iPhone 3G S vs. Flip Video War?

Interesting prediction over on TechCrunch…

Flip Has Little Chance In An iPhone World

The iPhone 3G S, released last Friday, finally bring video recording to the iPhone without requiring jailbreaking. The Flip video cameras are a line of low-cost ($150 to $230) extremely simple to use video cameras that make pretty decent looking video recording with surprisingly good audio.

I think the iPhone 3G S may shave a few sales off of the Flip video camera line. But, I think it (the Flip) will be fine. Here’s why:

1. The iPhone 3G S is only available from a specific phone carrier (AT&T in the US). If you are among the millions of people who don’t want to or can’t switch to that phone carrier, the iPhone 3G S is not a purchase possibility for you.

2. The Flip Mino HD and Flip UltraHD models both provide 720p HD quality video. The 3G S is said to be capable of recording 720p HD, but it currently records 640×480 (VGA) video (which is fine for most people).

3. There really is something to be said for a video camera with essentionally a power button and a start/stop button. Really simple operation is a desireable thing for many people.

I should also note that many phones (both smartphones and featurephones) already provide the ability to record 640×480 video. And, this has not been a huge marketing issue for many people. That said, the iPhone has been a game changer in areas others had not succeeded at before.

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