Samsung South Africa has unveiled its first mini camcorder with built-in memory and six functions in one device. The new Samsung Miniket comes standard with 1GB of built-in memory, allowing the user to record movies, take still pictures, listen to MP3s or view documents and other information. It is compact and weighs 150g. “Sales of digital cameras, camcorders, removable memory and MP3 players continue to grow at a phenomenal rate in SA. It makes a lot of sense to have all of these in one unit. The South African lifestyle lends itself to the benefits and convenience the Miniket offers,” says John Press, audio-visual product manager at Samsung SA.

Samsung's Miniket will be available from selected retailers.

“The Miniket has the best Mpeg4 moving picture performance for a micro-compact device. It features a 10x optical zoom radio and a 2-inch LCD screen,” says Press. The digital camera setting features high-resolution images. Once the images are shot, users can either choose to store them on the Miniket, or transfer them to their home PCs via the camcorder's USB 2.0.

Press says the Miniket voice recorder function offers one-button record and up to 18 hours of audio. It also acts as a mobile jukebox and can store up to 128 MP3 file songs. It comes with PC Auto-Sync, as well as various play options and the option to listen without the earphones.

“Given that the memory is 1GB, there is no need to reduce your MP3's compression rate which naturally results in a very high quality digital sound reproduction,” says Press. With the USB 2.0, which comes standard with the device, data can be downloaded from a PC. Connected to a PC via the cable, it becomes a Webcam.

The Samsung Miniket will be available at selected stockists across SA from the end of February at a recommended retail price of R6 499.