Tell the truth: just how much use did you get out of that overpriced PlayStation 3 webcam that the marketing druids call the “PlayStation Eye”? Not much, I guess.

Here to give you a reason not to throw that overpriced piece of plastic away, a bunch of programmers have come up with drivers for the PS3 Eye to make it operate as a standard webcam for your PC.

The PS Eye is actually a pretty good webcam, considering it pushes 60fps over USB 2.0, good wide viewing angle and low distortion, and more.

Be sure to wipe the dust off of it before you plug it in.

Tags: Desktop PCs, ps eye, Sony, webcam

This Philips webcam is good-looking, you know, in the weird kind of way. Left around the house in a dim light will surely scare your family, won’t it.

The giant spider-like webcam is made by Flynn Product Design team. It’s a hi-resolution Bluetooth wireless webcam mounted on a three-legged support which, together with the ball and socket joint allows lots of flexibility and therefore more camera angles. Your friends will be able to see everything around you. The only thing you won’t be able to actually show them is the cool webcam you’ve just bought from Philips.

Tags: Philips, Portable Devices, webcam

Microsoft recently unveiled its new series of LifeCam webcams. The Whack received the LifeCam VX-5000for review. The VX-5000 offers convenience and is portable enough not to interfere with your work. The striking thing about the VX-5000 is the bendable base, making it easy to place it on a desktop monitor or fix it to a laptop. The camera is available three different colors: blue, green and red (we received the blue one for review).

Setting up the camera was a breeze. The installation of the bundled software went smoothly and the webcam was up and running within 10 minutes of opening the package. However, it took considerably more time to open the package itself.

When logged in to the Windows Live messenger, clicking the button on top of the camera starts a Windows Live Call: it loads your contact list, and you have to select one to start a conversation with. There’s a unidirectional, noise-canceling mic on the Lifecam VX-5000. As can be expected, the webcam is optimized for Windows Live but works pretty well with others like Yahoo! IM and Skype. In low-light conditions, the video was less than desirable quality, but once you switched on the lights, the quality was pretty good.

For some reason, the default resolution for still photos was set to 640×480 (VGA), but you can easily change this to 1.3 megapixels. Even at that resolution, it falls short of some cell phone camera images, but then again this is not your everyday high-end webcam. The software bundled with the camera allows you to add all sorts of goofy stuff to your video conversation (you know what I’m talking about — stupid fish!).

The Photo Swap feature lets you share photos with whoever you are conversing with. There’s also support for one-touch blogging - a feature I did not try because I don’t have a Windows Live Spaces account. The microphone built into the LifeCam VX-5000 works pretty decently. However, I could not find any place where this can be over-ridden with another microphone.

The Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 is easily a nice-to-have accessory, being in the mid-range of both price and features. Priced at US $49.99, it is actually available for around $37 on Amazon and other online retailers.

Tags: 1.3 megapixel, Digital Cameras, lifecam, microsoft, Portable Devices, webcam

It was only yesterday that I showed you how small a 5 megapixels camera from Sharp could be. That’s a camera that will be inserted into lots of mobile devices.
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Tags: camera, camera phone, cameraphone, Digital Cameras, Laptops, Mobile News, OmniVision, Sharp, webcam

Ripple, a Korean manufacturer, has a new 12.1 inch notebook called the Ripple Note T2450. Featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo T2450 processor (2.0 GHz), the laptop offers a 12.1 inch widescreen WXGA TFT LCD at 1280×800 pixels. There’s 1 GB of DDR2 RAM (667MHz) and a generous 120 GB SATA hard drive. For connectivity, the Ripple Note is equipped with 802.11 b/g support. The case is designed to be lightweight and it comes in a curved surface finishing.

Other goodies include a 7-in-1 card reader, and integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam.

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Tags: core 2 duo, core2duo, Intel, Laptops, ripple, webcam

MSI announced its newest gaming notebook, the GX600, featuring Turbo Drive Engine technology for handling application compatibility with the latest and greatest games. Overclockers will have fun with the GX600, where the TDE technology allows you to increase the CPU speed up to 20% by pressing the Turbo button on the keyboard. Reminds me of the old Turbo button on the good old ‘386. Of course, this works only when you are connected to an AC power source.

MSI claims a boot time of less than 40 seconds. Under the hood is an Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor, while graphics is handled by Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT. There’s also an HDMI interface plus Dolby 5.1 channel audio output. The GX600 laptop is available in two flavors: an Extreme Edition featuring a flame graphic on the exterior and a Performance Edition.

The laptop comes bundled with Windows Vista Home Premium, and features a 15.4″ WSXGA+ LCD display. 2 gigabytes of RAM, a 250GB SATA hard drive, integrated Bluetooth and 1.3 megapixel webcam round up the essential set of features.

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Tags: bluetooth, gaming, laptop, Laptops, sata hard drive, webcam, wsxga

Fremont, California based Envision Peripherals unveiled its newest webcam, the Windows Vista-certified V-CAM designed for high-quality imaging and enhanced video messaging experience. The V-CAM comes with a 1.3 megapixel CMOS image sensor, and the manufacturers claim it offers quality imaging even in low light conditions. Apart from the 1.3 MPx video capture, you can enjoy 4 MPx digital still images.

The V-CAM is equipped with a USB 2.0 interface. Video can be recorded at 30 frames-per-second, and it handles automatic exposure, white balance and color correction. If you are the type that wants to personalize your video calls, you get a few goodies in the form of overlays, distortion and other goofy video effects. It is compatible with several IM applications including Skype, Yahoo! and MSN. It is pretty compact and comes in an eyeball design that sits on a flat surface.

Priced at US $49. the Envision V-CAM is available online and in select regional retails across the US.

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Tags: 1.3 Mpx, 4 Mpx, digital still, im, laptop accessory, Laptops, Portable Devices, webcam

Toshiba Korea unveiled the new Toshiba Portege M600, a portable notebook PC featuring a 13.3″ display. Featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor on board, the laptop offers a 160GB SATA hard drive and 3D sensor for protection from shocks. There is also a 1.3 megapixel webcam available on the notebook. Apart from that, the M600 comes with 1GB of RAM and a DVD-Super Multi drive.

Graphics is handled by an integrated Intel GMA 950. For connectivity, the Portege offers 10/100Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 a/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. It comes bundled with Windows Vista Home Premium edition. Measuring 360mm x 267mm x 39.3mm, the laptop weighs in at 2.08 kilograms.

No word on the pricing or availability in the US yet.

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Tags: 1.3 megapixel, core 2 duo, Intel, laptop, Laptops, m600, notebook, Portege, Toshiba, webcam

Clique Communications unleashed the new CliqueCAM HD webcam targeted at wannabe YouTube heroes. Available in six colors, the CliqueCAM HD webcam features a unique goose neck design to position the web cam in different arrangements - so you can literally broadcast any part of your, umm, life to your viewers. What’s more, it is compact and easy to carry in a briefcase or purse, so tag it along on our next trip or something.

Detach it from the base and plug it in directly into a laptop’s USB port or use the one-touch snapshot function to capture still photos. Equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera it can take videos at 1024×768 pixels resolution at 30 frames per second. Clique calls it HD-like video, but we won’t believe it until we see it.

Available in spiffy blue, green, red, pink, white and black - get the one that suits your taste, kids - the CliqueCAM HD webcame is now available on Amazon. It carries a price tag of US $99.99.

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Tags: clique, Digital Cameras, hd, Laptops, Portable Devices, stylish, webcam