Looxcie LX1 Wearable Bluetooth Camcorder, iPhone and Android Compatible

by Looxcie

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.9 x 6.8 inches ; 13.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B004DI7F76
• Item model number: LX1
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,096 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com

TIME Magazine named Looxcie one of the "50 Best Inventions for 2010." The social video movement is here and Looxcie has you covered. This innovative wearable camcorder lets you continuously record real-time video without needing to press a record button. Designed for people who never want to miss capturing and sharing spontaneous moments, Looxcie gives you the freedom to be both director and participant. It records everything you see, so you can join the action.

Optimized for iPhone and Android

To take full advantage of the power of Looxcie, a compatible smartphone is required (see "Supported Devices" list below). When paired with an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 running iOS 4.2 or higher, or an Android phone running version 2.0 or higher, this small wearable camcorder lets you continuously record everything you see without always pressing a record button. Using the free Looxcie app on your compatible smartphone, you can preview your video, create clips, and share them with friends via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, and more.

Looxcie Wearable Camcorder

• Lightweight and comfortable
• Continuously records everything you see
• Instant Clip button lets you clip and save the previous 30 seconds
• Create clips of up to 30 minutes in length using your compatible iPhone or Android phone
• Share video via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or email
• Automatically stores up to five hours of footage
• Backed by a one-year warranty

Supported Devices*

* Operating Looxcie requires an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, or iPod touch (4th generation) running iOS version 4.2 or higher, or an approved Android phone running Android version 2.0 or higher. If you don't see your device on the below list, please continue to check back as we're continually adding to the list.

Apple iOS (must be running iOS v4.2 or higher)

• iPad
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPod touch (4th generation)

Android Devices

AT&T

• HTC Aria
• Samsung Captivate

Verizon

• HTC Incredible
• LG Ally
• Motorola Droid
• Motorola Droid 2
• Motorola Droid X
• Samsung Fascinate
• Samsung Continuum

Sprint

• HTC Evo
• Samsung Intercept
• Samsung Epic
• Samsung Transform
• LG Optimus

T-Mobile

• Samsung Vibrant
• Nexus One
• HTC G2

The customizable earpiece offers a great fit and extended comfort. View larger.

View Life Through Your Eyes, Not a Viewfinder

Looxcie is an extension of your eyes, continuously recording everything you see. There are no tiny viewfinders, screens, or buttons to worry about--once turned on, Looxcie records it all. With Looxcie, you won't be stuck behind a camcorder; you'll be fully present in the moment.

With the free Looxcie App, Looxcie turns your compatible device into a viewfinder, remote control, and video editor. Simply turn on Looxcie, personalize the fit for your ear, and use the smartphone viewfinder to align Looxcie with your field of vision. After that, you're free to carry on with life. Looxcie features automatic focus, automatic light adjustment, and a broad field of vision. It does all the work, so you're free to focus on what's really important.

Freedom to Capture Life's Unexpected "Looxcie Moments"

People buy video cameras to remember special events, such as graduations, performances, and sports events, but more often than not, they fail to get the spontaneous moments that make those events so special. With Looxcie, you capture everything as you live it, so you'll never miss those "Looxcie Moments."

Looxcie is an extension of your eyes, continuously recording everything you see. View larger.

See something memorable? Simply press the Instant Clip button on the headset to save a clip of the last thirty seconds. If you want to share a moment immediately, you can use the Instant Share feature of Looxcie to email the clip or post it to Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Simply press and hold the Instant Clip button on Looxcie, and Looxcie automatically sends your clip via your iPhone or Android smartphone to your favorite site. With Looxcie, social video is effortless.

Looxcie is simple to use. There's no worrying about buttons or whether the device is recording. Just wear Looxcie and relax. You won't even notice it's there until you see something that you wish you'd captured on video--and then you'll realize that you already did.

Automatically Stores up to Five Hours of Footage

Looxcie has enough storage for five hours of continuous video capture, so you can wear it without worrying if you'll run out of storage space. Once the five-hour storage capacity is reached, new video automatically replaces the oldest video. That means you always have the most recent five hours.

Looxcie also features up to four hours of permanent clip storage. When you want to save a special moment, create and save a video clip--even while the camera is still recording video--by pressing the Instant Clip button.

Capture, Edit, and Share Right Away

Once you've recorded video with Looxcie, editing and sharing it with others is a cinch. You can edit video clips directly on your iPhone or Android phone and share them with others via email, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Review, edit, and share video clips using the free Looxcie App.
View larger.

You can also connect Looxcie to a PC or Mac via the USB connector, giving you access to all of your saved clips. Please note that a supported iPhone or Android device is required to create and save clips from the temporary storage, and that only saved clips may be accessed from your PC or Mac.

High-Quality Optics with Wide Field of Vision

Looxcie records in the HVGA format at 15 frames per second for quality video optimized for mobile devices. The lens provides a wide 62-degree field of view, so you won't miss any action.

Customizable Earpiece for Stability and Comfort

Looxcie is designed for comfort, featuring a bendable earloop with memory wire for a personalized fit. Three sizes of hypoallergenic earbuds are included, and the earpiece swivels 180 degrees for wear in either ear.

Works as a Bluetooth Headset

Looxcie is also a Bluetooth headset, so you have one less device to carry. When you answer calls while capturing video, Looxcie automatically mutes the audio on the video to keep your calls private.

Looxcie is backed by a one-year warranty.

What's in the Box

Looxcie, USB power adapter, USB cable, three interchangeable earbuds, storage pouch, and Get Started Guide.

Product Description

Looxcie is the first small, light, easy-to-wear camcorder system that records everything the user sees. Optimized for mobile use, the device fits comfortably over the ear and points where you look. Looxcie is always on, always recording, without the need to continually push a record button. When users want to capture a moment, they simply press the "Instant Clip" button to save a clip of the last thirty seconds. With the Android or iPhone app, and Bluetooth, users can view, edit, and share Looxcie moments via email, text, or online by posting to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more. Getting started is simple and only takes a few minutes: Connect Looxcie to your Android phone or iPhone as you would a Bluetooth headset; Load the Looxcie app in to use your phone to view and share Looxcie moments; Turn on the camera and start capturing Looxcie moments instantly; Share your Looxcie moments, edit and take phone calls, too; Looxcie utilizes a dual processor system for video and Bluetooth communication. The device incorporates Bluetooth technology which allows for the fluid connection between the handset and Looxcie. Looxcie seamlessly transfers video clips directly to leading smartphone operating systems.Adjustable boom for comfort and view refinement; Lightweight: less than 28g; Always on battery life allows up to 4 hrs of continuous recording; Clips are time stamped and stored in your clip register as MP4 files; On board storage of up to 4 hrs of video and hundreds of instant clips (3 hrs of clips); Looxcie video processor includes automatic high color and light resolution adaptation; ½ VGA full resolution camera; Bluetooth Class 2 (2.5mW) for up to 10 meters range; 365mAh Li Po battery for extended record and talk times; ROHS compliant manufacture; DSP optimized audio with SiMEMS mics for accurate speech capture and video recording. Included upon purchase: UL/CSA approved power supply for wall charging; USB to micro USB cable; Personal fit kit with 2 additional ear buds.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 132 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, but bad decissions and too limited December 5, 2010

By Markus Egger

Amazon Verified Purchase

This product is a great idea. A small wearable camera. Who wouldn't want that?

Well, unfortunately, there are a number of flaws with this device.

For one, the quality is not very good. 15 frames per second and low resolution. This means your videos are not going to look as good as the example videos. Also, the camera has a somewhat narrow field of vision. It would be much better if it taped a wider angle, because you are not going to be that good at aiming the thing. (You can kinda see the effect in their sample video on YouTube where the guy proposes to his girlfriend and video tapes mostly her chest... it's involuntarily funny).

Also, somehow the camera would need a serious image stabilizer. I have no idea how that would work with a camera like that, but the reality is that people move their heads a lot and very fast and with the low frame rate and resolution, that is a problem to begin with, and even if that was better, people watching your videos are still going to get disoriented or worse, unless you seriously restrict your movements.

The device also doesn't seem to be very sturdy. My ear-plug part broke off the first day. Granted, I wore it under an ice hockey helmet (and Looxcie even says it isn't meant to be a ruggedized product). But it's not like I took a shot to the head. It was just pushing it under a relatively tight helmet that did it, disappointingly.

The worst aspect of this product however is what must go down as one of the oddest technical and business decisions of all time: The camera requires a smart phone to operate. You can now use an Android phone as well as an iPhone. That is mandatory. I have no idea why. Granted, it is a cute to use the phone display as a view finder. Kudos for that. It is also nifty to be able to quickly upload 30 second snippets of video to all kinds of sites. I like that as well and can think of plenty of uses for that. But I can also think of plenty of scenarios where I need more. And you don't get that.

You have to use the phone to do all video editing. The camera has some proprietary internal storage mechanism you can't get to unless you turn your buffered video into snippets of up to 30 minutes of video. So you use your phone to scan back and forth in videos to cut them. If you have ever used the iPhone video player, you know what a pain that is. Now when you do that, the video is still stored on the camera.

And grabbing these video segments is SLOW. I think what happens is that the phone grabs video segments from the camera, puts them together into a video file, and then puts it back onto the camera. Or maybe it just somehow instructs the camera to do this. Either way, it takes forever. (You can also download videos to your phone, once they are saved as snippets. That is even slower. Downloading 5 minutes of video to my iPhone took 15 minutes or so... and then it crashed the phone). Which is no big surprise really, because neither the camera nor a smart phone has enough power to do a lot of video editing. And your segments are limited to 30 minutes max.

And if it is more than a minute or 2, it is too large to just upload to sites like YouTube of Facebook. So what you will end up doing is this: You have the camera recording (which is a bit fidgety, but OK). Then, you use your phone to try to edit the segment you want. You then wait for that to save (like 10 minutes or more). Then, you repeat the same thing with your next 30 minutes. Except it is almost impossible to find the right stitching points. If you want all 5 hours of video, you need to make at least 10 segments. More likely 15, since you will have trouble with the overlap. You do the math on how long that takes. Then, once you are done, you plug the USB cable into your computer and download the videos. Well, usually it takes a few tries for a Windows 7 machine to recognize the camera as a storage device. But then you can download your video.

Why the heck they would not use a PC to allow for editing and view finding is completely beyond me. They could have used PC Bluetooth. They could have used the USB cable. They could have created a powerful app that grabs everything on the camera and then you could have done advanced editing easily on the PC. Or they could have leveraged existing video editing software. And processing videos that are more than 30 minutes would not have been a problem at all!

Oh, and you better not change your phone. Because if you change your phone (which most people... especially gadget freaks that are likely to buy this camera... do often) then your camera may be useless. Or who knows? What if Looxcie's software (which only runs with some difficulty on the iPhone now it seems) won't be upgraded to the next version of the OS? Then you are stuck with a camera that can only record 30 second segments of video, because that is all it can do without a phone.

This whole decision so boggles my mind, that I would actually like to meet the person who made it, because you really don't often get the opportunity to meet people that think and reason quite so differently from the rest of us. It would be a meeting I would never forget, I am sure ;-)

Anyway: I considered giving this product only 2 stars. But on the other hand, it is not all that expensive. And it is kinda nifty in what it does. If only they hap PC software, it would be much better. The overall concept is awesome. I will certainly buy a newer one once they have HD and higher frame rates and such. But for now, it is just a nifty gadget that has potential but doesn't really quite do what you are hoping for.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I think this thing works great for what it is... December 26, 2010

By Seattle_BassMan

Hey, if you're expecting HD quality video on a device you wear over your ear...well, you're kinda out of luck at the moment (though I'm sure that's coming in the not too distant future). But this device actually records better video than I expected. Of course, maybe I just had low expectations. I think really though, I just had realistic expectations and the Looxcie has met or exceeded those. I was thrilled to see this device in the pages of Popular Science a couple months ago, then bummed to find out that it was not available for the iPhone at that time. Luckily they got the iPhone version ready before the Christmas season and my wife hit a home run by making sure it was under the tree in time.

I've only been using the Looxcie for one day so far (since Christmas), but I've recorded a bunch of clips and also downloaded the entire video buffer (a welcome new feature) to my Mac (a very simple process) and the video looked quite good. Yeah, it's a little grainy, but not bad. It's certainly better than my ability to remember every detail of every moment. Also, it looks like they have a new feature coming to iPhones that adds 30fps at 480 resolution, so the quality will be even better (granted with a shorter record time).

I've never seen a device like this before, so I'm willing to live with it not quite being everything to everyone at this point. I'm sure it will get better and even at its current stage I'd say it's pretty darn good. The biggest downside for me is that it seem quite big compared to a standard bluetooth headset. I was concerned that I would get a lot of weird looks and stares from people. But, I quickly realized that most people either were not concerned with what I was wearing on my ear or just thought it was an old school blue tooth headset. I do wish it was a bit smaller though...but I'm sure that will come in time as well. Overall I'm quite happy with the device so far.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My Looxcie is Awesome January 28, 2011

By BonZo

I tend to loose my bluetooth headsets a lot, and since I do a lot of rock climbing I thought I would give the Looxcie a shot (and hopefully since it's a little larger then the normal bluetooth maybe I won't loose this one).
It's been great! It has an excellent earpiece. Pairing it with my Droid was really easy. I've taken several video's while climbing and they've all turned out with really good quality. The Looxcie has been really reliable for me. I also like the fact that it's there when I need it. Several times I've been walking with the dogs or out on the point and have been able to record on the fly. It's made for a lot of fun later on when sharing stories with folks. The Looxcie is really worth the price - I highly suggest if your going to look at a bluetooth earpiece give this a try. You won't be disappointed.