Apple rings in potential iPod click wheel changes

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 30 October 2006 18:59

Your IT - Entertainment

The iPod phone is one of those mythical devices that everyone professes to want, despite there being Sony Walkman phones, Nokia music phones, an even the ROKR and RAZR V3i with iTunes support built in.

While the Sony Ericsson Walkman phones are the most popular music phones around, they’re still not iPods, even though they’re technically brilliant devices.

It’s just that the idea of a real iPod phone is very compelling, as we imagine a device with the design quirkiness of the US $1275 Bang and Olufsen ‘Serene’ mobile, with the practicality, expected ease-of-use and true cool factor a real iPod phone would theoretically have.

So, let me say right here – Apple has not released an iPod phone. Not yet, anyway. But iPod accessory manufacturer Gear4 have released the closest thing yet, a Bluetooth device that works with your existing Bluetooth phone to transform your iPod... into a phone!

It’s called the BluEye and is billed as the missing link between your iPod and mobile phone.

It’s a 3-in-1 Bluetooth hands free mobile connection with FM radio and remote control which allows you to make and receive calls on your iPod.

As you can see from the image below, it plugs into the dock connector on any compatible iPod, with the example in the picture being a 2nd-gen iPod nano. This connects to a wired remote control unit which incorporates an FM tuner and a Bluetooth 2.0 wireless connection to your phone. It also has a microphone to pick up your voice.

Plug any headphones you like into the unit, and when a call comes in, you’ll see the Caller ID number appear on the iPod’s screen. The music will automatically pause when a call comes through, and will resume again when the call ends. You can do a last number redial from your iPod, but sadly you cannot dial numbers or send SMS messages directly from the iPod as you do when using the search function on the latest generation iPods.

However you can use voice dialling to call numbers in your phone’s address book if your phone has that option. The FM radio has an auto scan function, as well as allowing you to set 15 FM stations for easy retrieval. No extra battery is required as the unit is powered through the iPod itself.

With this device, you really can be listening to your music, or FM radio, and when a call comes through, you don’t have to remove your headphones just to put the phone to your ear – it’s all seamless, just as a real iPod phone would be.

A company called UK company Mavizen worked with the UK based Gear4 to bring the BluEye to life, and finally, it has arrived. The price in AUD is $149.95, so that’s probably going to be something like US $99. Stock is literally on the way to Australian shores, with only one demo unit in the country at the moment.

To find out more, visit the Gear4 website and contact them in your country to find out when they’ll be available in your local area. Australians will find them in stores in the next couple of weeks. 

It’s not a real iPod phone... and you’ll still have to carry two devices around. But at least the two are integrated at last. It’s the closest thing to a real iPod phone yet!