Crave

(Credit: Pure Digital)

With many electronics makers looking to replicate the success of the Flip video camera, the company behind it, Cisco, is looking for a new way to stand out.

Since the Flip's debut in 2007, a parade of similar sub-$200 camcorders, from far more established names have followed, including those from Sony, Samsung, Kodak, Creative, Toshiba, and others. Now the Flip folks are mixing it up a bit.

Instead of readying an updated camera for the holidays, the newest product isn't a camera at all, but a tiny, square-ish box that plugs into a TV. Using a small white USB dongle, it can stream your homemade Flip videos stored on your computer to your TV's larger screen, with the ability to sort through videos using an included remote control. The system is called Flipshare TV, and it's available starting Wednesday.

Some 3 million of the pocket-sized flash-based cameras have sold since the Flip's launch in 2007. After establishing the brand, the device's makers Pure Digital sold the company to networking giant Cisco for $590 million.

Jonathan Kaplan, Flip founder and current vice president of Cisco's consumer products group, said earlier this year to expect "networked" Flip cameras, and Flipshare TV is one example of that.

The idea behind Flipshare TV is that you'll be more likely to watch your videos after making them if you can show them to a larger group on a larger screen. Taking home video is great, as Flip's head of marketing Simon Fleming-Wood says, but "the key is the ability is to do fun things with it."... Read more

Flip MinoHD

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

According to Pocket-Lint, an unspecified Flip camcorder slated to ship in the first half of 2010 will incorporate Wi-Fi connectivity. That's unsurprising, given the recent acquisition of Flip's parent, Pure Digital, by networking giant Cisco. The site also says a Cisco spokesperson confirmed that "the new model will feature 'a large screen that slides to reveal the record and menu buttons underneath' allowing users to see what is going on when they are recording video."

How much you wanna bet this will be announced at CES (or just before) in January? I'm also curious how much Wi-Fi will add to the price; one of the main attractions of these models is their cheapness relative to more full-featured products. Plus, adding Wi-Fi generally means a partnership with a hot-spot provider for free uploads. Just wondering...

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Cisco's yearly earnings.

If you haven't noticed, Cisco Systems, whose products have been used to build the Internet for 20 years, has spent the past 6 years becoming a big player in the consumer electronics market.

While Cisco still generates the bulk of its nearly $40 billion in yearly revenue from selling routers and switches to large companies and Internet service providers, the company has also been pushing into new markets, such as consumer electronics, over the past several years.

Still, most consumers probably have no idea who Cisco is or what it does. Sure, they may have seen those cute "human network" commercials on TV. But other than that, I'd guess the average Joe has no clue what Cisco does.

Some might be familiar with the Linksys brand, which has traditionally sold home networking gear. But Cisco executives say they are on a mission to make Cisco a household name. Not only is the company making a bigger effort to brand its products as Cisco, but it's also busy developing a slew of new products for the consumer market.

And on Thursday the company announced its most aggressive play in the consumer market to date with the $590 million acquisition of Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the popular Flip Video mini camcorders.

But Pure is by no means the only major acquisition Cisco has made in the consumer market. In fact, the company so far has pretty much built this part of its business through acquisitions. In 2003, it got its start in the competitive CE market with the $500 million acquisition of the home-networking equipment maker Linksys. Then in 2005, it bought Scientific Atlanta, a quasi-consumer electronics company, for $7 billion. Scientific Atlanta makes set-top boxes that Cisco sells to subscription TV providers.

(Credit: Pure Digital)

Updated 7:46 AM PT with comments from executives at Cisco and Pure Digital.

Cisco Systems, the world's largest maker of switches and routers that power the Internet, has taken another step toward becoming a major player in the consumer electronics market.

On Thursday the company announced it has acquired Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the popular Flip Video camcorders. Cisco will pay about $590 million in stock for the company and will also provide about $15 million in retention-based equity as incentives to PureDigital employees, the company said in a statement.

Pure Digital started selling its consumer-friendly mini camcorder in May 2007. The device, which is a little bigger than a deck of cards and has a built-in USB connection, was designed to provide an easy and simple way to take video and upload it to the Internet, especially to popular sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace.

The device, which costs between $100 and $229, depending on the version purchased, has built-in memory storage to take up to 30 minutes or 60 minutes of video. The integrated software also makes the device easy to upload video to PCs or Macs. The product line has grown and now includes the Flip MinoHD, a small high-definition camera. Pure Digital says it has sold more than 2 million total Flip video units since the product first went on sale.

Pure Digital, maker of the popular Flip Video camera, is reportedly nearing a deal to be acquired by Cisco, according to a report in TechCrunch.

The original Flip Video camera from Pure Digital.

(Credit: Pure Digital)

TechCrunch cites several anonymous sources saying that San Francisco-based Pure Digital is considering a sale. Another source says the Cisco sale "is a done deal," and puts the price tag at "north of $500 million."

Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan wasn't available for comment.

Pure Digital had been in the business of making one-time-use cameras for about five years before it hit the jackpot with its Flip Video, a small, flash-based video camera that allows easy uploads of videos directly to YouTube and other online video sites.

The Flip Video went from basically nothing to grabbing an outsize chunk of the video camera market in two years, inspiring more established electronics brands like Kodak and Sony to follow suit with their own small video cameras.

Pure Digital has discussed possible sale at least once before. CNET News reported ... Read more

The Selectable Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WRT320N.

(Credit: Cisco)

It seems the transition to dual-band wireless networking is in full force at Cisco. The company announced Thursday three brand-new Wireless-N products that operate in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies.

Sharing the same marketing brand "Linksys by Cisco," these new media-enabled home products include a bridge, the WET610N, and two routers, the WRT400N and the WRT320N.

The WET610N Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge is designed to add high-speed Wireless-N connectivity to devices that have an Ethernet port. Examples of these devices include desktop computers, set-top boxes, game consoles, network printers, and certain models of TVs.

The new Bridge operates in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies and features built-in quality-of-service functionality that's optimized for streaming video, home theater, and gaming applications. It's available now and costs $99.99.

The WRT400N and WRT320N routers supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. However, while the WRT400N offers connectivity in both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands at the same time, the WRT320N can only operate in one ... Read more

(Credit: Cisco)

For a lot of home users, staying protected online is complicated, especially when they have multiple computers and networking devices (and who doesn't, nowadays?). Installing and keeping security software properly updated can be a daunting task.

Cisco now makes it simpler by integrating Internet security inside its Linksys by Cisco Wireless-N routers. This means you won't even have to install a separate online security suite on each computer within the home network anymore.

The company announced Tuesday its collaboration with Trend Micro to introduce the Home Network Defender (HND), a multi-layered software security solution that helps provide network protection home-network devices including PCs, online game consoles, Wi-Fi enabled phones, and personal media players.