Garmin Joins the Action Cam Market
Garmin VIRB Elite
The action camera market, mostly dominated by the GoPro line, will have a new option in September as GPS maker Garmin releases their VIRB action camera.
The 1080p HD camera looks to have many of the standard action camera specs, with a battery life of up to 3 hours in a case designed to help protect against dirt, sand, water and drops.
What will be interesting to see develop will be accesories that can use the ANT+ wireless tech built into the camera. ANT+ is a proprietary Garmin wireless feature that should allow Garmin devices to talk to each other wirelessly while using very little power. One example use is Garmin's Fenix watch being able to control the camera from your wrist.
The more expensive VIRB Elite camera will also include standard WiFi to allow your smartphone to connect to the camera wirelessly.
Price-wise, the Garmin will be in-line with GoPro's offerings, with the base unit being $299.99USD and the Elite at $399.99.
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130 months ago
@Alex The VIRB Elite does support a regular WiFi connection for use with your smartphone, similar to the Current GoPro cameras, but to your point, the base unit does not. There is certainly an up-hill battle to be fought against GoPro's domination of the market by any newcomers, but the Hero 3 line has suffered a number of issues that may help Garmin. Rumors suggest there will be new GoPros soon, though.
130 months ago
It's hard to see this beating the GoPro, especially as the GoPro has wireless functions that don't use a proprietary protocol. I'd also hope that lense cover is replaceable, otherwise it probably won't last too long