Intel Pocket PC Camera

As a camera it couldn't be much easier to use. Taking pictures is accompanied by the totally superfluous and rather fetching sound effect of a motorised film camera. The images can be taken at up to VGA standard, which is 640x480 resolution, making them suitable for using in e-mails, or posting on the Web, but not of a sufficient quality for making prints from. You can also take short video clips, albeit at the postage stamp size of 160x120. These are too low quality to be much more than a gimmick. There's also a burst mode which takes five snaps in rapid succession.

Don't expect photographic wonders, it's a "fun" camera rather than serious picture-taker. It's easily caught out by lighting levels, with bright lights leaving big white areas. Movement also leaves you with blurred images, and the colour balance is suspect; everything tends to look a little orange. The 640x480 images size is a much better bet than the diminutive 320x240 option. The only real annoyance is that in digital camera mode it has fixed focus. It has 8 MB of internal memory which is enough for 128 high resolution and 199 low resolution images.

The software bundle is extensive and is geared towards the novice. There's software for Web video, sending pictures and video via e-mail, capturing images and just about every other possible use for the camera including four games. For image editing there's PhotoSuite III SE which is capable enough to be useful.

If you primarily want a WebCam then you can find them cheaper, and if you want a digital camera to carry about, you'll find much more capable ones for little more money--but if you want to explore the possibilities of digital imaging with a bit of everything, then Intel's little camera is great fun.--Miles Berkeley

Featuring a progressive-scan CCD image sensor, a glass and plastic lens and 8 MB of flash memory, Intel's Pocket PC Camera takes 24-bit/16.8 million-colour still images at 640x480 resolution. It also takes up to 640x480-resolution video clips at up to 30 frames per second in full-motion video. The focus range is from 10 cm to infinity. The Pocket PC Camera has an LCD for setting pictures to photo or video, seeing how many pictures are available and checking battery life.

The Pocket PC Camera is compatible with PCs only and hooks up through a 9-foot USB cable. System requirements include: 166 MHz Pentium processor with MMX, Celeron or faster (Reality Fusion Camera Games require 266 MHz Pentium or faster processor); Windows 98, 98 SE or ME operating system; 32 MB RAM; a USB port; a 800x600/16-bit computer display; 250-MB hard disk space; a 4x CD-ROM drive; Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher; an Internet service provider; a 28.8 Kbps or faster modem; and a Windows-compatible sound card with speakers and microphone. The camera comes with a CD-ROM software disk, a 9-foot USB camera-to-PC cable, four AAA batteries, a tilt swivel base/cradle, a carrying case, a cam era strap, a quick-start guide and a quick-reference field guide. Intel provides an abundance of photo and video software titles with the camera, including Intel Audio Recorder, Intel Auto Snapshot, Intel E-mail Postcard, Intel Gallery, Intel Home Page Builder, Intel Movie Builder, Intel Picture Manager, Intel Scene Recorder, Intel Snapshot, Intel TWAIN Driver, Intel Video E-mail, MGI Photo Editing Software, Microsoft Windows NetMeeting and Reality Fusion PC Games.