Flip Mino out in time for summer vacation

CNET spotted the Flip Minos in a catalog last month, way before it was even announced, and I wrote about it, so this week I'm following-up on that post with a few more details regarding Pure Digital's new pocket-sized camcorder.

Called the Flip Mino, the slender, lighter version of the company's best-selling Flip Ultra (2GB) and Flip Video (1GB) is making its debut this week, hoping to attract the Web-savvy YouTube generation.

So far the company has sold more than one million Flip camcorders to folks looking for a simple, YouTube-friendly camera. But younger consumers armed with video-capable phones need a little more convincing. The Mino is equipped with sexy features such as touch-sensitive buttons, and a thinner, lighter case.

Aside from being 40 percent thinner, the Mino has a few features its predecessors don't like a Lithiumi-Ion rechargeable battery (the other two run on AA batteries), an omni-directional microphone, direct video uploading to MySpace, YouTube and AOL too -- and it weighs less at 3.3 oz. You can see how they compare here.

Unchanged from the Flip Video and Ultra, the Mino sports a 1.5 inch LCD display, 2GB of internal memory, and will be available in black and white.

I'm not sure the new features and thinner form justify the $30 price increase, but I'll let you be the judge of that. The camera is currently available for sale in stores like Best Buy and Target for a whopping $180.