Disposable Video Camera Hits US Shelves

US drugstore chain CVS is to launch the world's first-ever disposable video camera. It weighs under five ounces, holds 20 minutes of video and sound, features a 1.4-inch playback screen and is available for $29.99 (£16).


The World's First Disposable Video Camera

The new camera from San Francisco-based start-up Pure Digital Technologies, doesn't use videotape. Instead, it saves images to internal memory -- like the video mode of a digital camera.

Using just three buttons, consumers can capture up to 20 minutes of digital quality video and sound in either separate segments or clips, CVS (Research) have said.

The video camcorder's 1.4-inch color playback screen lets users watch their home videos and delete unwanted segments. Once they finished shooting, consumers will have to pay an additional $12.99 (£7) for processing the footage onto DVDs at their local CVS store since there's no other way to watch the footage recorded.

One drawback of the camera, which weighs under five ounces, is that it cannot be plugged into a TV.

"For the first time, consumers can have a rich, worry-free home moviemaking experience with an affordable single-use camcorder that easily fits in their pocket or purse," Chris Bodine, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at CVS, said in a statement.

The new video camera goes on sale exclusively at CVS stores nationwide at the end of the month.

"One-time-use camera category has grown to be 218 million units annually and we expect it to account for 38 percent of total film volume in the U.S. in 2005. A simple and affordable one-time-use digital camcorder could spur growth in the digital video market in a similar way," Mike Wolf, director of digital photography trends at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, was quoted in the release as saying.

CVS website: cvs.com.