It seems that wall the cool new products for New Media producers is coming from Kickstarter these days. Witness the Picosteady, which I came across in this post on the Red Ferret blog.

The Picosteady is a custom designed rig which us usable with both large and small video cameras, including smartphones, and yields nice smooth movie videos like much more expensive rigs.

While I could see this working with lighter cameras, I wonder how well it would work with the larger Digital SLRs. The company page indicates that it does, but it seems it would be harder to balance and use with the larger cameras. That would require some hands-on use to truly know though.

It is neat to see a small company like this able to bankroll themselves via Kickstarter and provide short-run, high-quality products that producers need. The initial priced is $139, with “after Kickstarter” models going up to $179. At $139 I could envision purchasing a Picosteady, but the $179 price point seems a little high for me. I would need to know that I would get a lot of use out of the unit before purchasing. It makes it less of a casual purchase in my mind.

This could be a lower price option for you, if you are looking for a camera stabilizer to improve your videos. Others in the market are priced much higher. 

You can find a demonstration video on the Picosteady Kickstarter page.

Blue Microphones are known for their quirky design and, for the most part, their recording quality. I own a Blue Snowball myself and this mic has become one of the standard podcasting miss for new media producers all over the world.

Blue recently released another in microphone in their product line, the Blue Tiki.

The Tiki plugs directly into any USB port and provides many special features for podcasters on the go.

From the Blue Microphones web site…

The new Tiki is the world’s first USB microphone that mimics the intelligence of human hearing by focusing on desired sounds, minimizing background noise and knowing when to mute altogether. Tiki’s two modes give any Skype user, podcaster or musician the versatility to quickly choose the best option in any situation. First, Intelligent Speech Mode brings your voice to the forefront of a conference call or chat while noise-canceling technology simultaneously minimizes unwanted, competing background noise. Natural Recording Mode captures a wide range of sources from vocals to acoustic guitar, recording high-fidelity audio with exceptional clarity. Tiki sets a new standard for crystal clear audio for wherever you go.

Listen to recording samples of Tiki in various modes

In my own experience, devices that plug directly into a USB port can be prone to damage due to bumping them into people, furniture, walls, etc. I would probably plug Tiki into a USB extender cable to allow for safer use while also giving me more options for positioning the microphone in each recording situation.

Engadget recently had an article on the Blue Tiki. Read it here!

Blue microphones available from Amazon.com