Up until earlier this week, you could expect to pay about $300 or more for a GoPro Hero2. It really was the de facto “action camera,” but GoPro is starting to face some potentially stiff competition in the space by the likes of Sony, JVC and others. And so, the GoPro Hero3 has been formally revealed and it improves on the Hero2 in just about every way. Indeed, all three versions come with built-in Wi-Fi.

Remember that you had to buy a Wi-Fi accessory for the GoPro Hero2 in order to gain wireless functionality. That already saves you a bunch of money. The other kicker is that the cheapest of the new Hero3 cameras — White Edition — is only $199.99, a full $100 cheaper than its predecessor. For that price, you get the aforementioned Wi-Fi, as well as 1080p full HD video (at 30fps), 960p at 30fps, 720p at 60fps, and 5MP stills with a 3fps burst mode. The Wi-Fi makes it compatible with the Wi-Fi remote, as well as the compatible GoPro apps on iOS and Android.

If you step up to the $299.99 Silver Edition GoPro Hero3, you get the fundamentally the same video capabilities, except the 960p HD video can be recorded at 48fps. Also, the stills have been upgraded to 11 megapixels with a 10fps burst mode.

And finally, at $399.99, the most expensive version is the Hero3 Black Edition. You get bumped to 12MP stills with a 30fps burst rate, but the real kicker is that you go beyond full HD and gain the ability to shoot 4K video at 12fps. There are also settings for 2.7k at 30fps, 1440p at 48fps, 1080p at 60fps, and 720p at 120fps. Bundled in with the Black Edition is the Wi-Fi Remote, which is an additional purchase for the Silver and White Editions.

Pre-orders are being taken now at GoPro.com.

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The GoPro Hero line of “active” HD camcorders has been hugely popular about extreme enthusiasts, but there’s only so much you do with one camera. The newly announced Wi-Fi BacPac and Wi-Fi Remote take care of that.

They work in tandem with existing GoPro cameras, so you can go ahead and use all the different mounts for all sorts of interesting camera angles. Use the helmet cam, the chest cam, the handlebar cam… whatever tickles your fancy. Then, with the Wi-Fi BacPac and Wi-Fi Remote combo kit, you can then control multiple (up to 50!) GoPro cameras from your smartphone or tablet. You can also use the included waterproof Wi-Fi remote.

You get an ideal wireless range of 600 feet. While you can currently stream the video from the GoPro cameras to your smartphone or tablet, a future update will let you livestream that video onto the web. A multi-camera action-enthused livestream! GoPro’s wireless combo is available now for $99.99.

[Source]

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High speeding down the slopes, you cut through a half dozen trees before lifting off and grabbing huge air, you think, shouldn’t I be recording this?  If you did, you have to wait until you get to a computer before uploading your adventure to the world.  That’s not the case if you own the ION Air Pro HD camera. It lets you share your clips in real time to social networking sites.

The new cam will record your rides in full 1080p HD and there’s also an option for snapping 5-megapixel stills. It features a 170-degree wide-angle lens, which is more than enough to record all the action.  The catch is there is no display on it. But there is no need to check whether or not it is recording, just flip a switch and your broadcasting live.   Aside from that critical button, there’s two more; for switching it on and off and taking stills.

Engadget got a their little hands one one, they say that the cam feels comfortable.  Weighing just 123 grams, about 20 less than GoPro in its housing. The new cam also comes with a tripod mount,  memory card slot, HDMI port, AV out all accessible from the rear removable panel.

The realtime feature is not built into the camera itself, you will need to attach a Wi-Fi “Podz” on its rear. You just have to download a free app and you can see what your camera sees (and yes, there is a range limit). The app will allow you to upload clips directly to Facebook and YouTube too.

But that’s not all. You get 8GB of cloud storage. That’s really sweet. Head here to check out a few stills snapped with the cam and check out the first video to know more about it. The second video is a sample and it’s a bit shaky, but you will understand its capabilities.

[ION]

The ION Air Pro will be available next month. As for the pricing, it’s £229 (about $365) for the camera alone, £249 ($395) if you are interested in the bike mount and tripod kit, and £299 ($475) for the full Wi-Fi kit.

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As with other adventure-minded camcorders, the iON Action Pro has been ruggedized to survive the rough and tumble as you tear down the mountain on your snowboard or bike. It’s also waterproof up to 50 feet (IPX8), so you can take it along with you when you go surfing. That’s quite unlike the GoPro and the Swann, as those require an external casing to be fully waterproof. The barrel-like design of the iON is a little different in that regard too.

The core specs are in line with the competition though. You get a fixed focus lens with a 170-degree wide angle view in 720p, which gets narrowed down to 127-degrees when you shoot in 1080p. There’s a mono mic, HDMI and composite out, 1100mAh Li-ion battery, f/2.8 aperture, 5MP photo resolution, microSD slot, and USB 2.0 connectivity.

Look for it on February 28th for about $300.

[ source ]

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The biggest name in this wearable action video camera niche has to be GoPro, or at least the ones with the most marketing bucks. But it’s starting to face some stiff competition from Swann, a company you may be more familiar with for its surveillance products. They now have a GoPro alternative and its called the Freestyle HD. Talking with one of the reps at CES, it has already had a soft launch with some strong and positive feedback. It brings a lot to the table (or the top of your snowboard helmet, as the case may be) that competing products might not. For instance, it has a detachable LCD screen. That’s handy.

There’s also a remote for starting and stopping the recording without having to physically handle the Freestyle HD itself. A built-in laser helps you line up shots. And since you can’t see that when the camera is mounted to the side of your head. it obviously make sense. While the MSRP is set at $280, the street price can drop close to the $200 mark.

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Some Youtuber decided to put his GoPro on the ground to tie his shoelaces or something, when a seagull ran towards him at that very moment and somehow managed to latch onto the camera and take off into the night sky. Conveniently, opica1983 had left the camera running, prepare for rooftops and two blocks of Cannes, France seagull style.

It’s surprising that the seagull didn’t drop the camera but landed with it on some castle.  Then he began poking the thing around and yelling like a crazy seagull thief taunting his victim as he runs off with her purse.  He probably figured out that the camera wasn’t edible and flew away.

This isn’t the first act of animal curiosity, in May, a video surfaced showing a lioness licking and chewing on a filmographers camera. Then picking it up and carrying it off into the savannah. The lioness set the undamaged camera down not too far from the photographer. The photographer raved at how “it kept on filming all the time it was in the lion’s mouth.” Whether it’s a viral commercial attempt by the camera manufacturer to show how tough and resilient their cameras are, or an actual theft by  cunning animals remains to be known.

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I remember when I first saw the GoPro camera hit the Consumer Electronics Show; it doesn’t look all that impressive, but has terrific potential within the extreme sports scene. And it does. Its become popular among that crowd, and adding another dimension to the experience could only make things better. The GoPro 3D Hero does exactly that.

Recently featured on Fox News, the GoPro 3D Hero effectively combines two of the GoPro cameras together. After shooting your clips with the contraption attached to your surfboard, helmet, or wherever else you strap it to, you can synchronize the two sets of videos together to produce a 3D full HD video. The kicker? At the end of the day you’ve only spent about $450, who else shooting HD 3D can claim that?

It might sound like a sizable chunk for what looks like a couple of webcams in waterproof cases, but that’s not terrible for a rugged 3D HD experience. Also consider that the not-so-rugged Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3 camera (720p) lists for $600 (sells for $350-$400). Buying two GoPro cams will set you back $360 and the 3D expansion kit is an extra $90.

I can’t imagine Glenn Beck or “Papa Bear” Bill O’Reilly making terrific use of this product, but all the adrenaline junkies out there could have a lot of fun tearing up the slopes, catching big waves, and carving through skateboard parks in 3-D.

The GoPro 3D HERO Expansion Kit is “Coming Soon” expected to be released early 2011.

Update: The 3D setup consists of dual GoPro HD 1080p cameras which retails for $260 each, plus 3D expansion kit, bringing you in at roughly $610. But that includes some heavy duty mounts.

[GoPro via Fox News]

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