GoPro

You might think the 200 marked runs at Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia would be enough for most skiers.

But just before Christmas, my two teenage boys, a friend and his two teenage sons, and I scoped out a largely untouched stash of snow in an area called Flute Bowl. No chairlifts scaled that part of the mountain, so we hit the slopes early, made our way over to Flute Bowl, kicked off our skis, and hiked 45 minutes to the top.

It was a cloudless day, and on the ridge, we were rewarded with spectacular views of the Coast Mountain range. Then we got to ski the wide open bowl, and the remains of powder that had fallen a few days earlier, all to ourselves. It was one of those moments worth capturing.

So we did. The boys, my buddy, and I fastened two helmet cams--the GoPro HD Hero 2 Outdoor Edition and the Contour Roam--on our lids and tested them to figure out which one we liked best.… Read more

My initial introduction to the world of action cameras was through the lens of a GoPro Motorsports Hero. However, GoPro's camera system, while rugged in construction and versatile, hasn't been what you'd call "easy to use." So consider my interest piqued when GoPro called to inform me that it is pulling the wraps off of the GoPro HD Hero2: the sequel to the HD Hero boasting a simpler interface and increased performance.

GoPro would like us to believe that this sequel is twice as good as the previous-generation HD Hero, and it's got the … Read more

The camera market might be dominated by giants such as Canon and Panasonic, but a small start-up founded by a surfer in Half Moon Bay, Calif., has persuaded venture capitalists to invest.

GoPro, maker of the diminutive Hero line of cameras geared to record action video of snowboarding, base jumping, mountain biking, scuba diving, and car racing, announced the funding today. The "substantial strategic investment" of undisclosed magnitude is from Riverwood Capital, Steamboat Ventures, Sageview Capital, Walden International, and U.S. Venture Partners.

The company has found a niche for its products--including a range of accessories such as … Read more

GoPro, which specializes in rugged cameras that can be attached to snowboarder helmets and surfboards, has begun selling its new system for recording 3D video.

The $99 3D Hero System is a water-sealed enclosure that holds two of the company's video cameras and links them with a synchronization cable. The dual cameras, which record 1080p video with an infinite-focus fisheye view, are sold separately at $260 each.

GoPro announced the 3D system at CES earlier this year, but now it's shipping. The camera housing is 5 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall and attaches to the company'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Capturing 3D video requires two lenses; that's how the human head does it and how 3D cameras do it. GoPro, maker of the HD Hero series of outdoor action cameras, has added the capability to capture 3D video to its bag of tricks by simply slapping a pair of its 2D cameras together.

OK, so it's not as simple as I'm making it sound, but at its core, the 3D Hero case is the high-tech equivalent of duct taping a pair of cameras together and hitting play at the same time. However, there's a bit more to it.

The case maintains GoPro's waterproof, shock-resistant design, but also includes the 3D Hero link cable. This connection joins the two HD Hero cameras by their BUS connections and allows one camera to take full control of the second, automatically syncing video capture and settings with the touch of a button.… Read more

The GoPro HD camera can be mounted to many, many things--helmets, surfboards, and cars. Apparently it's also small and lightweight enough to hang around your cat's neck. The movie above, which says it's the first movie filmed by cats, was shot using the GoPro HD and for a camera designed for shooting outdoors it handles indoors/low-light conditions quite well.

This movie was inspired by the results from a study conducted by Nestle Purina PetCare's Friskies brand. For that, 25 cats wore specially designed portable video cameras around their necks to capture daily clips for five … Read more

On paper, the GoPro HD Hero is hitting on all cylinders. It's rugged, it's compact, and--to top it all off--it shoots in five modes of video (four of which are HD) and high-resolution still photography. But then you go to use it and things start to run a little less smoothly.

The HD Hero's weakest point lies with its thumbnail-size LCD screen and pinhead-size icons. With only two buttons and a cryptic menu system, the Hero's options screen probably shouldn't be tackled without an instruction manual close at hand. How else are you supposed to … Read more

Mac users have had many options for external storage lately. Two weeks ago, Western Digital unveiled its new My Book Studio II for Mac, and Seagate just now released a few of its own.

The company announced Wednesday a new lineup of portable and desktop FreeAgent external hard drives designed specifically for Macs. This includes two portable external hard drives, a regular-size external hard drive, and a docking station. … Read more

Yes, you could, in theory, strap the Flip MinoHD to your ski helmet, hit record, and see what happens. But a couple of companies are making extreme YouTube-friendly camcorders, and VHoldR's second-generation model is billed as "the first HD wearable camcorder."

VHoldR says it maintained the simplicity from its earlier standard-definition camcorder, but "seriously improved" the video quality, field of view, memory capacity, and the audio experience in the ContourHD. The camcorder is powered by a removable, rechargeable, lithium ion battery. It has a slot for a microSD card (it accepts cards up to 16GB … Read more