calls for the conversion process to take place at grocery stores, and pharmacies. From personal experience, getting that distribution channel squared away is a much bigger task then creating the product.

Besides, the video quality and features of a cell phone are probably just as good. BUT, Greg, if you’re read this, don’t get me wrong - we all love dreamers. And nice graphic design skills. (more…)