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Is iPhone video recording bad news for YouTube?

With the introduction of the the new iPhone 3G S, one of the features iPhone aficionados are most excited about is the addition of video recording. Never mind that this feature has been available in a lot of other cell phones for a while; the point is, it's finally here, and that's a good thing, especially when Apple has taken the pocket camcorder concept to a whole new level with the integration of some basic onboard editing tools, geotagging, and, most importantly, a wireless distribution system that allows you to easily share your iPhone clips via e-mail, MMS, or by uploading them directly to YouTube (and MobileMe) with a touch of a button (see Apple's demo).

On the surface, this would appear to be excellent news for YouTube and should rather frighten Flip Video, which has seen its YouTube-friendly pocket camcorders take a nice chunk of the camcorder market (recent sales figures indicate that digital pocket models like the Flip, the Creative Vado HD, and the Kodak Zx1, have captured over 25 percent of the camcorder market in the U.S.).… Read more

Verizon to get BlackBerry Pearl Flip June 19

On Thursday, Verizon Wireless announced the upcoming availability of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230. Joining T-Mobile and Alltel, Verizon will offer the smartphone starting June 19 for $129.99 with a two-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate.

The Pearl Flip is RIM's first clamshell BlackBerry and features a 2-megapixel camera, a SureType keyboard, external and internal displays, and a microSD expansion slot (up to 16GB). The 3G-enabled Pearl 8230 also works with Verizon's various services, including VZ Navigator and Visual Voice Mail, though these enhancements do come with an added cost.

Other highlights include support … Read more

Preview all your fonts at once with Flipping Typical

Depending on how much design work you've done, and what kind of software you're using, you probably have some idea of which fonts you have installed and what they look like. If you don't, there's a wonderfully simple Web app called Flipping Typical that gives you a WYSIWYG heads up of all of them at once.

You can type in whatever text you want to see and it will show you how it looks in each font, and the site updates in real time to reflect the changes. You can also use keyboard shortcuts to toggle … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: What Pure Digital says about Flip copycats

Pure Digital unveiled new Flip Video devices Thursday, the Flip Ultra and the Flip Ultra HD. CNET News intern Mats Lewan sits down with CNET News reporter Erica Ogg--who recently chatted with Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan--to talk out what the new devices offer, as well as what Pure Digital thinks about all those copycat products.

Plus, bad news for Motorola, and good news for people who like to speak in smiley faces.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Facebook hit by phishing attacks for a second day

Motorola continues to bleed amid rotten economy

Report: Apple eyes Mac pricing cuts… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 964: Bros out loud

Natali's out, and Jason and I are joined by Donald and Brian Tong, making for a fun-filled episode in which Tom says stupid, guy things, like "touchdown line." But we do talk about the Windows 7 RC and Atom processors getting used in Netbooks.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 964

Microsoft preps Windows 7 release http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8026736.stm

Microsoft to disable Autorun http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/29/2110241

In major shift, Apple builds its own team to design chips http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104666426570729.html… Read more

Reviewed: Flip UltraHD and Flip Ultra

While the name of the category is still up for debate--same say "minicamcorders," others say "YouTube camcorders"--everyone agrees that Pure Digital's Flip Mino was the pioneer product in the realm of tiny, low-priced flash-based digital camcorders. Now the company--which has since been bought out by Cisco--is back with two new models: the second-generation Flip Ultra, and the new Flip UltraHD. CNET's got the full review for each, along with hands-on videos.

Read the Flip Ultra review.

Read the Flip Ultra HD review.

Additional coverage from CNET News: Pure Digital not flipping out over a little competition … Read more

Pure Digital not flipping out over a little competition

The success of Pure Digital's original Flip Video has launched a slew of copycat products, and Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan embraces it.

"It makes me even more proud of the team," he said in an interview this week. "Imitation is an absolutely fine form of flattery. I'm happy every time a competitor launches a new product."

Kaplan's sunny outlook on the competition likely stems from the relative lack of success they have had. Electronics makers much larger and longer-established than the San Francisco-based maker of tiny flash-based digital camcorders--like Sony and Kodak--have attempted to cut themselves a slice of the market. But none has tapped into the almost inexplicable appeal of the slightly boxy, plasticky handheld video camera with the pop-out USB arm, which gets a refresh on Thursday. Plus, now that Cisco Systems has agreed to purchase Pure Digital, the company will have an even bigger platform to stand on.

"We haven't seen significant erosion (of market share) from some of the bigger names that have entered, such as Sony, Kodak or RCA," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group. Besides jumping into the market later, Sony's WebbieHD and Kodak's Zi6 are rendered less convenient and sometimes more expensive by either not including a USB connector or additional memory cards, according to Rubin.

As of February, Pure Digital's Flip cameras were the top selling of similar devices that cost $200 or less in its category, followed by Aiptek, which makes the A-HD camera, Taiwan's DXG Technology, RCA, and Sakar, according to NPD. Though NPD doesn't give out retail data on individual companies, Kaplan claims Pure Digital sells "under 10 million" Flip cameras worldwide per year. That's actually good enough to be the No. 2 seller of digital video camcorders in the U.S., regardless of price, putting them right behind Sony.

Now the device that basically invented the $200 flash memory-based digital camcorder category is getting some tweaks in an attempt to keep competitors at bay. The Ultra model, first introduced in 2007, is branching off into two devices: the Ultra II and the Ultra HD.… Read more

Sony's Flip killer not so lethal

Sony's first entry in the mini-camcorder arena was 2007's NSC-GC1 Net-sharing Cam. That model didn't fare too well in our review, but Sony seems to have learned from that experience and made some improvements to its new line of YouTube-friendly budget camcorders, dubbed "Webbie HD" models.

We picked up the MHS-PM1 ($150--Best Buy), which follows in the footsteps of models like the Flip Video MinoHD, with a vertical, almost cell-phone-like design. Sony also makes a horizontal, more traditional and slightly more expensive version, the MHS-CM1, which features a 5x zoom lens. Both models come in … Read more