iPod remotes: there's something in the air

If there's one thing that frustrates us about the iPod, it's not being able to stop the music when you need to listen to someone -- the stranger in the lift, the friend in the street, the barista in the coffee shop. Ok, the iPod has a Pause button, but pressing it doesn't do anything, as we always have the Hold switch on. Otherwise the volume keeps changing as the player bumps around in our pockets. Grr.

In a perfect world, there'd be a way round this. You'd be able to configure the Pause button to override the Hold switch, in the same way that the Answer button always works on your phone, even when the other keys are locked. In our imperfect world, you can buy Apple's wired remote, but you don't get much sex appeal for your £25.

Wireless remotes are much cooler -- and also more versatile, because you can use them from across the room when the iPod is hooked up to your hi-fi. We like the RF remotes best of all, because they use radio waves that can go round corners, through walls and into pockets.

• The first RF remote was Engineered Audio's RemoteRemote, now superseded by the RemoteRemote 2 (around £35). It consists of a receiver that plugs into the top of your iPod and a keyfob style remote with Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. There's a hardcore geek element -- you have to prise the keyfob apart and push the battery into the circuit board -- but it delights us all the same.

• Griffin Technology's new AirClick (£TBA) is very similar, except the remote has a clip rather than a hole. We prefer the RemoteRemote's plain white receiver to the AirClick's two-tone grey and white, but that's a matter of taste. Griffin has also launched the AirClick USB, which plugs into a USB port and enables you to control iTunes on your Mac or PC.

Both the AirClick and the RemoteRemote let you turn off the music with a single click, which was all we wanted. We have simple needs… it just takes a lot of tech to meet them. -ML

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• Tags:
• griffin technology,
• volume,
• usb,
• switch