FmTransmitter
Latest
Belkin announces TuneStage II and TuneCast 3
Consumer electronics are a lot like movies: once you've got a hot property on your hands, you gotta keep cranking out the sequels. Accessories manufacturer Belkin is well aware of this truism, and has just updated two of its popular products -- the TuneStage and TuneCast -- to versions II and 3, respectively (yeah, we're not sure what's up with the sporadic use of Roman numerals either). As you probably recall, the original TuneStage was a $180 Bluetooth setup consisting of an iPod-mounted transmitter and corresponding base station with audio outs; basically, it's like a short-range wireless dock for pumping your tunes to a home theater system, although the transmitter will also work with A2DP-compliant headphones. The TuneStage II steps up the game by sporting Bluetooth 2.0-certified radios, which promise to give you better audio quality, less interference, and lower power consumption -- all for less dough than v1.0, as this model will be priced at $150 when it's released next month. Next up, and much less exciting, is the $50 TuneCast III FM transmitter, which does the same thing as every other device in this category but throws in a digital display and a pair of hard-button presets. Like the new TuneStage, this model will also be dropping in November, just in time for our friends over in the UK to actually make use of it legally.Read- TuneStage IIRead- TuneCast 3[Via iLounge]
Griffin iTrips to be legalized in Ireland
Legalize it! That's what a number of Irish iPod owners have been hoping would happen, and it just may come to pass by the end of the year, according to BreakingNews.ie. Up until now, the small FM transmitters by Griffin technology that allow for the wireless broadcast of music stored on an iPod over FM radios have been illegal in Ireland, as they essentially (it had been argued) create a short-range radio transmitter. Soon you will be able to listen to your iPods in the car without that annoying cassette adapter, Ireland!Here's hoping it works out.Thanks, Damien!
Princeton PCK-UAV UHF video / audio transmitter
While it seems that there's just too many of those not-exactly-functional FM transmitters for your iPod / DAP-of-choice to ever actually decide on just one (and hope for the best), the market for transmitting video from your portable media player is bit more limited. Princeton has unveiled its video (and audio) transmitting solution, dubbed the PCK-UAV, to give 5G iPod owners, as well any other PMP -- or anything with RCA outs, actually -- the ability to transmit media wirelessly over the UHF band. If you're fortunate enough to rock a TV monitor (or four) in your ride, and you've got a built-in TV tuner somewhere in there as well, you can pipe your TV shows, movies, tunes, etc. to any connected display by tuning into one of the four UHF stations the PCK-UAV plays nice with; DIP switches on the unit allow for broadcasting to channels 45, 48, 50, and 53, and you can supposedly pick these up on a standard television as well, giving you an excellent reason to dust off those 'ole rabbit ears. Contrary to most poorly complemented Japanese products, Princeton includes some thoughtful extras here, such as a 12 volt car power adapter and apparently a video / audio connector cable made specifically for the iPod with video -- although we can't quite pick up solid deets concerning price or availability, nor how well this implementation of an in-car transmitter will actually, you know, transmit, it'll supposedly run you about ¥8,000 ($69) when it drops this month.[Via OhGizmo]
Lowrance's iWay 600C navigates highways and waterways
We've been searching far and wide for the perfect navigation system to install in our new Aquada transformer car, and just in the nick of time, Lowrance hits us up with the iWay 600C that's equally at home on land or at sea. Followup to the well-received iWay 500C, this model improves upon its little brother by jacking the 5-inch screen's resolution up to 640 x 480, increasing hard drive capacity from 20GB to 30GB (though storage space for MP3s has actually been cut from 10GB to 5GB), and most importantly for our Aquada, adding shoreline and contour maps to the popular NAVTEQ road database. Other nice features include a built-in FM transmitter, both Windows and Macintosh support, and the usual suite of vocal prompts, automatic course rerouting, and the option of a 3D birds-eye view when traveling on land. Best of all, this new model -- available immediately -- retails for the same $800 as the 500C did when it first came out. More features, same price: that's what we love about modern technology.
Netac's P210 multifunctional GPS receiver
It's been a few days since we brought you a GPS/PMP device that will never be available for purchase in the States, so here to fill that void is the Netac P210, straight out of China. You probably don't really need a spec run-down on a product so similar to countless others that you've seen before, but that's what they pay us for, so here goes: preloaded with a complete Chinese map (well, maybe not complete- it seems that Taiwan is MIA), the P210 offers a 16.67 million-color, 3.5-inch touchscreen display, an FM transmitter for streaming MP3 tracks to your head unit, support for "millions" of so-called Zuiku games, and eBook functionality in case you'd rather read than rot your brain with movies and music. Pricing has not yet been announced, but as usual with these cookie-cutter units, that's basically a moot point.[Via Engadget Chinese]
Kensington's iPod FM transmitter with RDS
Ever wonder what that "RDS" function was on your car stereo? Now your iPod has the ability to show you, as this particular FM transmitter takes full advantage of the often overlooked feature. The folks at Kensington are releasing yet another iPod FM transmitter into the mix, but have added quite a nice feature previous models have lacked. Along with charging your iPod, offering three FM stations to be programmed into memory, and coming in a stylish black and chrome finish to match your car's interior, this unit now displays the song name and artist information on your RDS-enabled car stereo. Kensington's RDS FM Transmitter/Car Charger for iPod plays nice with 4th-gen iPods and newer (nanos and videos included) but fails to support Apple's 3rd-gen player (even though it has a dock-connector, oddly enough). Watch for the $89.99 device to drop later this month. [Via Playlist]
RCA's H116 6GB DAP reviewed
Considering that exactly zero people were interested enough in the new hard drive-based RCA MP3 players we brought you last week to actually leave a comment, we doubt that even a glowing review from Cnet would convince you to pick up one of these models -- but that's a moot point, because Cnet really doesn't have many positive things to say about the 6GB H116 they put through its paces. As you'll recall, RCA is clearly targeting the low-end of the market with its new DAPs, as evidenced by their black-and-white screens, rather generic-looking designs, and most tellingly, their complete lack of extra features that might sway folks away from the iTatorship. In fact, the only real compliment Cnet is able to muster about their unit is the fact that it does what it advertises: play music -- but not very well it seems. Combined with the buggy controls and poor quality of the FM transmitter, the sub-par audio would seem to indicate that even for the low-low price of $170, you're still not getting what you pay for.[Thanks, Jen B.]
Logitec announces line of colorful in-car DAPs
Japanese manufacturer Logitec -- who, as we found out the hard way, is in no way related to the American Swiss firm Logitech -- has just announced a colorful set of in-car DAPs that plug directly into your vehicle's lighter socket. What's more, the MP3- and WMA-capable LAT-FM300U includes both a built-in FM transmitter and line-in jack, so you can broadcast directly to your head unit from either the device itself or from an external player like an iPod. And judging by the $68 price tag and lack of storage information, it sounds like you'll probably need to bring along a more capacious device on trips lasting longer than an hour or so, as we doubt you'll be getting more than 512MB of flash memory when these drop in early August.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
RCA releases H100 and H116 HDD-based DAPs
RCA's got a new pair of hard drive-based MP3 players for those folks still grieving over the death of the iPod mini, complete with 4GB and 6GB hard drives, black and white screens, and even a little bit of design flair in the form of chrome accents. The only real difference between the H100 (pictured) and H116 (available at Target as the H106), besides the size of their drives, is the fact that the more capacious H116 ships with a combination car charger/FM transmitter -- oh, and the non-touch-sensitive scroll wheel is black instead of green. Both models feature 1.5-inch displays with white on black text, 16-hour rechargeable batteries, PlaysForSure and Windows Media Player 11 compatibility, and Media Transfer Protocol (MTP support). You're certainly not getting a lot of extras here, but then again, you won't be paying much for these models either; $139 will score you the H106, while two more gigs and the car kit will set you back thirty bucks more.
DLO introduces the nanoTune
DLO today announced the availability of the nanoTune, an accessory for the iPod nano that's designed to fill several roles. When connected to your nano, the nanoTune acts as protective case, FM transmitter, FM radio and headphone amplifier (DLO claims a 25% increase in volume, to the delight of audiologists everywhere). It will also connect to your car charger or Apple dock via the built in 30 pin connector.It seems to add a good amount of bulk to the otherwise sleek nano, but the pictures on the site are kind of small. You can grab one for $69.99US.
Griffin's iTrip comes to Switzerland
Griffin Technology's iTrip FM transmitter for the iPod is now available in Switzerland. According to Griffin, "Recent changes in Swiss law have opened the door to broadcast in Switzerland over the FM radio spectrum (87.9 - 107.9)." Until recently, Swiss law has strictly regulated devices that broadcast over FM.The iTrip costs $49.99 in the US (no pricing information for Switzerland was available as of this post).[Via Playlist Mag]
