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iSight Ship Dates Slipping, Revision?

I have the older version and really enjoy using it. However, ever since the latest updates to tiger I have issues with it slowing down the whole system. For some reason it clears up after I reboot, but its anoying. 🙁

Personally I would like to see better methods of attaching your isight to a monitor or some kind of accesory stand to help lift it into a better position.
 
Renegate said:
Airport extreme is also slipping (7-10days)
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Hmmm. That I find interesting, as I'm in the market for a good wireless base station, as the Buffalo I bought two months ago gives horrible coverage (my 5-year-old SMC 'b' access point would give superb coverage throughout the house, so maybe I'm spoiled there). Airport stations were off the table because of price for several-years-old technology.

iSight: I have one and love it, but wouldn't pay the same price I paid - what, two years ago? - today. It just doesn't make sense. Much lower price, new features, and I might buy one tomorrow to keep at work, but I'm not exactly holding my breath for it.

Apple has, of late, done an astounding job of releasing cool technology at great price points. They get press for it, and the press will even often note that this is far cheaper than the equivalent from Dell or Logitech or Sony. But, there's a long tail there, where they really make their money: that price point remains for a year or more, well past when the equivalent Dell or Logitech or Sony equipment passed it in price and/or features.

What this means is, buy Apple gear when it is announced, and you get a good deal. Never even think of buying "stale" equipment from Apple; look to other manufacturers for the equivalents where possible (eg, iSight and Airport Extreme) or wait for a product refresh if you can.
 
eXan said:
Keep the resolution, increase the CCD size, otherwise, no increase in quality can happen.
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Umm, actually, you can increase the quality without increasing the per-pixel size on the CCD. Look to Nikon (CCD) and Canon (CMOS) DSLR evolution in the time that iSight has been out; look to revolutions like the Foveon sensor (which I hear is finally going to be announced in a Sigma DSLR at Photokina). While these are "still" sensors, the same principle applies to digital video sensors (I'm just not as familiar with them, although I'm very happy with my Panasonic 300 camera's quality especially in low light, compared to my old Sony TR80's, which so far as I understand is actually with a smaller sensor and optics).

While at any given point in time, more space on the sensor per pixel will result in a less-noisy image at a given ISO sensitivity, that is certainly not the only way to get a higher-quality picture given technological advances over time.

iSight (the separate component) stagnated a while back, and the world of digital imaging has passed it by. I suspect we could well see a significant increase in image quality and resolution with the same size sensor and optics (although the optics may need refinement to meet the standards of a more modern sensor).
 
That reminds me not to forget about my iSight apartment security camera idea for when I'm off at work. I'm most likely going to go with cameras more suited to staying hidden though. 😀
 
Well, if this conspiratory theory wins (the one that supports the
end of life of isight), what would happen to Mac Mini owners ?
(Power PC users are out of this logic since they have "old" machinery,
myself included)

These users ought to be the ones that Apple cares...or not.
 
j33pd0g said:
I would buy an iSight... if they made it wireless. Or at least, made it so you could integrate it with the AirPort Express.
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Not a bad idea. It could connect to the Mac via Bonjour. Datarate would be worse than USB2, but hey, imagine the fun you can have with a macbook and a wireless iSight. You could do awesome videos with this in changing rooms in stores, your neighbour's bedroom, attached on the back of your dog, in your car (making a video of the car who bumped your parking car while you're shopping), etc. 😛
 
ro2nie said:
Bluetooth iSight?
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Bluetooth is too slow... the bandwidth just sucks as does the range. It's good for synchronizing your phone with your contact or calendar. For headsets it's still ok, but video has too much data.
 
MrCrowbar said:
Bluetooth is too slow... the bandwidth just sucks as does the range. It's good for synchronizing your phone with your contact or calendar. For headsets it's still ok, but video has too much data.
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I read rumors that they would speed up bluetooth soon... who knows
 
Any update is probably more to update the internal components to comply with environmental regulations ... but if they're already updating, a higher resolution along with zoom and face-tracking features would be nice. And if they can find a way to include all that in the C2D iMac I'll be buying in the spring that would be even better! 😀
 
I highly doubt there will be a built in iSight camera into any Apple Cinema Display ever, it makes no sense at all for pro customers who use the display.

It makes much more sense for Apple to release a new external iSight with a bulit in IR Sensor for use with the next version of MacOSX.

As they said at the WWDC, Front Row and PhotoBooth would be built into the operating system, and since it will be universal for both Power PC and Intel based Macs, they can't assume that everyone out there who already owns a Mac will go buy a new Cinema Display just to use these features. Therefore it makes much more sense for them to implement the IR Sensor and bundle the Apple Remote with a new iSight.
 
crjeong said:
I highly doubt there will be a built in iSight camera into any Apple Cinema Display ever, it makes no sense at all for pro customers who use the display.

It makes much more sense for Apple to release a new external iSight with a bulit in IR Sensor for use with the next version of MacOSX.

As they said at the WWDC, Front Row and PhotoBooth would be built into the operating system, and since it will be universal for both Power PC and Intel based Macs, they can't assume that everyone out there who already owns a Mac will go buy a new Cinema Display just to use these features. Therefore it makes much more sense for them to implement the IR Sensor and bundle the Apple Remote with a new iSight.
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I think this is the most likely reason to update the isight.
 
jettredmont said:
Umm, actually, you can increase the quality without increasing the per-pixel size on the CCD. Look to Nikon (CCD) and Canon (CMOS) DSLR evolution in the time that iSight has been out; look to revolutions like the Foveon sensor (which I hear is finally going to be announced in a Sigma DSLR at Photokina). While these are "still" sensors, the same principle applies to digital video sensors (I'm just not as familiar with them, although I'm very happy with my Panasonic 300 camera's quality especially in low light, compared to my old Sony TR80's, which so far as I understand is actually with a smaller sensor and optics).

While at any given point in time, more space on the sensor per pixel will result in a less-noisy image at a given ISO sensitivity, that is certainly not the only way to get a higher-quality picture given technological advances over time.

iSight (the separate component) stagnated a while back, and the world of digital imaging has passed it by. I suspect we could well see a significant increase in image quality and resolution with the same size sensor and optics (although the optics may need refinement to meet the standards of a more modern sensor).
Click to expand...

Not to get too off topic, but Sigma has been selling cameras with Foveons for some time now... just search on foveon in froogle. I believe Foveon is upgrading their top end sensor this month though, which may be what you heard.

Your main point that for a given sensor size, noise charecteristics have improved over time is probably right, although I believe most of the advancement there has been on the CMOS side (which had more noise issues than CCDs).

You also have to be a bit careful... to combat the increased noise with smaller sensors, some of the "advancement" simply has been more aggressive post-process noise filtering turned on by default...

I do agree that the image quality of the current iSight is shockingly bad given the high-tech looking enclosure...
 
Airport Extreme base station is now out of stock at Amazon, MacMall, J&R, B&H, and others. According to Pricegrabber, the only online sources that still have it are a small handfull of never-heard-of-you places. Either someone underestimated sales of this ancient product, or a refresh is imminent.
 
iSight ship date

our week or so old order for an iSight via the campus computer store was given a new ship date of 10-31 (I assume that is this year) but not cancelled
 
termite said:
Airport Extreme base station is now out of stock at Amazon, MacMall, J&R, B&H, and others. According to Pricegrabber, the only online sources that still have it are a small handfull of never-heard-of-you places. Either someone underestimated sales of this ancient product, or a refresh is imminent.
Click to expand...

you can buy it at the Apple online store.
 
Did the iSight get upgraded?

Sounds like the iSight is now shipping. Has it been upgraded? Is it the same old iSight from before but now meets the EU standards?
 
Pehaps this unSightly thing,

Fire-i Digital Camera is the best FireWire Color Digital Camera available for home/office applications. Its superior VGA picture quality and lightweight housing clearly distinguishes it from other FireWire or USB cameras.

T4791_screen1.jpg


http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...&nplm=T4791&wosid=sF3uMa7zVmtk2cvaEd32U88BKo8

Wow, looks so much cooler than the iSight..........
 
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