Video Hands-on with the Swivl: It’s Following Me
Jan 12, 2012 04:56 AM EDT by Meghan J. McDonough, LAPTOP Web Producer/Writer 
LAS VEGAS — Ever try to shoot a YouTube video and star in it? How about chatting over FaceTime while you cook dinner? There’s now an easy way to do both thanks to a device called Swivl. At first glance, it looks like an iPhone dock, but what sets it apart is its ability to follow your every move– provided you have the Swivl’s unique remote on you.
Plug your iPhone into the base, turn on the remote and you’re ready to go. The Swivl will pan to wherever the remote is. Press the button on the remote to tilt the Swivl up or down and wherever you go, your iPhone is watching you. Plus, the remote has a microphone built-in, ensuring everything you say will be heard clearly by your FaceTime partner.
We were able to test out the Swivl, and it’s scarily accurate. No matter where we moved with the remote in our hand, the Swivl and thus the iPhone followed us. We could see the Swivel being especially useful for conducting a FaceTime chat while multitasking around the house, but it’s also a very cool application for filming YouTube videos solo. We’ve seen more than our fair share of awkward static shots on YouTube and can’t wait for the $159 Swivl to start shipping in the first quarter of this year.
Stay tuned for our hands-on video, but in the meantime, check out the video and gallery below.
