Fremont, California-based Logitech has announced the Logitech.cam internet video camera which plugs into a PC’s Universal Serial Bus interface and captures full-color motion video and still images. The camera, which requires a Pentium 166 MHz PC with at least 16Mbytes of RAM, a minimum 14.4Kbps modem and Windows 98, comes with a built-in microphone. Logitech envisages the camera’s main uses being to send emails with video and still image attachments over standard telephone lines. However, the camera can also be used for web videoconferencing with Microsoft’s NetMeeting software. Logitech’s UK general manager Jim Barnes says that, in common with other PC videoconferencing systems, Logitech.cam users with a 28.8Kbps modem will only be able to transmit three to four frames a second. With a 56Kbps modem, you can add one or two frames, but for internet videoconferencing you really need a T1 line, he says. The camera can transmit video clips as AVI files at up to 30 frames a second at a resolution of 176 by 144 pixels, Barnes says. At 25 frames a second, it offers a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. Logitech, which is the world’s largest supplier of mice, is manufacturing the camera in Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. Shipping in the US on September 1, and in Europe on September 24, the camera will retail for 77.99 pounds in the UK and $99.95 in the US.
