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TUAW visits Scosche at CES
Yesterday we got a chance to stop by the Scosche booth at CES. While we were there, we got to see all manner of items, from the just released to the recent but also pretty cool. Here's what we saw: Kelly's top pick: A new car charger. Why? It has three very important features all in one convenient package! It is not only a dual USB charger, but both ports will charge iPads, AND it's the teeny compact style that just barely peeks out of your power port. It's coming soon, and when it does, I'll be getting several. Victor's top pick: freedomMIC Bluetooth Wireless Microphone. Not only is it a wireless mic that is handy for recording nicer audio when you are shooting with your iPhone, but you can also use it as a remote to start and stop recording, or snap a still photo with your iPhone camera. If you use your iPhone for reporting (as I have done), you'll find this mic super handy. We saw a number of other neat things in the Scosche booth as well. We saw a case with two pieces for the iPhone that has a silicone sleeve to protect the back and front of the iPhone, and then an aluminum Element case style band that buckles around it (think springform pan) for extra protection (and aesthetic coolness). This was really neat to see and very sturdy to use, the latch was solid and it really did look sharp on the iPhone. Plus, unlike the Element, you don't need a tool to get the metal band off. Also there was a really interesting cable. I know, cables aren't THAT interesting, and that's true, until you see one cable transform from one you always have to carry into the other one you always have to carry. Since I basically only need two cables, it was nice to see them both in one. You take the 30-pin end and it lifts up and pivots over, unveiling a micro-USB end as well. Generally I only need to charge on micro-USB, and this way I can have the "emergency" iPhone cable as well without taking up another cable's worth of space. It's called the syncABLE Pro. Speaking of iPhone cables, another nice thing to see was that Scosche has expanded on their line of flipSYNC cables, a compact cable about the size of a car alarm remote that unfolds into a USB charging cable. Now they have the clipSYNC which includes a carabiner-style clip to attach it to your bag, and also a flavor that has a battery in it and is still really compact. One thing I personally liked a lot about their booth was all of the hands-on they had available. There were a lot of companies with things set up under glass or back on a wall where you couldn't really get at them, so it was nice to get the chance to touch all of it and really see what it was like.
Scosche freedomMIC for Flip Video cameras is the wireless microphone add-on for Real Americans
Freedom. Justice. Microphones. We're pretty sure you can find all of those in the constitution, or inside the pure essence of eagle tears, or in Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" played backwards. Scosche understands, and that's why they're unveiling the freedomMIC add-on for Flip Video cameras. It's one of those new FlipPort-compatible accessories that we're sure we'll be seeing plenty of now that Cisco's new wave of cameras are out for public consumption. The mic itself offers a pretty neat solution to the perennial problem of sucky Flip audio: you plug the receiver base into the bottom of the Flip and hand the wireless lapel mic to your subject. Conveniently, you can start and stop recording with the microphone itself, and a 4 hour rechargeable battery should get you through the most trying of interviews or impassioned YouTube monologues. The mic will be out in "late December" for $100.
