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Update: eyemodule2 Announced
 IDEO has now confirmed the story VisorCentral broke last week, that eyemodule2 is on its way.
The new full-VGA eyemodule™2 digital camera with improved resolution for the Visor will be introduced at Demo 2001 today.
The eyemodule2 snaps into the Visor handheld via its Springboard™ expansion slot to enable easy capture and viewing of digital images in color or black & white in a variety of different formats.
Handspring users can take pictures with the eyemodule2 in full VGA (640x480) to download and print high resolution pictures, take Handspring Visor screen-sized snapshots saved in a compact format to conserve memory on the handheld, or take "Mini-Movie" video clips. In addition, the eyemodule2 includes the eyecontact™ software application to attach images to address book entries.
The eyemodule2 is currently available online (www.palmgear.com) and will begin shipping to retail outlets today, for an MSRP of $199.95. The original eyemodule will continue to be sold for an MSRP of $149.95. The eyemodule and the eyemodule2 are compatible with all Handspring Visor handheld computers, including the recently introduced Visor Prism and Visor Platinum.
Like the original eyemodule, the eyemodule2 does not require batteries. Images and Mini-Movies can be categorized, annotated, beamed to other Visor handhelds or PalmOS® devices, or synchronized to either a PC or Macintosh with the included software to edit, e-mail, or print.
"People were very enthusiastic about the original eyemodule, and IDEO really tuned into what people wanted in the next generation of the product," said Jeff Hawkins, founder, chairman, and chief product officer for Handspring. "The improved resolution and new features work great with the color Visor Prism. I use my eyemodule2 all the time to share pictures and movie clips with my friends and family."
In addition to the improved resolution and capability to take short video clips, the eyemodule2 offers a range of other new features. The eyecontact software works with an eyemodule user's existing address book to attach photos to individual entries. A high-quality image browser from ACD Systems lets the eyemodule user download images to the PC for browsing purposes. Software included from ClubPhoto allows users to create photo albums with ease and share photos on the Internet. And, the new "eyedrop" feature provides the capability to upload images stored on a PC to the Visor handheld.
"The eyemodule2 is the camera module that people have been asking for," said Dennis Boyle, who led the IDEO team that designed the eyemodule2 digital camera. "It provides full-color, 640x480 pixels, full-VGA picture resolution, a host of useful and fun features, and software to add images to your Visor address book entries."
When the eyemodule2 digital camera is snapped into the Springboard expansion slot, the product only adds 2cm to the total length with no increase in thickness. Images are viewed on the screen of the Visor in real time, so people don't need to raise the Visor to the eye to look through a viewfinder. The eyemodule2 digital camera employs a VGA image sensor and image processor from Agilent Technologies Inc. Agilent's VGA image sensor enables the camera to capture high-quality images in low lighting conditions.
A Visor Prism handheld with 6 MB of free memory can hold over 50 full size color images, or over 150 palm size color images, or over 20 seconds of color mini-movies. A black and white screen Visor handheld with 6 MB of free memory can hold: over 50 full size color images, or over 660 palm size black and white images, or over 85 seconds of black and white mini-movies.
Discuss the EyeModule 2 announcement.
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