TiVo-like camcorder documents your life

Consumer electronics start-up Deja View announced Thursday that it has signed a manufacturing partner for its wearable camcorder.

Deja View's Model 100 has two main components. The camera part is small enough to clip to a cap or a pair of eyeglasses and connects to a recording and storage unit that can be worn on a belt or in a fanny pack.

Singapore contract manufacturer Advent Electronics will make the Model 100 for Brick, N.J.-based Deja View, according to the companies. Deja View has not yet set an on-sale date for the device, but it is talking pre-orders now, with the gizmo priced at $399.

Besides its diminutive size, the Model 100 differs from other camcorders because of a recording approach Deja View promises will eliminate missed shots.

Once activated, the Model 100 continually captures whatever it's pointed at and saves the results in a 30-second memory buffer. When a customer experiences something they want to save for posterity, they hit the "record" button and the unit saves the last 30 seconds of footage to a Secure Digital storage card.

The method has prompted some wags to tag the camcorder as a real-life version of the TiVo video recorder, whose popularity is partly based on the device's ability to pause and rewind live TV.

[jjacobus]

Gee a $400 hat that takes 30 seconds of vido!

Dumb idea at a very high price. Remember q-cat? This is not even worth a mention to readers. They are taking "advanced orders" from suckers.

[PixelBrat]

I like the idea but only 30 seconds?

For $400 it should be a bit more configurable. Limiting it by 30 seconds doesn't seem like a good idea. Now make it half the price or less and it would be a neat gadget.

"Dumb Idea"? You've GOT to be joking, or just haven't thought WHO yet.

You said this was a dumb idea, but I don't think you quite grasp what, exactly, is the target. I can already see a host of security organisations, banks, convience stores, etc., lining up to buy this kind of technology.

Sure, for Joe Sixpack, 30 seconds for $500 is outrageous; the only use for it is "America's funniest home videos". But for Joe Reporter, thirty seconds of video is Pulitzer Prize time; for a Secret Service Agent, 30 seconds is "Second Gunman in the Grassy Knoll" time. For a bank, 30 seconds is "Police have arrested a suspect and recovered the stolen money" time. For an accident, this is the difference between "He said/She said" and "Here is the video of the accident, your honor."

And realize, 30 seconds is what THIS version can do; when it's up to around 20 minutes (about 7 years, if Moore's Law holds), this will be a "Must Have" kind of thing, like a PDA or a Cell Phone.

While I agree with the sentiment "I'm not paying that for just 30 seconds", I can see the line already lining up at 30 seconds, from some groups; at 10 minutes, Joe Sixpack IS going to want this.