iPod touch gets microphone for VoIP via modded dongle

Now that the startling mystery of VoIP has been cracked wide open on the iPod touch, it was only a matter of time before other, related mysteries were broken apart and inspected. One such case involves the process of getting the sound of your voice into the formerly-audio-out-only device, which must be accomplished via the use of some type of audio-in microphone dongle, which now -- thanks to one clever man -- has been hacked for VoIP-on-touch purposes. Using the hideous, yet cheap, Macally iVoiceIII audio recorder add-on for 5G iPods, and the simple soldering of a jumper to the board, you can be chatting away like a madman (provided you've got some WiFi) on your touch. Check the read link for the simple steps, and get ready to stick it to the man (his name is Mr. Steve Jobs, by the way) once again.

[Burnt Fingers @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:10PM]

For Pete's sake - hasn't anyone told these guys - iPod, EEE, whatever - hardware hackers that you can't DO this stuff anymore with surface-mounted components!?

Uh...you can't, can you?

Uh...

[GregA @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:12PM]

That iPod touch will really be onto something if they manage to shoehorn a phone onto that thing.

[Billy Fiul @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:04PM]

Who's that little bitch right there..sticking it to the man?
His name is Joe, and the man's name is Jobs, Steve Jobs.

[willyboy @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:13PM]

I am all over this like flies on a Zune!

[TJ @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:27PM]

Love the message on the iPod in the pic. It made me giggle a little.

[rav97 @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:29PM]

The stance of Steve Jobs on VoIP with the Touch and/or iPhone is particularly ironic, considering that Apple Computer Inc. was founded with money coming from the sale (Wozniac built them, Jobs sold them) of "blue boxes".

[Flashpoint @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:29PM]

Apple employee - "SONY just got a SKYPE CLIENT my Lord..."

Steve Jobs - "what?"

Apple employee - "Yep, I saw it online"

Steve Jobs - "ok, this is what I want you to do. Call our man over at ?Engadget and have him ru a story entitled 'Ipod touch to get VoIP' and also be sure to remind him to keep running anti Vista ads and keep pocking fun at the 360's Red Rings of Death"

Apple Employee - "I'm on it master"

[Frank @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:54PM]

Funny!

[applefreak @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:00PM]

haha that is pretty funny



"what r u doing on that prototype mac, usless bug!?!?!"

"forgive me master"

[Ipaq3115 @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:38PM]

Nice

[James Cameron @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:33PM]

This site been going downhill ever since it was nominated the 2007 award. I guessed this site only thrive on the iphone, the ipod or any Mac products.

[Andy @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:53PM]

and yet you are still here...

[David Vogt @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:01PM]

I agree. It's getting too much with this apple crap.

[ssuk @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:01PM]

Once you start reading Engadget, there's no escape. As much as you try.

[James Cameron @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:25PM]

@ Andy

Trust me. If engadget can't keep up with Gizmodo, I'll just spend more time over there since they have the same stuff on here and even more. I'll do exactly the same thing to Gizmodo and any other site that start to lose my interests. I'm just going for the best and engadget at the moment is pretty slow with new stuff that I've already found on other sites.

[kleid @ Jan 2nd 2008 3:49PM]

Of the last 15 posts by engadget there have been two related to Apple. Of gizmodo's last 15 posts how many have been apple-related? Thank you for asking. TWO.

Apple's products are gadgets. I would hope that any GADGET website would report on everything in the category.

James, what has Engadget missed recently that you thought they should have covered more thoroughly?

I'm sure that people still visit CNN.com even if they don't care about the elections as long as CNN still reports on everything else. (let's not get into a discussion of main-stream news media, I'm just using this as an example).

[Onetruebill @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:01PM]

Apples?
Oranges?
its all gadgets to me

[Richard @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:42PM]

Engadget is about reporting innovation in gadgetry. Apple is the most innovative company out there and the touch (yep.. got my jailbroken god pod) is the best of the best.

I read what interest me and a lot of it doesn't have to do with Apple at all. The stuff I don't like I skip over. What is the main malfunction of the people that can't understand this concept of skipping over the stuff you don't like?

[thethirdmoose @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:49PM]

There is no way that apple is the most innovative company. Archos had a Wifi, touchscreen media player years before apple - the PMA400 in 2005

[ssuk @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:02PM]

Should be about creativity, which Apple sure doesn't do a lot of, instead it takes old ideas and rehashes them with a spit-polish and a hefty price tag. If the iPod hadn't had caught on like it did, Apple would be in the shit right now, innovation or not.

[Ipaq3115 @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:42PM]

I don't know about innovative...

They don't do anything special they just do what they do well.

[TJ @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:47PM]

@ James Cameron

Or maybe it thrives on the comments of people who don't know how to use grammar and spell check properly when bashing the same site for being Mac fanboys.

[James Cameron @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:37PM]

We have an English teacher in the house everybody. I typed this in Microsoft Office Word 2007 before I posted this. Is this much better for you?

[TJ @ Jan 2nd 2008 3:02PM]

The one thing sadder than a stickler for grammar and spelling in a tech blog? Someone who responds to the stickler and pays attention to his/her grammar and spelling while doing so.

[Josh @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:50PM]

That is some pretty strong anti-jobs sentiment, hope all of those apple haters stop complaining about engadget biases now.

Keep covering these add on mic + VoIP stories, they are getting more interesting every day and closer to a final product!

[ssuk @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:03PM]

Not really, I don't really care, but it's obvious Engadget is bias towards Apple.

[Nicky-Larson @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:06PM]

I did download the software and gave it a try, and it worked perfectly. I think this is really great, given that calls to the US and most parts of Europe are free, so long as you have your wifi of cause. But in all, this is great. Good work guys. Yeah I called my girlfriend.... :-)

[David Vogt @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:08PM]

Maybe not everyone on here is a native english speaker.

[GenericWhiteGuy @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:48PM]

This dongle doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Wouldn't it be better to hack a cell-phone earpiece/microphone? It's not like the touch has a speaker that allows you to hold it like a phone. Or does this have a microphone/headphone jack?

[mushrooshi @ Jan 2nd 2008 2:57PM]

I have that microphone I think. It looks like a nekkid Macally iVoice.

http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product.asp?stchg=1&productid=5532316&affid=10000485

[jean @ Jan 2nd 2008 3:04PM]

i have all systems (symbian, windows mobile, apple's mobile whatever the name) ... by far the nicest is apple's ... but it lacks so many of the functions of the other, that is completely useless ... u get a device nowadays when you can do more on it, not less ...

it's so funny so see news on all channels that apple is doing voip or i don't know what .... miracles ... i had voip on a windows mobile device when voip was invented ... years ago!

so: apple rules in design and marketing ... i hope nokia will learn from them!
cause we will have to wait years untill i'll see an apple doing what my current nokia does now!

[GregA @ Jan 2nd 2008 3:47PM]

What Engadget and the commenters also seem to miss because of the Apple obsession, is that you can get a wifi voip phone for about 2x what that dongle costs. But then Engadget only covers gadget news stories that are Apple positive, and everything else negative...

Ironically, it is the product formerly known as the Linksys iPhone.

[jean @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:59PM]

apple devices are beautiful! u see them, u want them ... i just hope the other will learn from them ...i need pdas, smart phones ... i tried them all ... nokia has them all for me (but in such an ugly package!) ... but i still need a pda ... and i have 2 years old Fujitsu Siemens pda ...
apple might be better for the media ... but, u can only play mp4 video and u have to use itunes all the time (quite annoying!)

we could make a wishlist with all that apple lacks and we need .. i would need this to give up my windows mobile:
1) office
2) bunch of functions like copy/paste ...
3) 3g
4) gps
5) some sort of program manager ... i don't need all programs on screen ...it's stupid
5) vlc player

[BIll @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:09PM]

What we really need in order to stick it to the man is three fold:

1. a phone that has the skype ability, so I can do skype in Wi-fi and then pay-as-you-go in all other areas
2. a VoIP answering machine, so that when I am out of area I can have a message telling people to call me on my pay-as-you-go
3. text message over IP capability

Or cheaper cell phone plans, like in the UK, the prices are ridiculous in N.A..

Any ideas from the collective consciousness? I don't care about spit and polish, just functionality, (spit and polish is nice though)

[GregA @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:15PM]

What you want my friend is the iPhone;) No not THAT iPhone, this iPhone:

http://www.voipsupply.com/product_info.php?products_id=2273

[jean @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:59PM]

1. you can do that with fring for nokia and a bunch of applications (SJPhonme for eg!) on wm
2. most voip providers forward your messages to your email!
3. fring for nokia, a bunch of aplications for wm!

[bill @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:36PM]

Thanks, these are great, but if I use the fring in a wi-fi area, do I need to pay a provider for a data plan, or can the hardware simply do it? Same question with skype. Data plans in Canada are way higher than the states, and I want to get around them really bad.

[jean @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:07PM]

and ... skype? google betamax voip if you want the best

[Philip Greenwood @ Jan 3rd 2008 6:17PM]

The Apple haters are getting a bit shirty.
This is an interesting gadget development on the hacked iPod front.
There are a number of ways to get a mic onto the platform and this is at least cheap.

[Klavsmh @ Jan 9th 2008 10:47AM]

the next will be that you put your sim-card into a little box which goes into the Ipod.. Voila.. a IPhone