Greenhouse releases Barbie-like camcorders for women

There’s a strong argument to be made that consumer technology is inherently chauvinistic, and — paradoxically — no where does this already strong argument seem more irrefutable than in the realm of gadgets marketed to women.

Whenever a gadget aimed at a girl is released, it is invariably the same: a stock, low-end gadget slathered in gold, pearl and pink. It’s as if the engineers of gadget companies have such a retarded sense of modern femininity that they can’t even imagine a woman’s gadget as anything deeper and more significant than an expensive accessory for a Barbie doll.

Japanese electronics maker Greenhouse’s latest camcorder keeps pace with that despicable trend. The newly announced GHV-DV30HDLXW/P (say that five times fast) is a video camera specifically designed for women. How can you tell? It comes in white and pink, ships with a faux leather case, and all the buttons have been spray painted gold.

Greenhouse partnered with fashion brand GAUDI to design the camera, which features a 3-inch TFT LCD screen, 128MB of internal memory (what?), an SD/SDHC memory card slot supporting up to 32GB cards, a mini HDMI port and a USB interface. It records in 1,280 x 720 resolution at 30 frames per second in MPEG-4 and H.264 MOV format.

Not much of a camera, but if you have a Betty Draper in your life, you might be interested. It can only be purchased in Japan right now, but you might have luck importing Greenhouse’s new camera. It’ll cost you $190.