By taking advantage of the 400 Mb/s bandwidth potential inherent in IEEE 1394 FireWire, Orange Micro has created a Desktop Video Camera that is, quite simply, 16 times better than current standard USB video cameras.
USB cameras are limited: 640 x 480 resolution and 30 frames per second speed - but never both simultaneously. Typically, 640 x 480 is limited to 7 fps. 30 fps is possible at 176 x 144 (postage stamp size). This limitation is because USB is capable of transferring data at only 12 Mb/s.
FireWire cameras like the iBOT, however, have access to 33 times the bandwidth available to USB cameras (of the 400 Mb/s bandwidth available, the iBOT only consumes 200 Mb/s). This makes true 640 x 480 and simultaneous 30 fps video input not only possible, but standard. As a result, the FireWire-based iBOT offers digital camcorder quality at a fraction of the cost.
The recent proliferation of high speed Internet access via DSL and cable modem necessitated this increase in camera bandwidth. With FireWire, jerky images are now a thing of the past. High quality Video Teleconferencing is now possible.
The camera will ship in late October for US$149 (Pro version) or $119 for standard version. You can find more information at the Orange Micro web site.