Yes, this is a viral video and yes, I’m posting it. But according to the YouTube discription, Kodak is announcing the product blurred in the video on July 29. I’m guessing it’s a new pocket camcorder along the same lines as the Zi6. Any other guesses?

The biggest buzz in camcorders over the last year and a half hasn’t been from any of the big manufacturers — Sony, Panasonic, JVC or Canon, et. al. Instead, it’s a little product from a little company called Flip Video. A tiny pocket camcorder that offers simplicity and style over power and performance, Flip Video cameras — the Mino, Ultra, and Original — have been hugely popular with the younger, so-called “YouTube” set. About a year or so ago, one of our Born Digital predecessors wrote a story about the Flip Ultra and found it to be “perfect for online video sharing,” noting she had captured a short video with the Ultra and uploaded it to YouTube in a matter of minutes. Soon after, Flip Video camcorders were everywhere, it seemed. (Even my mom was asking about them.)

With so much attention going to such a small product, it was only a matter of time before the big boys would want a piece of the burgeoning pocket video camera market. The first major company to weigh in with a potential Flip Video challenger was somewhat unexpected though. Instead of Sony, Panasonic, JVC etc., venerable point-and-shoot camera manufacturer Kodak announced this summer that it would introduce the Zi6 pocket video camera ($179) in early Fall. Though the Zi6 seems to be part of an overall strategy by Kodak to prove that it’s no longer a stodgy, old film-based company but an energetic, multi-media, digital imaging company, the message to Flip Video was clear. Watch your ass, buster. Big Yellow is coming after you.

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Guest Writer Dan Havlik is Editor of DemystifyingDigital.com. For more product news and reviews, visit DemystifyingDigital.com.

The field of tiny camcorders is going to blow up. Things like the Flip Mino are going to take over whether we like it or not (we don’t), because they’re so dang convenient. No bells, no whistles, just push-button controls and super-easy connectivity and YouTube uploading.

Well, Kodak is announcing a new tiny camcorder called the Zi6, which sounds more capable than the popular but somewhat underpowered Flip. It shoots 720p at 60fps to an SD card or the internal memory. It can also be plugged right into a compatible HDTV and you can navigate your pictures, videos and so on directly from the device. It comes in black and pink, and costs $180.

Update: We’ll have one to review soon. Can’t wait to get my paws on it and compare it with my old DV cam.