Axis keeps Net Eye on snaps

Swedish networking product company Axis has developed a digital camera for use with Internet and intranet applications. The Axis Net Eye 200 is a colour digital camera designed to take and view snapshots across a network.

It is a palm-sized camera with a simple Ethernet connection. The camera is driven by the Axis 32-bit Risc processor Etrax, which has been specifically designed for use in the Lan environment.

Some of the product's possible uses are as a network-connected security camera or as the starting point of an intranet-based picture library for organisations with a need for efficient storage and retrieval of photographs.

The camera will attach directly to a 10Mbit Ethernet network and will act as a stand-alone Web server, which gets away from the need for complex solutions involving workstations, frame grabber cards and additional software.

The resulting pictures can be viewed on any platform with any standard Web browser.

Martin Gren, new projects director at Axis, said: 'With Net Eye, connecting a camera to a network is as easy as plugging in a printer. Combining direct attachment and support for Internet standards, it is a breakthrough in worldwide camera viewing access.'

The camera has a recommended retail price of #1,095.