Cisco has formally announced its intent to acquire Pure Digital Technologies, the San Francisco, CA maker of the Flip Video camera.

The plan is that Cisco will pay around $590 million in stock, and in exchange it will gain all shares of Pure Digital. The outfit has been doing well and is making inroads into the consumer marketplace.

Pure Digital hit the streets with the Flip which is a range of digital video cameras that shoot up to 60 minutes of video on internal flash storage.

It appears that Cisco is interested in the "visual networking" side of the business. If it incorporates wi-fi technology into the gadget it could be onto a money spinner.