Microsoft adds webcams to its peripheral hardware lineup

Microsoft doesn't make a great deal of hardware, but the bits it does sell tend to be well built and great to use. That's why this is being written on a Microsoft Multimedia keyboard, with a Microsoft Trackball Optical - and with an Intellimouse nearby for games. Hopefully, Microsoft's latest hardware creations will follow suit, and this time it's gone for webcams.

With MSN Messenger hugely popular amongs friends and relatives and in the workplace, and with video conversations more popular than ever (thanks in part to bandwidth increases of Internet connections), it makes perfect sense for Microsoft to introduce a hardware product that strengthens MSN Messenger's position in the video-messaging market and, of course, grabs a share of the webcam pot as well.

The new webcams, the LifeCam VX-6000 and LifeCam VX-3000 (sound more like rockets to me), which in video modes operate at 1024x768 and 640x480 respectively, are said to be optimised for Windows Live Messenger - the newest version of MSN Messenger, currently in the beta stage but already in use by many.

By optimised, Microsoft means there's a button on top that triggers a call function in Live Messenger, allowing users to call their currently online friends quicker than before. Further components in Live Messenger enhance the webcams, including the LiveCam dashboard (controls for the camera) and tools to make it easier to take pictures for use on blogs (oh dear).

Indeed, the webcams are impressive still cameras, too, on paper at least. The VX-6000 can take 5.0MP stills, while the VX-3000 produces 1.3MP images. Microsoft also claims that the internal microphones on the LiveCams are of a high quality, providing noise-cancelling and "crytal-clear" audio.

The LifeCams are already on sale on Amazon USA at $99.99 and $49.99 and will be available to enrich your video calls and blogging experience this August. Microsoft hardware doesn't necessarily follow the "we always get done over" exchange-rate policy of so many US firms, so we'd guesstimate that UK prices will be around £70 and £35 - still not ultra cheap.