Video Camera "Spy" Pen from Digital Cowboy

The DVR-BP from DigitalCowboy.jp represents the eventual destination of all technology. Well, short of "obsolete," anyway. See, when a new technology comes out, it's huge--literally. It's big, as in, size. In the case of video cameras, they needed massive stands and their cost to purchase was equally massive. Slowly, over the decades, cameras got smaller and smaller, cheaper and cheaper. Until finally, we have Digital Cowboy's video camera "spy" pen called the "DVR-BP".

Simply by looking at the pictures on the DVR-BP's official product page one can get the idea that this thing is not exactly sporting a Karl Zeiss lens or can shoot video in 720p. That said, it still is a pretty cool idea. Any other kind of camera would be something you'd need to intentionally hide. With the DVR-BP in your breast pocket, you need to make no excuses when you're caught with it. Ignoring the picture quality, it's ideal for life-vloggers who like to record every last interesting thing they do.

But, as will all things, the video camera "spy" pen isn't all it's quite cracked up to be.

Calling this thing a pen is accurate only in that you can write with it. The thing is rather large--the official site says that it's a 15cm long. While that's about 6 inches for us in the West, it is roughly he same length as your average Bic. However, in the width department it's positively mammoth. To give you an idea of how mammoth it is, the pen is wider than a regular-sized USB plug. Yeah, that's wide. James Bond probably wouldn't use this.

The specs on this thing are pretty feeble, too. We're talking 2003 hand-held pocket camera-picture-quality, here. The camera does 352x288 resolution. Yes, it's true, people still use VCD resolution (apparently). The camera records in H.263 AVI format and features USB 1.1 connectivity! Way to keep the price down, Digital Cowboy!

Of course, they didn't keep the price down. If the DVR-BP wasn't sold out (!!) and if you carry Japanese currency you could order the DVR-BP digital video camera spy pen from the Digital Cowboy website for ¥17800, which at current exchange rates is about $170 in US play money. Yikes!