BIOS: Technology Means Business

Veo, a privately-held company based in San Jose, California, has released a new range of digital communication devices for consumers. The Veo Advanced Connect, reviewed here, is a low-cost USB 1.1 Web camera that has some nice design touches and practical features, particularly for those who want to try video instant messaging.

The package contains everything you need to set the camera up and capture still or moving images. The silver camera’s two tripod-like spider clips are great for attaching and holding the unit securely to an LCD monitor or office cubicle wall. This innovative design feature means you’ll never have to worry about the camera slipping off your LCD monitor (or office partition), or having to realign the camera every time you adjust its positioning or focus. An interchangeable 360-degree swivel base (+/- 20-degree tilt) is also supplied for CRT monitor and table use.

Veo refers to the focus dial on the top and bottom of the camera as a Sure-Grip Focus Dial, but this is essentially a plastic rotary dial that lets you make relatively fine focus changes. The term grip is also a little misleading because focus adjustments are generally made with a single finger and minimal pressure. If you were to apply too much pressure, or grip the camera, you’d alter its positioning.

The Advanced Connect includes a built-in digital microphone, allowing you to capture relatively clear audio without moving from your chair. If you use instant messaging software which supports audio, such as Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Messenger, the Advanced Connect lets you ‘synchronise’ audio and video. The quality of the video and audio however, very much depends on the bandwidth connection of both users. V.90 modem users for example, will be able to view and hear a friend, but the likelihood of real-time lip-syncing is extremely unlikely - regardless of how much you spend on a Web camera.

A blue LED at the rear of the camera (which is just about visible when the camera is mounted on a screen) indicates whether the Advanced Connect is capturing live footage. Unfortunately, there’s no other LED to indicate that the Advanced Connect is actually powered or capturing audio. However, there is an easy-slide security shutter that lets you conceal the camera’s lens when not in use.

The camera’s VGA CMOS sensor lets you capture still images at 640x480, 320x240 and 160x120 pixels. The camera’s not self-powered, so it can’t be used disconnected from your PC, but the Easy-Touch Snapshot Button does lets you capture still images. There’s no flash either, so the quality of images will deteriorate depending on the amount of light in the room. Digital videos (up to 30fps) are saved to your PC as AVIs and photos are saved as either BMP or JPEG files.

The Advanced Connect’s software suite, Veo Digital Studio, is a breeze to use. From a single user interface you can import and modify digital images and videos, capture audio, make mini movies, design animated greeting cards, e-mail your images and movie creations and create an animated Web home page. When taking snapshots, image controls let you alter brightness, contrast and gamma levels, manual or auto white balance, manual or auto exposure. You can also select the light spectrum (fluorescent or incandescent) as well as a light frequency of 50Hz or 60Hz. There’s even a time delay feature that includes a nice countdown animation. Captured images can be e-mailed directly from the software, which integrates with Outlook so all your contact details can be accessed quickly and easily.

Veo’s Advanced Connect makes keeping in touch with friends and family using images, audio and video easy and fun. Unlike some other Web cameras, you can’t detach the Advanced Connect from your PC and use it as a conventional digital camera, but this restriction is reflected in its relatively low price. Its build quality isn’t great either, but serves its purpose adequately. Overall, the Advanced Connect is ideal for those looking for a low cost way to liven up their instant messaging with audio and video, or those who want to quickly capture and send images via e-mail. Home users will appreciate the good selection of software, too.