APPLE'S ISIGHT IS 20-20
 Apple
Computer must know their iSight is 20-20 because the brand new,
way-cool little web camera offers just about everything a user wants
to see in a webcam. For starters, the iSight is easy on the eyes.
Known for their product's clean lines and almost Zen-like simplicity,
the iSight is a little matt-finished silver cylinder that sports tiny
air holes on most of its surface. It comes with three different mounts
that let you attach it to any of Apple's monitors, or clips on to any
of their portables. Whatever mount you select, the iSight is able to
tilt and swivel, making its positioning and adjustment simple.
Made from a strong yet lightweight aluminum alloy, the 2.3 ounce
camera mounts on the center top portion of your viewing screen. That's
actually very important since most web cams sit on the table. That
means the person with whom you are conversing does not experience the
normal face-to-face view we see when speaking to each other. Quite
frankly, the lack of eye contact makes you appear shifty. But having
the iSight mounted on the center top position of both screens gives
the appearance that you are both speaking directly to each other.
The iSight connects to the Macintosh via a Firewire connection.
That too is significant since Firewire is around 40 times faster than
webcams that connect via the slower USB port. The Firewire connection
also powers the iSight. Apple claims the iSight will deliver 30
frames-per-second. There was however, a slightly perceptible lag
between my live motion and my image in the screen. Still, the quality
of the image was superior to other webcam images I have seen. That's
probably because of the iSight's two aspherical elements, F/2.8 wide
aperture and 24-bit color depth. Plus the iSight¹s lens automatically
focuses from 2 inches to infinitely for the sharpest picture possible.
iSight also includes an on-board processor that automatically adjusts
white balance, sharpness, color, focus, exposure and filters out noise
so that the transmitted picture is bright, focused and color is true
in most lighting. Also built into the iSight is a dual element
noise-suppressing microphone that delivers surprisingly clear audio.
The Firewire connection transports the audio as well.
A nice feature is the webcam's built-in iris. Rotating the housing
ring in front will open and close the iris to ensure privacy. When
closed, the little green led indicator light turns off, opening the
iris turns it back on. The iris is so well constructed that you're
hard pressed to see its seams when it's closed. Opening and closing
the iris is indicated on the software application as well. Both the
iris position as well as the camera are auto-detected by the included
iChat AV software. When you connect the iSight, iChat AV will
automatically launch. IChat AV is Apple's newly introduced video
conferencing software that models itself after instant messaging. A
Buddy List displays the screen names of your contacts who are
currently online. Audio-only chats are possible on a dialup connection
using iSight's microphone to others who do not have an iSight. But if
you both have a camera, the iChat buddy list indicates that by placing
a small camera icon next to their screen name. A video connection does
requires a broadband connection. When you want to begin a video chat,
iChatAV first presents you with a view of how you will be seen by the
other person, thus giving you the chance to primp and make sure you
don't have bed-head. Then the other person's image appears and a small
picture-in-picture of yourself appears at the lower right portion of
the screen. You can resize the video window, or make the video image
fill the entire screen.
The iSight comes with a small carrying case and the iChat AV
software which is currently in its first public beta. The final
version will sell for $29.95 for OS X 10.2 users. It will come free
and built into Apple's next iteration of the operating system,
Panther, better known as OS X 10.3 that was just unveiled at Apple's
Developer Conference.
www.apple.com |
