Use your iPod as a DVR with iRecord

Thursday, November 02, 2006

One of the reason the iPod is such a successful device is the availability of a huge number of high quality ipod accessories. One of them is the iRecord, a Personal Media Recorder that is able to record video and audio data on USB 2.0 devices.

Among the devices supported there is obviously the iPod (both Windows and Mac) and if you are content with the iPod screen size the Streaming Network's device is really a gem. With the iRecord in fact you can turn the iPod into a DVR.

The iRecord “sits” between the audio or video source and the USB devices (in this case the iPod) and records the content of the former on the latter. All it takes is the push of a button and the recording starts.

The iRecord is able to squeeze three hours of video per gig because for the compression it uses H.264/AVC for video and AAC for audio. When recording audio instead the format used is MP3. Once the recording is over the content is immediately available on the iPod and can also be transferred on devices supporting H.264 video and AAC audio in MP4 file format.

The input for the iRecord can be any analog source (for example a DVD player, TV or TiVo) and the device has one S-Video connector and one CVBS connector. The iRecord supports the NTSC, PAL and SECAM video standards. As for the audio the iRecord accepts a two channel audio signal so there will be no loss of quality.

Other important features are the possibility to easily update the iRecord software using the USB port and the option to use this device to recharge the iPod. The iRecord is available directly on the Streaming Network online store and its price is set to $199.99. Not a bad price at all to transform your iPod into a portable DVR.