All About Iphone

Whether it's that first cassette tape recorder I bought back in the 70's, or my nifty HD camcorder that was financed by Dubya's economic-stimulus check, the mantra is the same: Get An External Microphone! The audio you record will be automatically better than from the built-in variety.

There are now a handful of add-on microphones available for the iPhone and its cousins, with the Brando Workshop Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone claiming to be both the latest and greatest. It boasts battery-free operation, plug-and-play compatibility with the iPhone 2/3/3GS and iPod Nano 4G (sorry, iTouch fans!), a swivel design for omni-directional positioning, and a 25dB gain increase over the internal "iMic."

("Boasts" being the operative word: the unit is not scheduled to ship until the end of July, but the pre-order page also includes sample audio recordings done with and without the Mini Capsule for your own comparison -- and the difference in sound, if legit, is like night and day. Still, if you plan to do a fair amount of audio recording with your iPhone, its MSRP of US$14.00 -- plus another three bucks shipping from Hong Kong -- might make trying it out worth the risk.)