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iPod Peripherals - Mic and Image Card Reader?

Originally posted by dho
hmmm If the card reader is true, that could open up a whole new type of POD-ipherals(though I'd give it a try)
still camera anyone?????
Click to expand...
Please no camera... Not unless it's really good. :)
I would rather have 2-3 strong gadgets than one not so good. But it might turn out good, it's Apple after all.

Anyway, the future of the iPod is open ended, who knows if it ends up being the ultimate PDA. ( or are PDA's dead ? )
 
Re: Re: Mic-Only Recording = Lame. :(

Originally posted by ColoJohnBoy
Your ideas are really great, but since they'd be such a niche product, it really wouldn't be feasible just yet. For now, iPods are just high-quality, high-style MP3 player.
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It would be a niche product yes, but this can easily be manufactured by a third party. As long as Apple adds the possibility of recording - and recording in highest quality possible.
 
Originally posted by tizza
The mic could help turn the iPod into a more useful PDA too - simply say someone's new address when out and about, and then enter it into address-book when you get a chance.:)
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or it could feature apple's incredible, new, enhanced voice recognition software so it would enter the information all on its own. oh baby.
 
Originally posted by Dahl
Please no camera... Not unless it's really good. :)
I would rather have 2-3 strong gadgets than one not so good. But it might turn out good, it's Apple after all.

Anyway, the future of the iPod is open ended, who knows if it ends up being the ultimate PDA. ( or are PDA's dead ? )
Click to expand...

Yes, PDAs are dead. Most people can fulfill all their PDA needs with an iSync-compatible phone (like my SonyEricsson T610).

The major advantage the iPod has, which won't make its way into phones anytime soon, is that it's hard-drive based so it has many times the capacity of even the phones with built-in card readers (like the SonyEricsson P800).

So if the iPod started adding peripherals to extend the functionality, they should be things that capitalize on the hard drive advantage. An SD/CF card reader is actually a great idea from that perspective.

A camera attachment for the iPod actually isn't a bad idea, since the main constraint with the camera phones is the limited capacity. Apple shouldn't do that unless they put a color screen on the iPod, though. Imagine a modified iSight that plugged in to the iPod's dock port. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw that capability in the next generation of iPods
 
I think the audio recording feature is pretty much a given. However, I don't think we will see an "image card reader." The problem is that the 3rd-generation iPod has no hard attachment point and therefore a card reader would have to be attached via a cable and that would make it somewhat ungainly and inconvenient to use as a "mobile" device. Sure, they could use a cable but I think that would indicate that the card reader was an afterthought (i.e. meaning that the iPod wasn't originally designed to accept a peripheral like this).

I'd like to see a card reader because I do a lot of digital photography and let's face it, a few gigabytes of compact mobile photo storage runs more than the cost of the current iPod alone. In any case, if they do introduce such a device and it has a nice industrial design then the value of an iPod has been increased substantially for a good number of users. I don't see how it could display photos however, it only has a one-bit monochrome display and the resolution is too low to do any decent dithering to simulate a grayscale image.

So, I'm guessing audio recording for certain, but I doubt we'll see any card reader or camera functions.
 
Introduce a 199.99 dollar 10 gig model and you'll sell a bazillion.

BAZILLION !

:D

and a cool recording device that I can sneak into shows :)
 
Apple Store

Somebody (an Apple Store website's administrator...) is gonna get some stick: if you go check the Apple Store (I only checked the UK one) there is already an iPod feature that says:
iPod: Hot Accessories!
Now records your voice and stores more than tunes.

The link is dead, unfortunately.

Check this out:
Apple Store UK
 
Predictions:

1. recording (lets hope it won't be low fi)
2. wi-fi (no more firewire plugs or dock needed)
3. larger battery/longer play time (say it with me... double time)
4. blue tooth (wireless headphones and sync, play games against other 'pods)
5. Software pitch control (and iPod becomes the ultimate DJ accessory)
6. Opening up the source code!! (or at least some programmers tools)
 
Re: Apple Store

Originally posted by NicoMan
Now records your voice and stores more than tunes.
Click to expand...

I guess that answers that... low-fi voice recording and photo storage it is then, check.
 
Yeah, I hope they don't turn it into an amusement park-on-the-go. The mic feature would be nice if it didn't add any bulk to the machine. (Can't the iPod already record? So, are we talking about an official announcement and an Apple branded microphone? Maybe they'd use the same technology as in iSight.)

Card reader? Wicked idea, as others have already mentioned, especially for travelers.

Question: Could the iPod work as a HD for a super-small mini laptop? A wafer-thin notebook marketed as a Sony Vaio basher?

Just curious.

Squire
 
Re: Mic-Only Recording = Lame. :(

Originally posted by lazyrighteye
Ahoy fellow Mac dorks.
Seriously, do we REALLY need (or even remotely want) a dictaphone with a 40G HD? Ok... why (and I'm not buying the "lectures" angle)?
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Why not? I know that when I was going to college, I would have absolutely killed for a device that would have let me record lectures into a random-access format/media with full indexing and archival capabilities. As it was, I muttered through with a half-dozen mini-cassettes that got recorded over so many times that they were practically nonunderstandable, with at least three or four at a time that I thought had something important on them so I didn't want to record over them but I never had the time to sit down and listen to them all the way through to determine just what it was that they held ...

Even today, a good voice recorder in meetings would help out ... not as useful as such a device would have been in college, but close ...


While adding mic capabilities to the iPod would be a step in the right direction, it feels like a baby step... at best. Quite limiting. I'm more interested in a perf. that will offer some different audio I/O options... not just a mic. So that one could record audio from any number of sources (RCA, 1/8", S/PDIF, Optical, etc.). I also think it is key to be able to record uncompressed, stereo .aif files. If we see these capabilities in an iPod, it would instantly replace my Tascam DA-P1 as this field recordists' tool of choice.
Click to expand...

You can do all this today, for the most part, except for one thing: the iPod software doesn't allow it. The key to tomorrow's announcement isn't the specifics of the mic/line-in peripheral, but the specifics of the iPod supporting software.

What bit rate will it handle?

Can it record for more than 30-seconds at a time ("voice note" sounds a bit limiting, and a far cry from the dreamed-of lecture center device)?

Everything else is just a matter of putting together the hardware yourself: the "line-in" wires have been identified on the Dock last I heard, so you just need to use basic electronics skills to put together an RCA, 1/8", or mini-jack set; Digital audio would of course be more difficult, but I think you'd find some reasonable how-tos floating around on the 'Net if you really needed to.

Of course, I don't expect you to do this, but given that the issue is hobby-hardware solvable, I would expect a product from Belkin or Griffen or the likes soon enough assuming there really is demand for it.
 
Pitch control

I would like to use an iPod as a teaching companion for my ballet classes. As it is, I have to use the pitch control on a CD player. So, what I really want is tempo control, I really couldn't care less about the pitch.
 
I'm certain there was a hack around a while back, that would allow recording on the iPod. But I think it was, as we suspect, only allowing lo-fi recording. Can't find a place to check this out though , after a quick google search.

And in answer to the question, would I want high quality recording?? Most certainly.
At a nearby jazz club where a bunch of my friends sing,they often want a recording of their performance. HQ recording iPod, perfect!

Oh yes, as a backup audio recorder for my DV camera.

Oh yes, for those moments like when I was on holiday recently, I was standing on the shore of a small harbour in Cornwall (UK) at night, with the most perfect sea atmos I've ever heard. If I'd had this, I would have recorded that sound, just for the beauty of it.

Perfect device for collecting sound effects for Film/video, music samples. etc. etc.

ANy further ideas?

Come on Apple, give us HQ recording! You know it makes sense!
 
Originally posted by soosy
one more thought...

It would be totally sweet if the iPod displayed the currently playing album art.

yes useless... but cool.:D
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I'm with Soosy on this one.. I have spent an awful long time making my iTunes collection complete with tags and artwork.. if the iPod could display the artwork (presumable the artwork is imbedded into the mp3 file?), even in black and white, then i would be the happiest bunny in the world.

Speaking of which, if there's one thing I love about Apple, its how when you buy one of their products, even a whole year later you get all excited all over again as Apple unleash some new 'feature' your gadget has. Its like buying a Porche, driving it, and then a year later Porche announcing that if you press the B button on your dashboard you can now fly. You gotta love it. :)
 
That game sounds really cool. I bet it will play you like the first 10 secs of one of your songs and ask you to name the tune. That sounds like a cool thing when you have about 5,000 songs on your iPod. :D Can't wait!
 
quality

Remember, if the recording quality is hifi Apple won't say so beyond touting its voice recording abilities.

Why?

The same reason they don't say you can copy audio CDs or DVD Videos.
 
Re: Apple needs video on their ipod.

Originally posted by reyesmac
Why cant Apple put animation on its iPod LCD?
Click to expand...

There is animation. It has a scrolling marquee of song titles :eek:
 
Apple Does it again

Who says Apple doesn't innovate, who says Apple doesn't create excitement?
This is very exciting news, this will make the news tonight for sure. If the other PC manufactuers are so innovative, or great when have any of them caused this kind of excitement. Jobs is the man! Imagine, during tough times when companies are laying people off that a company posts such a strong balance sheet to boot. Sheesh, then Apple stock goes down and the negative Apple press plugs on, let them all have a steak made of Gateway cow show em who eats whom.

Let the windows people talk about centrino, or other such old tech that Apple had last year. Hey yesterdays news is almost as exciting, when you compare it to what Apple is able to produce, and design.

This is great news, we should all give Steve a high 5, the others won't know what hit them for months. When they do get it, the latest greatest will be different, and playing catchup or eatting crow is something they do well.

Right On!
 
Great for certain jobs

OK, I have two jobs, and these add-ons to the iPod would be great for both. First I work at a university newspaper. While I only do the online portion of it, I know that the reporters there would love the recording feature of the iPod for interview. Record an interview and easily forward or rewind to the part you need to quote, etc.

My second job is doing photoshop retouching for a photography studio. They have some very high end digital cameras there which eat card space quickly. Sure, they have laptops, but if they went out on a shoot, having an iPod with them for extra storage would be great. Especially considering the prices of high end CF or SD cards, an iPod is a steal for the space it offers. It easily pays for itself in that respect.

So I expect these add-ons to helps sell a lot more iPods in certain markets. Not just trendy music players, but occupational necessities. If the price drops a bit even better.
 
Re: Apple Does it again

Originally posted by magikminotaur
Who says Apple doesn't innovate, who says Apple doesn't create excitement?
This is very exciting news, this will make the news tonight for sure. If the other PC manufactuers are so innovative, or great when have any of them caused this kind of excitement. Jobs is the man! Imagine, during tough times when companies are laying people off that a company posts such a strong balance sheet to boot. Sheesh, then Apple stock goes down and the negative Apple press plugs on, let them all have a steak made of Gateway cow show em who eats whom.

Let the windows people talk about centrino, or other such old tech that Apple had last year. Hey yesterdays news is almost as exciting, when you compare it to what Apple is able to produce, and design.

This is great news, we should all give Steve a high 5, the others won't know what hit them for months. When they do get it, the latest greatest will be different, and playing catchup or eatting crow is something they do well.

Right On!
Click to expand...

while this is good news, indeed, adding microphone and CF card reader attachments are hardly earth-shaking stuff. Certain MP3 players already have had the recording feature. And Archos, I believe, makes an all-in-one gadget that handles digital photos as well as music. Of course Archos' gadget sucks big time, but they still had the features long before the iPod.

As others have said, what'd be really amazing is if Apple incorporated a good voice recognition program, either into the iPod or OS X. So that when I get home with my iPod, OS X will automatically transcribe all my dictations. OK, so it's a bit of a pipe dream...
 
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