murmurous gilgamesh: Sony Bloggie Live review

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sony Bloggie Live review

Last April, Cisco unceremoniously shuttered Flip, two years after purchasing the company for $590 million. The end of the line came as a bit of a shock, marking the death of the brand that had become synonymous with pocket cams. But did it also mark the end of the miniature camcorder, in a world where more and more people carry portable cameras on them at all times, in the form of smartphones?

In spite of Cisco's lack of faith in the market for budget standalone camcorders, a number of companies such as Kodak and Samsung have carried on. Most notable among them, though, might be Sony, which has continued to innovate with its Bloggie line. The company's latest offering, the Bloggie Live adds WiFi to the equation, for wireless file transfers and, as the name not-so-subtly implies, live-streaming. But are these features enough to keep buyers interested in pocket camcorders, or is this too little, too late in a world where video-capturing smartphones are the norm?

Gallery: Sony Bloggie Live