iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Two really convincing reasons from Belkin to buy a Dock-connected Gen 3 iPod. These two items just announced.
Belkin iPod Voice Recorder
At a glance:
The Belkin Voice Recorder presents a great solution for iPod users who have something memorable to say. Now you can record memos, lectures, interviews, or conversations ? simply by plugging the Voice Recorder into your iPod. The iPod?s abundant storage capacity lets your store hundreds of hours of high-quality audio. You can easily review your audio notes using the built-in speaker, your earbud headphones, or your computer. You can also copy recordings to your desktop or notebook computer for storage, editing, or sending to others via e-mail. Your Voice Recorder also works as a travel alarm clock. The Belkin Voice Recorder brings a whole new dimension to your iPod ? it?s not just for tunes anymore.
Specifications
? Records personal memos, notes and interviews easily, on the go, with high-quality omnidirectional microphone
? Features 16mm speaker for quick playback
? Attaches securely to your iPod through remote/headphone connector
? Indicates recording status of Voice Recorder with LED indicator
? Requires no software installation, with Plug-and-Play technology; support is already built into the iPod
? Packs and travels easily with ultra-compact design; includes protective storage cap
? Works with iPod software version 2.1 or later
? iPod creates audio files in mono (true) WAV format
Belkin Lifetime Product Warranty
Requirement:
? Any iPod with Dock
?44.29 incl VAT and shipping
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/8352/181/store.apple.com/Catalog/uk/Images/T7419_lm.jpg
Belkin iPod Media Reader
At a glance:
The innovative Belkin Media Reader for iPod lets you store more than tunes. It gives you a great way to back up digital images to your iPod, and take them with you on the road. Your iPod?s abundant storage handles thousands of digital photos and frees up your camera?s disk space so you can take more pictures. Simply connect the Media Reader to your iPod, and insert any of the six supported media types. Using software support that?s already built in your iPod (with software version 2.1 or later), transfer the pictures quickly via FireWire technology and you?re ready to start shooting again. To retrieve the images, simply connect your iPod to your computer. It?s like having unlimited storage space for all your photos.
Specifications:
? Model Number: F8E461
? Transfers files quickly and easily via FireWire Technology
? Protects the media slots from pocket dust and dirt at all times with sliding port features
? Stores cable away and easily when not in use with onboard cable / connector storage
? Saves thousands of digital images to your iPod
? Indicates power and data transfer status of Media Reader with LED indicator
? Support Compact Flash, (Type 1 and 2), Smart Media, Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick, or Multi Media Card (MMC)
? Works with iPod software version 2.1 or later using on-screen user interface
? Includes 4 AAA batteries
? 3-Year Belkin Product Warranty
Requirement:
? Any new iPod with dock connector
? Mac OS X 10.2 or later recommended
?88.99 incl VAT and shipping
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/8352/181/store.apple.com/Catalog/uk/Images/T7418_lm.jpg
[3447 byte] By [
Jackonicko] at [2007-11-9 14:43:33]
# 1 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Picture Storage...
iPod + Digital camera...the perfect vacation combination. No more laptop or multiple flash memory cards... Simply dump to iPod! Nice!!
# 2 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
iPod + Digital camera
Wow man, I never thought about that. That's an excellent idea. Too bad it costs $100. The voice recorder is decently priced though.
# 3 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
$100 isn't bad considering you get multiple GB of data storage available to you.
Consider the price of a CF card with only 1GB, which can be in the $200 range.
I was actually thinking of this very thing a few weeks ago while backpacking with my Digital Camera and iPod.. I thought "Man, if I could only transfer the files from the Camera to the iPod I could take a bunch more pics!" And Tadaaa!! it's now reality..
SBCMac at 2007-11-15 14:14:52 >
# 4 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
But sadly none of these new products are availabe to us canadians. Too bad apple forgets about the canadians. They seem to remember about the americans and british. Too bad. :(
# 5 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Originally posted by markp99
Picture Storage...
iPod + Digital camera...the perfect vacation combination. No more laptop or multiple flash memory cards... Simply dump to iPod! Nice!!
EXACTLY...I'm going on vacation in two weeks, and was dreading having to bring my laptop. Not any more, I ordered the media reader doohickey and can't wait to try it out. :)
bobbi at 2007-11-15 14:16:58 >
# 6 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
What really sucks is that there's no support for either of these devices on Gen 1 and Gen 2 iPods....
# 7 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Where is this function on the iPod, do you need to have that MIC pluged in to initialize the recording??
Fundex at 2007-11-15 14:19:01 >
# 8 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Originally posted by Jackonicko
What really sucks is that there's no support for either of these devices on Gen 1 and Gen 2 iPods....
Time for a 3G ? :D
Bob at 2007-11-15 14:20:04 >
# 9 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Yes, maybe......
# 10 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I was thinking the same thing!
ToddW at 2007-11-15 14:22:02 >
# 11 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
hey i was just thinking...
why do you need to have a card reader to transfer pictures
from your camera to your ipod when you got a USB connector
on the camera and a USB cable for the ipod?
i guess someone else has already asked this so please at least
post a link or something...
pasi at 2007-11-15 14:23:01 >
# 12 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
The microphone is of little interest to me but I am sure will go down well with students. The card reader on the other hand is just what I have been waiting for. I never take my Digi Cam on holiday because I don't want to take a laptop on holiday.
The price is a bit steep however for what is essentially a ?25 product.
loGan at 2007-11-15 14:24:01 >
# 13 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
The price reflects the very small production runs anticipated. These are niche products for just one of the MP3 players on the market. Even if 10% of Gen 3 users bought one (and the real figure will be a fraction of 1%) Belkin's market for these devices would be only 10-20,000, and in fact it may be as low as perhaps 1-2,000 units.
They then have to amortise all the market research, design, development, tooling and marketing costs over this tiny run, and are probably paying Apple some kind of fee.
Then the retail price must include a margin for retailers (Belkin will only sell a small proportion directly).
The marginal unit production cost (excluding all the above) over such a small run is unlikely to be as low as some have suggested, and Belkin will not pay the development costs out of their own pocket, and will expect a return on their investment.
# 14 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I tell you now, it does NOT cost $100 and $200 respectively (Australian dollars) to put together a bit of plastic and PCB. Regardless of the cost of the manufacturing (moulding, PCB tracking etc), Belkin are chargin way too much for this, and would be getting a fortune if anyone buys them.
Adam at 2007-11-15 14:26:12 >
# 15 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I think they would be more likely to increase their sales from 1% to 10% if they dropped the price to what consumers would consider to be reasonable for a ubiquitous product of this nature.
At 80 bucks I can live without it, at 50 it would already be mine.
loGan at 2007-11-15 14:27:05 >
# 16 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
At $80 they make a profit, at $50 they probably wouldn't....
# 17 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Indeed.
Do belkin have an exclusive contract with Apple or can any 3rd party develop accessories for Ipods, given that the firmware now includes software to manage these types of accessories?
loGan at 2007-11-15 14:29:08 >
# 18 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I don't think the price is that crazy... SD card prices are out of whack in Canada, I think, but a 128MB card is $130CDN. Based on a price of $100US, I'd expect the Belkin Media Reader to price out at about $140CDN (it isn't up on Apple Canada's site yet). Given the amount of storage, as some other users have posted, the price seems reasonable to me, for the functionality you're getting in return, if not for the raw materials. I'll be seriously considering one for my next vacation.
# 19 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
well i think the media reader is a waste of money and space on your ipod (unless they figure out how to VIEW the images on a COLOR screen). I am a journalist and use a digital camera and have just two 256 smartcards. I never fill even one on a short trip, and on longer trips i always bring my sony tr1a along.
for filmakers, perhaps, but are you not limited to the size of the smart media in your camera? ie. you can't use the media transference device to stream digital film, can ya? the whole thing seems a bit wacky and pricey to me.
the abundance of accessories for any given popular product on the planet continues to amaze me, and as a resident of Nepal, a very poor country, I always try to keep my consumer urges in check, for example, do i REALLY need this, or can i just use what i got and be grateful i got it. for me, i'll stick to sticking my media into my laptop when necessary.
jiggy
# 20 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I think the media reader's wonderful. I own one, just got it over the weekend, and for me, it's perfect.
I'm going on vacation next week. 10 days, out of the country, and I REALLY didn't want to have to lug along my laptop. Not only is it just strange to bring a laptop on vacation (computers, these days, mean WORK to me more than anything else), but it's mighty heavy.
The media reader means that I don't have to deal with my laptop (with, which customs, and multiple bags of luggage, would have been a nightmare, not to mention back breaking), and I can still bring my digital cam. It's a wonderful gadget for people like me. :)
bobbi at 2007-11-15 14:32:12 >
# 21 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
i just hope a company, ie griffin tech, comes out with a more advanced recorder. i record my own songs and its frustrating when you have a wicked tune in your head and forget it later and its a shame the belkin only does voice. come on griffin!!!
felpot at 2007-11-15 14:33:10 >
# 22 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I don't think the price is that crazy... SD card prices are out of whack in Canada, I think, but a 128MB card is $130CDN. Based on a price of $100US, I'd expect the Belkin Media Reader to price out at about $140CDN
We aren't talking about the Memory card itself though are we, simply the reading interface to Ipod. We are talking about things like this which retails at the enormous price of $15.
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.asp?IMODULE=CTR2MMPU2&cat=flash
Having seen the reader now it also seems to be incredibly big. Maybe that is simply to house those 4 AA batteries but still it is a bit of a beast.
I still think it is a great idea but unfortunately at that price point they are not doing themselves any favours. I will will wait for a competitor to do it better or the price to drop.
loGan at 2007-11-15 14:34:19 >
# 23 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I'm forever going on trips where a laptop will be provided, so I don't need to take my own, but do, largely so that I can DL pics from the digicam (I'm a jorno, so have to take all my pics at high res) because I fill up Smart media cards so quickly. The ability to dump (say) 10 GB of images onto an iPod to bring them home would be well worth $100 to me, and would save me buying a whole new device. I take an iPod everywhere anyway. Being able to add a simple microphone would also be great, since I could then dump my dictaphone and its tapes.
The real problem for me is that I'd have to buy a new (inferior) Gen 3 iPod to use these devices...
# 24 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
If you are a journalist then I am sure you can write it off against Tax which would reduce the price to a more reasonable level.
loGan at 2007-11-15 14:36:19 >
# 25 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
that's if you are a journalist in a country that even collects taxes, or where the whole system is so corrupt that ya just pay a bribe. we don't have any tax rebates nor deductions :(
# 26 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
loGan definitely has a point. I think the media reader is made for
people who look for easy answers. It obviously hasn't been
designed to be useful (ie better than other alternatives) for
that many years to come.
I mean come on! They could have just added a simple "Import
via USB (or Firewire)" option on the iPod firmware. What do you
need that big belkin box for!?
The same goes to belkin voice recorder: with a little firmware hack
we could use any available miniplug microphone with iPod and
save the 50$ or whatever they have the nerve to charge for it..
I am just getting sick of apple trying to rob people their money
and thus making simple things so very complicated.
That's all. Thank you.
pasi at 2007-11-15 14:38:24 >
# 27 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Not sure I have this right but...is the media reader strictly for MAC users?
I think it is a pretty god add-on but would be disappointed if there was no way to sync up the pics with a Windows OS.
# 28 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
the belkin media reader only connects to your ipod...
http://www.professordevigal.org/blog_in/archives/000278.html
pasi at 2007-11-15 14:40:26 >
# 29 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
I guess you only require the MAC OS if you want the iPod to sync directly into a photo management program such as iPhoto. Otherwise PC users get to cut and paste where they like I imagine.
# 30 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
Jiggles opines:
"well i think the media reader is a waste of money and space on your ipod (unless they figure out how to VIEW the images on a COLOR screen). I am a journalist and use a digital camera and have just two 256 smartcards. I never fill even one on a short trip, and on longer trips i always bring my sony tr1a along."
I think you've got a pretty narrow view of what digital photographers want. If you are shooting with a recently designed professional or "pro-sumer" digital camera (greater than 5 megapix) you will fill up a 256MG card pretty fast. The new Canon EOS-1DS shoots RAW pictures that are larger than 30MG *each* (jpeg's are more like 8M). A 40GB ipod and the belkin unit combined cost less than just a few GB of CF cards... and 1/2 the size of the smallest laptop. There isn't any cheaper, portable (battery operated) method to store 20GB of images than an ipod, plus it gives you 20 additional GB for your music. :-)
I am sure it doesn't suit your needs, but professional digital photographers have been clamoring for this sort of device for years, and the need will only increase as the camera resolution goes up.
terry at 2007-11-15 14:42:24 >
# 31 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
but it seems that most of the support here in this forum are from folks who want something while on vacation, as not to have lug around a laptop. i don't know ANY journalists or photographers with such a camera as you suggest that does NOT lug around a laptop. the belkin box does not help with editing and can't send an email, which a professional MUST be able to do at a moment's notice. but i work in the field and have no disposable income, so what do i know.
jig:)
# 32 Re: iPod as voice recorder and digicam picture store
If you're lugging a laptop you don't need to use an iPod to stash pics.
But I'm a pro journalist and photographer (I've had several books of my own photos published) and use mostly wet film and a little digital. I don't tend to be working primarily for dailies, so don't always need to be able to e-mail, and if I do, there's always a way of achieving that. When possible, I don't take my own laptop, and use what's available. But I do often need to be able to empty my cards of images and to bring those images home. I don't need to review or edit them in the field, and if I do, then I'll do it on someone's laptop or in the press room.
This media card reader would be great for me for holidays, yes, sure, but also for Farnborough/Paris/Dubai/Moscow/Singapore/NBAA airshows and for Grand Prix events.
