Pure Digital introduces the Flip camcorder to HD

by Stevie Smith - Nov 13 2008, 13:00

Already having found considerable traction with pennywise tech consumers, the diminutively simple and pocket friendly Flip camcorder is now making the jump to the big leagues after creator Pure Digital Inc. released a new high-definition model.

Officially unveiled yesterday, the new Flip MinoHD would appear to be the perfect no frills camcorder choice for increasingly budget-minded buyers in an economic climate edging ever closer to full-blown recession.

And there’s little to suggest Pure Digital’s upgrade to high definition will be anything other a resounding success, especially when considering the impressive 1.5 million unit sales amassed by the original Flip since it debuted back in May of 2007.

According to Pure Digital’s CEO, Jonathan Kaplan, the new Flip MinoHD is the world’s smallest high-definition camcorder and should gain a foothold of popularity with teenage consumers and first-time buyers looking for a solid entry point.

Built on the company’s guiding ethos of delivering easy and affordable products into the consumer electronics market, Kaplan has also noted that the Flip MinoHD resists “feature creep” and remains intrinsically simple and easy to use despite the inclusion of HD capabilities.

“Saying that ‘my camcorder is 1080p and has larger hard drive and its got a larger screen’ -- nobody cares about that,” offered Kaplan in a Reuters report. “What they care about is capturing the everyday moments in their life.”

Palm-sized and weighing in at a mere 3.3 ounces, the Flip MinoHD is able to record up to 60 minutes of video on 4GBs of internal memory, while a ‘flip’ out USB connector means Internet uploading and storage on a computer’s hard drive is as easy as the camcorder’s user functionality.

Other features include a 1.5-inch anti-glare LCD display screen, HD resolution of 720p, touch-sensitive recording and playback controls, a 2x digital zoom, and content organising through pre-loaded FlipShare software.

The addition of HD performance sees the latest Flip entrant carrying a recommended price tag of $230 USD, while its SD predecessor presently comes attached to a price of $180 USD. Those buying the Flip MinoHD from the official Flip site can also apply their own design influence on the final product.

Around the Web