This caught my eye this morning. It’s a pin-hole spy camera and 1 GB USB drive disguised as a pen. I’m not really in the market for a spy camera - but for $49 this was too quirky not to write about. The site advocates this as “perfect for recording at dissatisfactory customer service counters”. The camera lens is located slightly above the pen clip - and there is a light that glows to warn whoever is being filmed that the camera is active. One of the users of this has provided some additional details on the pen.

From a review posted at DealExtreme by user MadBenjamin:

The camera records in color, 352 x 288 pixels, at 15 frames/second. It does record sound, albeit not as crisply as one might like. Running the sound through an EQ would help enhance the vocal range, and suppress the noise from air conditioning, ambient background noise, etc. The audio quality is not much different than any other omnidirectional mic of its size. One interesting thing - the opening for the mic is underneath the clip, so it is completely out of view. The only issue I have so far is the tiny LED that lights up when the camera is recording. It could be noticed by someone paying close attention, or if you were wearing a white shirt and have the pen/cam clipped in your pocket. The faint blue glow could possibly be seen, but in an outdoors location, unlikely to be noticed.

From the User’s Manual:

● Video compression : AVI video format, 352 x 288
● Voice recording: Yes
● Internal memory: Yes
● Flash:1 GB or 2 GB (this unit is only 1GB)
● Video file size; >500KB per min
● Recording mode :continuous recording until memory is full or manually (turned) off
● Adaptor type: USB adaptor charging cable
● Battery type : Lithium-ion (charges while plugged in to USB port, or via external USB charger which is included)
● Record time : up to 5h
● Battery use time : about 2h

One last note - the device, itself, is a bit larger than a standard pen, but not outrageously so (150mm x 15mm x 15mm). It may look a bit odd in a shirt pocket, but since only the top 3/4 inch or so is visible above the clip, most folks won’t think twice about it, and certainly not suspect that it is a video camera. Placement of the mic under the top of the clip will keep it from being muffled by a shirt pocket, too. Nice design.

Rechargeable Digital Pin-hole Spy Camera + USB Drive Disgused as Working Pen (1GB)