Griffin tries again with updated iFM
By Marc Perton 
posted July 29th 2005 9:59AM
posted July 29th 2005 9:59AM
Griffin Technology has finally begun accepting pre-orders for the long-delayed iFM — an attachment for the iPod that works as an FM radio, voice/radio recorder and remote control. The $49.99 unit had been announced by Griffin over two years ago, and after taking pre-orders, the company cancelled it, blaming changes in the iPod's remote interface. The new version will work with all 3G and 4G iPods, though recording won't work with the iPod mini.
I love the design, as it replaces the remote - doesn't mean adding a new piece on top of what I already use. I'd get it.
Todd
just look at the photo, i think it is little too big
There's actual pictures on the site:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/ifm/index.php
Why no recording on the mini? I've preordered one because remote plus FM is what I really want, but no recording is a bit of a bummer.
AK
Yeah, but the second picture looks fake. The size of the hand and the remote don't match anymore.
Still gonna get one though.
Does anybody know whether the recording is of decent quality, or whether it's handicapped like the other iPod recording devices (iTalk, etc)?
If it's possible to get decent quality recordings, I'd buy this in a second.
Kap
Keep in mind this is a griffin vaporware product. Much like everything else (isight lite, ivault etc) they sell these products way before they ship them. My guess is they use your money for r&d while you wait for them to make something. my isight lamp took 3 months to ship and the ivault i still havent got. Slow pokes
Seems like they they could at least throw in line-in recording also.
I have something similar to the iFM, but it also includes a 5GB HDD. Granted, it was a touch more expensive.
keep in mind that Apple locks down the iPod and doesn't allow LINE IN or anything other than 8kHz mono wav files to be recorded.
griffin doesn't have much to work with until Apple gets their head out of their arse
all those nice features and they left out fm transmitter. a good product that could have been the best.
Yulp...more vaporware from Griffin.
They had a variation of this item advertised and pre-sold on their site for more than a year before cancelling it.
Check the accuracy of the new car-tape adapter release date: It was supposed to happen this month but instead thre's a brand new product photo with the everpresent "Pre-order" tab. Uh-oh...
Mario, not only was it supposed to be released this month, it was originally supposed to be released by the end of June. I'm calling them again on August 1st.
First call to Griffin:
http://homepage.mac.com/wysz/iblog/C1020803948/E20050705121016/
Carl: it connects to the top ports on the iPod, not the dock which is where the line in is. Which would be why it doesn't do line in. and it most likely only records FM in mono but I'm not sure.
For $50, why not just buy a radio?
#14 Max
a. This is integrated with the iPod, so you can switch between iPod and FM easily.
b. it acts like a remote control for the iPod.
c. it records direct from FM radio and saves the mp3s to the iPod, and according to iLounge, it does a good job at FM recording.
d. It's also a voice recorder (albeit not as good as the iTalk 2.0)