CVS Corporation has begun selling a disposable digital camcorder at its chain of pharmacies.
Priced at $29.99, the number 2 drugstore chain operator in the US hopes to boost profits in its photo labs with the new product. Pure Digital Technologies of San Francisco developed the product according to a Reuters report.
Pure Digital notes that one-time camera use has grown to 218 million units annually, and believes the digital camcorder will drive more growth in the digital video market.
Pure Digital hopes to have the gadget in more stores under those retailers’ brand names later this year. The camera records twenty minutes of video, and displays it on a 1.4 inch screen. Processing by CVS puts the video on a DVD for a fee of $12.99.
Weighing in at a mere 5 ounces, the camcorder still offers the ability to review and delete video captured on the camcorder.
The camera has three buttons and does not offer a zoom function. But for travelers who labored under the weight of a camera bag, not to mention the fear of losing an expensive camcorder, the tradeoff in cost may be worth trying out the disposable offering.
But the process does offer some nice features for home users. DVDs will have a main menu and individually titles scenes, as set by the user. Pure Digital includes an e-mail application called SmartShare that allows the user to share videos with others.
“Making home videos easy and affordable for our customers is what the CVS One-Time-Use Video Camcorder is all about,” said Chris Bodine, Executive VP of Merchandising and Marketing at CVS/pharmacy.
“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.”
CVS expects to have wide availability of the camcorder by June 26th. About a third of its stores have the gadget in stock now.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
