January 20, 2005– The new trend in electronics seems to be convergence, as more and more companies are combining several consumer electronic elements into a single compact device. Certainly the most dominant example of such convergence is the camera phone. Today, a European company called Minox released its combination of four devices – a digital video recorder, a digital camera, an MP3 player, and a dictating device – into one Minox MobiDV. The device is incredibly light at just 3 ounces (including the storage card and battery) and incredibly slim at 0.6 inches.
Minox has nicknamed this product its “multimedia bundle.” The camcorder on the camera is more like a regular digital camera's movie mode. It shoots clips at 640 x 480 resolution at a rate of 15 frames per second. The 4-megapixel camera has a fixed focal lens that can be rotated 230 degrees and snapped into the camera body for protection. Unfortunately, with no optical zoom, the user is forced to rely on the camera’s 4x digital zoom. The device boasts a 1.5-inch LCD screen and an LED light that serves as illuminator for the camcorder and a flash for the camera.
The MobiDV is powered by a Li-on battery, the same battery that is used in Nokia 7210 cell phones, and can be charged with a USB cable connected to a laptop. The device comes with a 218 MB SD storage card, a carrying case and a set of earphones.
