Cisco's Flip camcorder, pricing announced

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 08:48

IT Industry - Strategy

Cisco has announced retail pricing for the Flip camcorder it will introduce into Australia before Christmas.

As iTWire reported yesterday , the Flip is a mobile phone sized camcorder whose key differentiating feature is its ease of use and the ease which videos can be uploaded to PCs or Macs and thence to individuals via email or to popular social networking sites.

Cisco will initially bring into Australia just two of the four versions available in the US: The Mino HD and the Mino (standard definition). The Mino HD has 4GB of memory and is able to store one hour of video which it records at 30 frames per second with a 1280 x 770 resolution. It will sell for $299.95 RRP. The Mino has 1GB of memory and can store four hours of video at 640 x 480 resolution. It will sell for $229.95.

Marketing these devices will be a radical departure for Cisco even compared to its SME/consumer product range, Linksys, and no details are yet available on distribution channels. The company however has engaged public relations firm Text100 to help it launch the product. (Kinetics handles Cisco's corporate PR and Upstream its Linksys products.)

Text100 account manager and social media strategist Lukas Picton, told iTWire that  distribution arrangements were yet to be finalised and that a launch date, which will be before Christmas, had yet to be set. "This is all happening very fast," he said.

In addition to models with more storage and therefore longer recording time, the Flip product range also includes a number of accessories. Picton said further products would likely be introduced into Australia in 2010.  However for those who can't wait, at least one Australian online retailer, is already offer what appears to be the full range of Flip camcorders and accessories.