Gizmodo: spy cams

Hidden Nametag Camera Looks Slick, Will Probably Get You Caught

John Herrman — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:45:43 EST

Hidden camera rule #17: try not to put them in things that people intently stare at as soon as they meet you.

The AME-105 fake ID card gets a lot of things right—this disguise is in many ways ideal for spy-camming, as the circuitry, battery, 4GB of flash memory and 352x288/15fps video camera can all fit quite naturally into the body. Unfortunately the concept falls flat when you realize that your nametag is probably the most-eyeballed item on your body body. The tiny text won't exactly help matter either.

Sadly for those who make their living spying on incredibly inattentive and/or senile people, the AME-105 is only available in Japan. [Akihabara]

DARPA Documents Reveal Plans For Advanced Video Spying Tech

Elaine Chow — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:45:00 EDT

Real-time videos that detect the most minute movements in enemy battle areas and advanced analytical systems that will efficiently sift through them are all in the works, according to DARPA documents. A $6.7 million contract with software company Kitware revealed a DARPA project focused on rapidly indexing archived aerial surveillance. It also gave a taste of the technology our military already uses, and it sounds like something out of the Bourne Identity.

Full-motion video can zoom in on people and their behavior in public, from handshakes to kisses on the cheek. Resolution ranges from a foot to four inches, depending on the collection methods and environmental conditions at the time. Existing systems can also track moving targets under forest and other cover. Future collection systems are going to provide even better, more detailed footage. Yep, the government has eyes everywhere—but not enough analysts to make sense of all the info.

That's where the contracts come in. Kitware and its partners are going to figure out an algorithm for activities that the military would be interested in looking into, such as U-turning cars that could be readying to make an attack. That's well and good when it's focused on the battleground, but does anyone else feel a little nervous about this kind of tech being available to be used at home? [Washington Post]

Minox Spy Camera Goes Digital, Still Tiny Enough to Please Q

Kit Eaton — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:02:20 EDT

Spy-technology aficionados will know about Minox's miniature camera and it's genuine espionage heritage, and now the camera's gone all modern with a digital face lift. A 5-megapixel sensor's been plopped into the Digital SpyCam, which remains tiny at just 3 and 3/8 x 1 and 3/16 x 7/8-inches and weighing in at 2.1 ounces: small enough to disappear into a leather-clad fist when it needs to be concealed. With a lithium battery, and 42mm equivalent lens, plus capability of saving onto 16GB memory cards, it's no slouch either. Budding spys, and perhaps genuine ones (Mi6 take note) will be able to grab one now for $199. [Minox]

DelFly Micro Dragonfly Is Smallest Creepy Autonomous Spybot Yet

John Mahoney — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:20:12 EDT

We told you the tiny DelFly II robotic dragonfly spy cam was just the beginning, and we were right. The same Dutch roboticist is now unveiling the DelFly Micro—with a wingspan of just 10cm and a weight of 3.07 grams, it's the first to be smaller than an actual real-life dragonfly. Granted, the dragonfly being used for comparison is Borneo's Tetracanthagyna plagiata, which has a frankly horrifying 20cm wingspan—the largest in the world, no less. But still, now you're even less likely to realize those annoying bugs whizzing around during your protest march are actually just autonomous insectoid ornithopters keeping an eye on you—nothing to worry about. See it take to the air, complete with live eye-in-the-sky video feed, below.

[DelFly via IEEE Spectrum Blog] Thanks, Erico!

A Gallery of CIA Spy Cameras

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

In celebrating the launch of Spycraft, I've looked at all kinds of gadgets, but the bread and butter of Cold War CIA gear were tiny cameras and listening devices. The bugs aren't so exciting to look at, though the stories of their placement make great reading. The cameras, on the other hand, always come in clever "concealments."

The agency's star camera was the T-100, so named because it could take images of up to 100 full-sized documents on a piece of film measuring 4mm wide by 15mm long—and that baby could be embedded anywhere. Hollywood may have desensitized you to the spycam notion, but remember, the images you see here are of totally real devices that were actually used in death-defying espionage. Hey, careful where you point that necktie, buddy.

All of this CIA tech and much more like it is covered with great depth and hair-raising anecdotes in Spycraft, a new book by Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton, reviewed by us, and available for pre-order at Amazon.

Spy Camera Hidden in a Book Could Use a Better Book to Hide In

Adam Frucci — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:30:19 EST

As if you needed yet another household object to hide a spy cam in, here's a book camera. It hides a pinhole camera and microphone and can record video for you to check out from afar. The only problem? It'll cost you over $1,300, which is more than some therapy to get you over your addiction to peeping would set you back. Oh, another problem would be trying to sneak that Marcia Clark book into someone's shelf without them noticing. I mean, really, is that the most subtle book they could find? Were they out of copies of I Might Be Wrong, But I Doubt It by Charles Barkley? [Product Page via Red Ferret]

A Camera in an Alarm Clock? I See No Sleazy Uses For That.

Adam Frucci — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 10:47:39 EST

If you've been dying to make some "home movies" with your significant other in the bedroom but keep getting shut down because she doesn't trust you to not put them on the internet (and really, why should she? You probably will.), the only thing to do is make videos without her knowledge. I mean, that's what any loving person who respects their partner would do, right?

You won't need to hide your camera in a pile of dirty laundry with this alarm clock with a hidden spy camera inside. At $330 it's pretty expensive, but you can't put a price on deceptive love. –Adam Frucci

ChipChick [via UberGizmo]