Microsoft has decided that there’s enough interest in high definition videos online now and has released what it claims is the first consumer webcam with a 720p sensor on board.

I know we don’t usually cover hardware at 901, but this is more about Microsoft’s attitude towards HD video online than it is about the webcam itself.

Microsoft Hardware systems engineer Stuart Milton said that Microsoft was “motivated by the fact that … top social networking sites were allowing widescreen video,” and that the new webcam would allow “uploading widescreen videos with amazing quality to social networking sites and soon chatting live with friends and family in widescreen format”.

Complementing the new cam comes Windows Live Movie Maker which supports HD video and one-click uploading to sites such as YouTube, plus Windows Live Photo Gallery which offers photo editing, tagging and sharing.

So, finally Microsoft has created a product with “high definition” in the name that’s genuinely HD.

It’s true that HD video online is becoming more popular, although broadband bandwidth constraints mean that streaming and uploading in particular often perform poorly.

I’m not sure when we’ll see widespread real-time HD video chat via the likes of Skype, iChat and other instant messengers but at least Microsoft is trying to keep a step ahead with this one. Makes a change.

Of course, we should all be using Silverlight in order to keep Microsoft really happy, right?

The LifeCam Cinema will be available in September for $79.95.

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