Griffin Simplifi iPhone Dock and Multi Card Reader
September 27th, 2008 by iPhoneTechZone
Griffin comes back this time with a very cool iPhone/iPod dock in the called Simplifi. Priced For $70, the iPod docking station includes some unusual features such as a a USB hub, memory card reader and Blue LED light.
The coolness doesn’t stop here as this gadget also comes bundled with an AC adapter if ever you decide to charge your iPhone/iPod without using your computer or laptop. The memory card reader supports the majority of memory cards including SD, SDHC, xD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick andMemory Stick Pro.
Features
- Charge/sync hub for iPhone and iPod
- Reads and writes the most popular digital media cards, including Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SD, SDHC, xD and CF (CompactFlash).
- 2-port powered USB hub, using included AC adapter
- A simple, versatile way to de-clutter your desktop
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Griffin AirCurve acoustic amplifier for iPhone introduced
September 21st, 2008 by iPhoneTechZone
Whole new concept with comes to the iPhone with these no-battery speakers. Actually, the new Griffin Aircurve is a horn amplifier. It basically takes a sound wave and amplifies it, similar to the way a horn works. The new Aircurve is visually appealing, with a translucent plastic casing, whereupon the iPod touch (new iPod touch, the 1st generation iPod touch does not have an external speaker) or iPhone docks into the casing. The dock leads into the main canal for the horn, which amplifies the sound that the iPod touch or iPhone creates.
I personally think that this is a great idea because it’s minimalistic, cheap ($19.95 available soon), and power-free, which means never having to pay for power or batteries for the speakers. The real downside is that it there is no volume control (I’ve personally never heard them either, they just came out during this past weekend’s Mac Expo in Paris), no display, no remote, no mute, etc (this is especially a downside since there isn’t a remote for the iPhone itself, so changing songs or volume from afar is a chore). This product is great for a desk-buddy type device, but is definately not for filling the room with music or giving yourself dynamic sound control, but at 19.95 for a ’speaker’, who could complain?
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Griffin’s new iTrip Autopilot Car Charger
September 21st, 2008 by iPhoneTechZone
Griffin Technology just released two new products for its iPod/iPhone for your automotive needs. Both are successors to the original iTrip product. I remember buying my 1st iTrip for my 4th generation iPod; it was a standalone unit that just sits on top of the iPod turning my iPod’s LCD into FM station selector.
Well, the latest iTrip Auto Smartscan ($79) and iTrip Autopilot ($99) have evolved much beyond the original. All iTrip products are very convenient for people who want to enjoy their iPod for their car but either do not have an aux input from their OEM car stereo or do not want to pay upwards of $300 to buy OEM iPod integration offered by some companies like Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, VW, and etc.
Pros:
- Nice low profile charger design that can clear most car’s arm rest storage
- iPod control at the base of charger is very handy, lights up too!
- Smartscan works very nicely to determine the best three FM stations to use
- RDS function is nice to display song information on supported Radio
Cons:
- FM modulators suffer in quality in big cities with lots of interference (this applies to all FM solutions)
- I could think of a couple of more features to add (ie. aux in/out, build-in mic for iPhone)
- Too many steps to get to the menu for the preset-stations
This product is very easy to use, hardly any learning curve is necessary; it literally works right out of the box. The smart-scanning is a great feature; making it very easy to automatically detect the best 3 FM stations and automatically pre-sets them for you. I really loved the way you can control your iPod or iPhone using the control buttons on the base of the charger; while it is useless in my car (because its hidden out of the way of access by design), I can imagine it being very handy on cars with cigarette chargers more prominiently mounted. The charger does a great job at, well, charging your iPod and iPhone; as with any modern day accessory, power supply is always my top concern, an accessory (such as bluetooth headset) that contributes to draining my device is never welcome in my collection. The control module is compact and easy to navigate with only three buttons, which is just the right configuration; I especially like the high-contrast LCD display on the control module.
As far as the sound quality, this is where I ran into a little bit of trouble; the problem with NYC is that it has so many stations that interferes over FM. iTrip Autopilot has done a terrific job and managed to find the best three stations which worked, but lots of hissing and intereference can be still be heard. As I manually searched for an open station; the white noise I hear are way too overpowering. Therefore; I conclude that if you live in a smaller city or township with less interruptions over air wave; FM modulators are great; in larger metropolitan like L.A., N.Y.C or Miami, chances are almost all FM modulators would run into some form of interruption.
Overall, I am quite impressed with Griffin’s product design and usability. Having the ability to easily scan and preset three of the best available station is very handy. The high-contrast display is good throughout day and night. The sound quality is on par with any FM stereo solution. For a basic iPod solution I think the $79 iTrip Auto Smartscan will do the trick. If you have extra money to invest in the $99 iTrip Autopilot, I think it’s a worthy upgrade to be able to get the extra iPod control and display.
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