“Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.” -Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, volume I, no. 183
Beautiful. Simple. Elegant. A minimalist FireWire connection. The FireWire cord, in white, flows naturally out of the iSight. Brilliant product design. And then there’s Microsoft’s LifeCam Cinema HD…
Imitation, Of Course! Not only is there a similarity in external design, the name, LifeCam Cinema HD, sounds familiar too. And it should: Apple’s line of LCD monitors are called Cinema HD.
Loud Apple’s iSight has an integrated mic, but you wouldn’t know it from the external design. Microsoft’ss LifeCam Cinema HD has a built-in mic (noise-canceling): that’s the big bulge on top. Like the name suggests it’s HD–you can clearly tell from the front. And yes, it is from Microsoft. The mount too. I wonder if the cables are branded. I think that’s about enough Microsoft bashing for its non-simple, non-elegant product design.
HD Recording The LifeCam Cinema HD will most likely work quite well. And it trumps the other more stylish webcam in pure hardware capability: 1280 x 720 at 30 fps recording. On the other hand, the beaut can only record 640 x 480 at 30 fps. Both have autofocus. The iSight sports a custom-designed three-part f/2.8 lens with two aspherical elements. The LifeCam Cinema HD: I don’t know. For more information about the iSight check out Wikipedia.
Dual Core Minimum You’ll need a solid setup to get the LifeCam Cinema HD working: 1.6GHz Dual Core CPU minimum (3GHz recommended). If you’re planning to upgrade to Windows 7 the LifeCam Cinema HD has got your back. Price is US$80 and will be available September 9.
If the iSight had feelings, I don’t think it is flattered.