For those who haven’t taken the plunge into the wonderful world of the iPhone and are still “stuck back in the stone age” with the 2nd generation iPod touch, you may have realized that your Pod has no built-in microphone. Luckily, Griffin has released an excellent solution to allow iPod touch owners to record audio directly into the device.
The Griffin SmartTalk has a microphone/remote/headphone jack/shirt clip on one end and a 3.5mm mini audio plug on the other. The mini plug goes right into the headphone jack of your iPod and the headphones you normally wear plug into the end with the little remote and clip.
For the iPod touch users, this allows you to use any app found on the App Store that requires a microphone. (Midomi, Shazam, Fring, iTalk etc…) This accessory also works for the newest iPod nanos and classics, but the mic features are restricted to the built-in voice memo menu. Not only will the SmartTalk allow you to use mic features, but it also has remote functionality.
There is a little gray click button on one end of the wire (as shown in the picture) which allows the user to control his or her iPod without removing it from a pocket or bag. Simply click the button once to play/pause, click twice to skip to the next track, and click three times to go back to the previous track. The device also acts as a headphone wire extender which gives you a few extra feet of wire (helpful for keeping your Pod in your bag while you listen to it.)
All around, the Griffin SmartTalk is a very simple device, but adds some extremely useful functionality for the newest generation iPods.
__NOTE: SmartTalk will only work with the most current generation iPods!__
