I got this via e-mail, from JPBe.net's Koki (a well known member of the Japanese BeOS community) and I must say I was blown away.

EarthSoft from Japan is releasing by the end of this month it's new PV1. PV1 is a PCI video capture card which will ship with a BeOS SDK, allowing users to easily create their own apps using C++.

The PV1 features a hardware codec for video compression/decompression. Also, analog video input can be compressed and then recorded in DV format, and data in DV format can also be decompressed and output to the card's analog video output. And of course, all these features can be available in BeOS by means of
the SDK that Earth Soft is putting together for BeOS.

The card will be available by July 31st, along with the SDK and the source to the sample apps should be available from the Earth Soft website (linked above). Unfortunately, seems like it'll be a Japan-only product. But you can always import right?

Here is Koki's view on this:

"That a company is releasing hardware for BeOS/Zeta is of great significance. Is this the "Zeta effect"? I would tend to think so. Pioneer companies like this one that support the platform can make a big difference in the revival of the BeOS market when Zeta hits the shelves. From a BeOS user perspective, more hardware with BeOS support is a good thing. Too bad this product is not available for sale outside of the Japan..."

I agree totally, this is just great. I'm sure (hopefull) that it'll do good in the Japanese market, and who knows, a few outside sells (if possible) will impress them even more!