.KEYWORD veo
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Veo Photo Traveler puts a camera in your SD card slot
.OTHER
.SUMMARY Dan Wolfson proves good things come in small packages when he reviews the Veo Photo Traveler, a digital camera that works with any Palm OS device with an SD card slot.
.AUTHOR Dan Wolfson
If "good things come in small packages," meet the Veo Photo Traveler camera (at http://www.Veo.com/products_pda.asp). This diminutive digital device packs a passel of features in a form factor about the size of your thumb, as you can see in Figure A.
.FIG A The Veo Photo Traveler looks like a camera head mounted on an SD card.
The Photo Traveler plugs into the card slot of various Palm OS devices including the m125, m130, m500, m505, m515, i705, Tungsten T, Tungsten W, and Handspring Treo 90. Recently, Veo ported it to the new Kyocera 7135 SmartPhone (reviewed last month in PalmPower.com by Barton Gellman at http://www.computingunplugged.com/issues/issue200305/00001031001.html) so that will be our test vehicle.
.BREAK_EMAIL To learn how the Veo Photo Traveler performs, click here to read the full article.
Software installation was straightforward. I put the CD into my PC and followed the instructions, then performed a HotSync operation to install the Veo application. Next, I plugged the Photo Traveler into my Kyocera 7135 SmartPhone and heard the beep, and the Veo software automatically launched.
The opening screen is a photo album with numbered thumbnails of existing pictures (on the Kyocera 7135, photos are stored in RAM, since the Veo is using the memory card slot). Double-tapping a thumbnail makes it full-screen, and forward and back arrows display to scroll through your album. Tapping a full-size photo returns to the album view.
At the bottom of the album screen are four icons: a camera for taking photos, a check-box to change preferences, a beam icon to beam photos, and a trash can to delete them. Preferences include Sound Effects (on or off), Resolution (640 X 480 or 320 X 240), and Image Quality (high, medium, or low). At the higher resolution, the Kyocera 7135 can take 28 photos. The Preferences screen also shows shots remaining, and an Advanced button sets Exposure Time (auto or manual).
Tap the camera icon and after a few seconds the screen becomes your color viewfinder, conveniently switching to a horizontal format (the camera plugs into the side of the Kyocera 7135, not the top). Tapping the viewfinder window toggles it between a small and large preview frame (smaller is faster). Once your picture is framed and focused, press the Address Book or Messages button to take your photo. It appears full-screen with a check mark and "X" button to keep or erase the shot.
Focusing is done by rotating the lens barrel and is a bit of a challenge with the small viewing screen. Finding a horizontal or vertical line to focus on helps. The camera head has a flower icon for close-ups and a mountain icon for distance to indicate how to turn the lens barrel. The camera head swivels 180 degrees for self-portraits, as shown in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B The Veo Traveler camera head swivels 180 degrees for self portraits.
The lens provides crisp sharp photos and handles low light reasonably well. It takes close-ups almost like a macro lens.
Beneath the viewfinder are icons to return to album view, set the shot-timer, and shoot a photo. The shot-timer delays taking the photo so you can get into your own pictures. It also counts shots, so you can take a sequence of photos automatically. A remaining shots counter is also displayed. Everything is simple and easy to understand.
With the Veo Palm OS application, you cannot email photos directly from the Kyocera 7135 phone. However, there are third-party applications that convert the Veo photos to .JPG files, which you can then attach and email using the phone’s built-in applications. Veo photos are transferred to your PC or Mac via a HotSync operation as .JPG files. Photos can be beamed, but the Veo application must be on the receiving device to view Veo photos.
The Photo Traveler comes with Veo Creative Studio software that lets you adjust your photos, email them, create e-cards, and even create movies.
To check out the Traveler’s close-up capability, I shot a photo of a photo. The results were impressive for such a small and inexpensive camera, as you can see in Figure C.
.FIGPAIR C This photo of a photo shows the Traveler’s close-up capability.
.H1 Wrap-up
The Veo Photo Traveler PDA camera takes 24-bit full color photos. It includes automatic exposure, white balance, and color control. It comes with a protective plastic travel case and CD with drivers, Veo Creative Studio software, and user manual. The suggested retail price is $99.99.
It’s the perfect second camera to have handy when you want to grab a photo. With so much talent in such a small package, even Tom Thumb would be impressed! I rate it a 4 out of 5.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
For more information on the Veo Photo Traveler camera, visit http://www.Veo.com.
For the article, "Kyocera 7135 smartphone beats the competition," by Barton Gellman in the May 2003 issue of Computing Unplugged Magazine, visit http://www.computingunplugged.com/issues/issue200305/00001031001.html.
For more information on the Kyocera 7135, visit http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/7100_phone/7100_phone_series.htm.
.H1 Easy, flexible article reprints
ZATZ now offers a quick, easy, flexible and inexpensive way to use article reprints in your marketing and promotion efforts. You can now get article reprints for a one-time fee of only $200. For details, visit http://mediakit.zatz.com/reprints.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Dan Wolfson is a freelance writer/photographer in San Diego.
