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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JEFF K who wrote (39365)	3/22/1999 1:29:00 PM
From: VidiVici	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

ViewCam does digital video for the Net (Mpeg-4...) March 19, 1999 Web posted at: 7:19 p.m. EST (0019 GMT) by Stan Miastkowski (IDG) -- Digital video camcorders that produce ultra-high quality video that can be downloaded to your PC are mighty popular with budding James Camerons. But they cost $1500, and they're still designed mainly for creating videotapes. Sharp Electronics has taken a different approach this week by announcing what the company calls the first digital video camera designed for the Internet, the VM-EZ1 Internet ViewCam. Wallet-friendly, wallet-size Available early this summer, the ViewCam will sell "in the $700 ballpark," a Sharp spokesperson says. The ViewCam, designed to produce video to be posted on a Web site or sent via an e-mail attachment, is about the size of a wallet (3.2 by 3.5 by 1.7 inches) and weighs 5.2 ounces. It uses a built-in LCD screen instead of a viewfinder, and it can be operated with one hand. The lens retracts into a protective housing when the ViewCam isn't being used. Instead of using videotape, the ViewCam stores digital video on SmartMedia plug-in memory cards with MPEG-4 data compression, The unit will come with a 4MB SmartCard, which stores 7.5 minutes of video with sound. A 32MB card will also be available, which stores as much as an hour of video. (Pricing on the cards and other options isn't available yet.) Expect to have a good supply of batteries on hand, since an hour's recording will use up four AA alkaline cells. You can double the recording time with higher-cost nickel-hydrogen cells. The ViewCam stores video in Microsoft's Advanced Streaming Format, designed for playback using the Media Player in Windows 95 or 98.Because it's streaming, viewers can watch the video immediately, instead of waiting for the entire file to download. Video can also be paused during playback. To upload ViewCam video into a PC, you insert the SmartCard into an included floppy disk adapter or an optional PC Card adapter. cnn.com