Since activating my iPhone on Christmas day, I have been picking through the iTunes app store and searching online for apps that I could integrate into my daily routine. Fortunately, I have found a number of apps that are very useful for productivity and think they can also cross over to education. Today’s review will be Griffin’s iTalk, a recording app that allow users to record memos and podcasts.
This handy little app comes in both a free and a premium version. The free version is incredibly easy to use and has an uncomplicated user interface that lets you quickly start & stop, choose sample rates, and manage the list of your recordings with ease. Once you’ve got your recordings, you can then transfer the files via wi-fi to your computer using iTalk Sync, which is also a free download.
- iTalk Recording Selection Screen
Specifications from the Griffin website:
- Files are saved in the AIFF format.
- User-selectable 11.025 kHz, 22.05 kHz, or 44.10 kHz sample rates
- For use with iPhone, iPhone 3G, and 2nd-generation iPod touch (1st-generation iPod touch does not support recording)
- System requirements: iPhone software version 2.0 or later; Mac OS X 10.4 or later; Windows XP or Windows Vista; Wi-Fi network for file transfers; Apple Stereo Headset, TuneBuds Mobile, or SmartTalk for recording on 2nd-generation iPod touch.
Pros:
- Very easy to use
- High quality recordings
- Drag & drop wireless file transfers to your computer
- No upper limit on recording size (at least I haven’t hit it yet)
- Free
Cons
- Free version is ad supported. However, the ads are really unobtrusive. If you really don’t want ads, then you can pay for the Premium version which is only $4.99 (a bargain in my book).
- Files are saved in AIFF file format which requires some conversion to get them into a podcast ready format. However, iTunes will readily play the files and using iSync you can add them directly to iTunes.
In a future post, I’ll be covering some of the ways this app can be used in the classroom and in education administration.