(MA070G/B) Remote Control for Apple iPod
- UPC: 885909137992
- Brand: Apple
- Compatible Devices: Apple iPod
- Type: Remote Control
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Adds FM radio to iPod via dock connector
Pros
Radio reception and interface added to iPod, integration
Cons
Positioning it, white vs. my black iPod, external to iPod, possible hum
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Consider this unit if you'd like to add FM radio to your iPod, but beware it's an extra dangling piece and the remote functions may not satisfy you.
I purchased an iPod Radio Remote during Apple's Black Friday shopping specials in November 2006. I am pairing it with a fifth-generation iPod (black 60 GB video model).
Appearance
The Radio Remote is a tiny device, which I believe is slightly smaller than Apple's new aluminum iPod Shuffle. However, the Radio Remote is clearly inspiration for the new iPod Shuffle's diminutive design.
The device I bought is white plastic with a white cord—the only color choice available at my time of purchase—and has a metal clip on its back. The color is obviously meant to fit in with white iPods, but I don't find it incongruous with my black iPod.
The rest of the appearance is tied to the function of the remote, so let's move on to that.
The other end of the Radio Remote's attached white cable plugs into the iPod dock connector. This can be a little confusing if you're accustomed to your headphones plugging into the headphone jack on the iPod itself, as on my iPod, the dock connector and headphone jack are on opposite ends (headphones on "top" at the screen end, and dock on the bottom at the click wheel end). For me, it sometimes made me feel like my iPod was upside down, though of course it wasn't.
Operation
Once you plug the Radio Remote into the dock connector on your iPod, you get access to a new top-level menu item: Radio. More on that later.
There is a large white center button of the Remote that controls Play/Pause. Four smaller buttons handle Volume Increase/Decrease, and Forward/Backward.
Using the volume buttons (labeled + and -) changes the on-screen display in the same manner that using the iPod's scroll wheel to change volume would. However, I get the vague impression that I'm getting slightly different volume ceilings when I use one or the other control—remote vs. scroll wheel—and after only a week or two of use, I haven't pinned that feeling down with more evidence.
The forward and backward buttons on the remote function the same way that clicking on the iPod click wheel does. However, since I often have the Radio Remote clipped high on a shirt or jacket collar, the directions are reversed for me, as I look down on them. This takes a bit of getting used to.
Getting back to the radio functions, the new top-level iPod menu, "Radio," lets you access them. Selecting this menu with the iPod click wheel takes you to an attractive screen which displays the currently-tuned radio station's frequency (e.g., "90.5"). If that station supports broadcasts any sort of text, that will also display on this screen—similar to what you may see in some car radios. (My wife previously had such a car radio, and some stations broadcast their call letters, some broadcast the currently-playing track, but most broadcast nothing.)
At the bottom of the radio screen, there is a tuning bar. It is a digital version of a traditional analog radio tuning bar. You can move left to go down the spectrum and right to go up to higher frequencies. When you find a station you want, you can create a preset by pressing the center button on the iPod click wheel. The presets appear as triangles pointing to the stored frequency. I'm not sure yet how to remove a preset, but I have saved several and I doubt there's any important limitation in the number you can save (it's software, after all).
I have found the reception to be crisp and accurate in almost every case. However, as you would expect from a device that is advertised as an FM radio, it does not support AM. I wish is did, since 2-3 stations I commonly listen to are on AM—but one (our local NPR station) also simulcasts on FM, so it's not the worst situation to deal with.
You cannot, in any obvious way I've found, record radio. The lack of this feature is unsurprising, as it wasn't advertised. I don't consider this a drawback at all, but some may, so I figured I'd spell it out..
When I plug the Radio Remote into my iPod and am not yet playing any music or listening to radio, I do detect a slight hum through my headphones. I have heard of a similar hum on the new 2006 iPod Shuffle, and I wonder if they are related. However, I don't notice the low hum during any audio or radio playback, but I haven't been carefully listening for it. I also haven't noticed it when I'm playing audio through external speakers hooked into the Radio Remote.
I have not yet read the tiny manual that came with the Radio Remote but I don't expect it to reveal much. However, I am hoping it can give me some clues on whether I can use the Radio Remote for other iPod navigation, and for control of some functions that, again, I get the vague feeling I'm missing. In particular, I'd like to find a function that lets me use the Radio Remote itself to switch to the radio mode without looking at the iPod's screen.
Appearance
The Radio Remote is a tiny device, which I believe is slightly smaller than Apple's new aluminum iPod Shuffle. However, the Radio Remote is clearly inspiration for the new iPod Shuffle's diminutive design.
The device I bought is white plastic with a white cord—the only color choice available at my time of purchase—and has a metal clip on its back. The color is obviously meant to fit in with white iPods, but I don't find it incongruous with my black iPod.
The rest of the appearance is tied to the function of the remote, so let's move on to that.
The other end of the Radio Remote's attached white cable plugs into the iPod dock connector. This can be a little confusing if you're accustomed to your headphones plugging into the headphone jack on the iPod itself, as on my iPod, the dock connector and headphone jack are on opposite ends (headphones on "top" at the screen end, and dock on the bottom at the click wheel end). For me, it sometimes made me feel like my iPod was upside down, though of course it wasn't.
Operation
Once you plug the Radio Remote into the dock connector on your iPod, you get access to a new top-level menu item: Radio. More on that later.
There is a large white center button of the Remote that controls Play/Pause. Four smaller buttons handle Volume Increase/Decrease, and Forward/Backward.
Using the volume buttons (labeled + and -) changes the on-screen display in the same manner that using the iPod's scroll wheel to change volume would. However, I get the vague impression that I'm getting slightly different volume ceilings when I use one or the other control—remote vs. scroll wheel—and after only a week or two of use, I haven't pinned that feeling down with more evidence.
The forward and backward buttons on the remote function the same way that clicking on the iPod click wheel does. However, since I often have the Radio Remote clipped high on a shirt or jacket collar, the directions are reversed for me, as I look down on them. This takes a bit of getting used to.
Getting back to the radio functions, the new top-level iPod menu, "Radio," lets you access them. Selecting this menu with the iPod click wheel takes you to an attractive screen which displays the currently-tuned radio station's frequency (e.g., "90.5"). If that station supports broadcasts any sort of text, that will also display on this screen—similar to what you may see in some car radios. (My wife previously had such a car radio, and some stations broadcast their call letters, some broadcast the currently-playing track, but most broadcast nothing.)
At the bottom of the radio screen, there is a tuning bar. It is a digital version of a traditional analog radio tuning bar. You can move left to go down the spectrum and right to go up to higher frequencies. When you find a station you want, you can create a preset by pressing the center button on the iPod click wheel. The presets appear as triangles pointing to the stored frequency. I'm not sure yet how to remove a preset, but I have saved several and I doubt there's any important limitation in the number you can save (it's software, after all).
I have found the reception to be crisp and accurate in almost every case. However, as you would expect from a device that is advertised as an FM radio, it does not support AM. I wish is did, since 2-3 stations I commonly listen to are on AM—but one (our local NPR station) also simulcasts on FM, so it's not the worst situation to deal with.
You cannot, in any obvious way I've found, record radio. The lack of this feature is unsurprising, as it wasn't advertised. I don't consider this a drawback at all, but some may, so I figured I'd spell it out..
When I plug the Radio Remote into my iPod and am not yet playing any music or listening to radio, I do detect a slight hum through my headphones. I have heard of a similar hum on the new 2006 iPod Shuffle, and I wonder if they are related. However, I don't notice the low hum during any audio or radio playback, but I haven't been carefully listening for it. I also haven't noticed it when I'm playing audio through external speakers hooked into the Radio Remote.
I have not yet read the tiny manual that came with the Radio Remote but I don't expect it to reveal much. However, I am hoping it can give me some clues on whether I can use the Radio Remote for other iPod navigation, and for control of some functions that, again, I get the vague feeling I'm missing. In particular, I'd like to find a function that lets me use the Radio Remote itself to switch to the radio mode without looking at the iPod's screen.
