Skip to main content

Hands on: Memoto life logging camera prototype debuts at SXSW

 

We’ve been at SXSW for about two days and so far we’ve seen several nerds wearing Google Glass, drunk hipsters flooding Sixth Street, Darth Vader pedicabs, and of course, the beloved Grumpy Cat. But there’s been so much more we wish we could document, and those fleeting moments went by so quickly, they were unsnappable. Namely, Molly McHugh thinks she saw Anna Kendrick party hopping last night, and we’re pretty sure we ran past Tumblr CEO David Karp several times (wearing some more Google Glass, no less). Alas, we didn’t have enough time to whip out an iPhone to snap a pic.

Recommended Videos

So in comes Memoto. The miniature life logging camera made headlines last fall when it broke its Kickstarter funding goal – garnering more than $550,000 from its initial goal of $50,000. We sat down with Memoto chief marketing officer Oskar Kalmaru who flew in from Sweden to show off the prototype of the little camera everyone wants their hands on.

memoto hands on
Image used with permission by copyright holder

At first glance, the square Memoto camera, measuring just a bit over an inch per side, is extremely light. Once the user has the camera clipped on his or her shirt, bag strap, or jean pocket, the product is virtually unnoticeable. One may think of it as a sneaky spy cam, but it’s designed to blend in naturally, Kalmaru says, so you don’t have to think about document your daily life. Instead, the camera automatically does it for you. Memoto takes a 5-megapixel photo every 30 seconds, essentially creating a stop motion video of your day. It’s also got 8 GB of internal storage and a battery that’ll last for approximately two days of shooting. The photos are initially stored locally, but the final product will also stream pictures straight to a cloud service for backup.

memoto camera appBut why live log? For Kalmaru, it’s the little instances of daily life that seem mundane now, but may be precious in the future. “For example,” he says, whipping out the Memoto app on his iPhone, “here is a video of me taking my son to daycare. It’s little moments like these that you want to hold on to – everyone has photos of their first and last day of school but nothing in between. [Memoto] captures the real part of life.”

While the camera specs may not rival that of the latest point-and-shoots or smartphones, the little stop motion clip makes for a good way to create GIFs – especially for those who are obsessed with all things Internet. Users can also drag the video back and forth to find specific moments from the gallery that one may ordinarily miss in real time. Still, not everyone may want to live log every single moment – some parts of life might be better kept intimate and unrecorded. Unfortunately, there is no off button on the Memoto; Once you’re on the boat, you must stay on – unless you take the camera off and store it away. 

memoto live logging camera side
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Memoto live logging camera will ship late April to early May, with the starting price of $280 plus the cost of online service subscription. Be aware, however, that the final product won’t look as naked as the current prototype. Users will have the option of selecting a Memoto camera in Arctic White, Graphite Gray, Black, and Orange in either a matte or glossy finish.

Natt Garun
Former Digital Trends Contributor
An avid gadgets and Internet culture enthusiast, Natt Garun spends her days bringing you the funniest, coolest, and strangest…
Star Wars legend Ian McDiarmid gets questions about the Emperor’s sex life
Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

This weekend, the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th anniversary re-release had a much stronger performance than expected with $25 million and a second-place finish behind Sinners. Revenge of the Sith was the culmination of plans by Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) that led to the fall of the Jedi and his own ascension to emperor. Because McDiarmid's Emperor died in his first appearance -- 1983's Return of the Jedi -- Revenge of the Sith was supposed to be his live-action swan song. However, Palpatine's return in Star Wars: Episode IX -- The Rise of Skywalker left McDiarmid being asked questions about his character's comeback, particularly about his sex life and how he could have a granddaughter.

While speaking with Variety, McDiarmid noted that fans have asked him "slightly embarrassing questions" about Palpatine including "'Does this evil monster ever have sex?'"

Read more
Waymo and Toyota explore personally owned self-driving cars
Front three quarter view of the 2023 Toyota bZ4X.

Waymo and Toyota have announced they’re exploring a strategic collaboration—and one of the most exciting possibilities on the table is bringing fully-automated driving technology to personally owned vehicles.
Alphabet-owned Waymo has made its name with its robotaxi service, the only one currently operating in the U.S. Its vehicles, including Jaguars and Hyundai Ioniq 5s, have logged tens of millions of autonomous miles on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
But shifting to personally owned self-driving cars is a much more complex challenge.
While safety regulations are expected to loosen under the Trump administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has so far taken a cautious approach to the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles. General Motors-backed Cruise robotaxi was forced to suspend operations in 2023 following a fatal collision.
While the partnership with Toyota is still in the early stages, Waymo says it will initially study how to merge its autonomous systems with the Japanese automaker’s consumer vehicle platforms.
In a recent call with analysts, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai signaled that Waymo is seriously considering expanding beyond ride-hailing fleets and into personal ownership. While nothing is confirmed, the partnership with Toyota adds credibility—and manufacturing muscle—to that vision.
Toyota brings decades of safety innovation to the table, including its widely adopted Toyota Safety Sense technology. Through its software division, Woven by Toyota, the company is also pushing into next-generation vehicle platforms. With Waymo, Toyota is now also looking at how automation can evolve beyond assisted driving and into full autonomy for individual drivers.
This move also turns up the heat on Tesla, which has long promised fully self-driving vehicles for consumers. While Tesla continues to refine its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, it remains supervised and hasn’t yet delivered on full autonomy. CEO Elon Musk is promising to launch some of its first robotaxis in Austin in June.
When it comes to self-driving cars, Waymo and Tesla are taking very different roads. Tesla aims to deliver affordability and scale with its camera, AI-based software. Waymo, by contrast, uses a more expensive technology relying on pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar and lidar (a laser-light radar), that regulators have been quicker to trust.

Read more
Uber partners with May Mobility to bring thousands of autonomous vehicles to U.S. streets
uber may mobility av rides partnership

The self-driving race is shifting into high gear, and Uber just added more horsepower. In a new multi-year partnership, Uber and autonomous vehicle (AV) company May Mobility will begin rolling out driverless rides in Arlington, Texas by the end of 2025—with thousands more vehicles planned across the U.S. in the coming years.
Uber has already taken serious steps towards making autonomous ride-hailing a mainstream option. The company already works with Waymo, whose robotaxis are live in multiple cities, and now it’s welcoming May Mobility’s hybrid-electric Toyota Sienna vans to its platform. The vehicles will launch with safety drivers at first but are expected to go fully autonomous as deployments mature.
May Mobility isn’t new to this game. Backed by Toyota, BMW, and other major players, it’s been running AV services in geofenced areas since 2021. Its AI-powered Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) tech allows it to react quickly and safely to unpredictable real-world conditions—something that’s helped it earn trust in city partnerships across the U.S. and Japan.
This expansion into ride-hailing is part of a broader industry trend. Waymo, widely seen as the current AV frontrunner, continues scaling its service in cities like Phoenix and Austin. Tesla, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its first robotaxis in Austin this June, with a small fleet of Model Ys powered by its camera-based Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. While Tesla aims for affordability and scale, Waymo and May are focused on safety-first deployments using sensor-rich systems, including lidar—a tech stack regulators have so far favored.
Beyond ride-hailing, the idea of personally owned self-driving cars is also gaining traction. Waymo and Toyota recently announced they’re exploring how to bring full autonomy to private vehicles, a move that could eventually bring robotaxi tech right into your garage.
With big names like Uber, Tesla, Waymo, and now May Mobility in the mix, the ride-hailing industry is evolving fast—and the road ahead looks increasingly driver-optional.

Read more