I recently got this adapter from
Kvconnection.com. Tested and works great. I still have to use a mono to stereo adapter for my mono lapel mic. But it works. http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-iphone-mic.htm

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Ever since I got my first iPhone, the 3GS, I have wanted to use it to record audio.  I have been in podcasting since it started.  Six years ago.  Not the five Apple tried to claim in iTunes.  Five is how long they have had it in iTunes.

I also had gotten an Owle Bubo (http://www.wantowle.com/) for Christmas last year.  It is a great camera grip and comes with the Veracorder mic to better aim your audio when making video.  The veracorder mic is below.  It's short and can be bent to angle toward your source.  It works on the iPhone3GS but has been broken on the iPhone4.  

Combined with the FiRE field recorder app (http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/) it makes a great hand recorder for questions, notes etc.  Especially since the FiRe app supports the Izotope (http://www.izotope.com/) audio processing plugins like Noise Gate, Hiss Reducer.  Sure you can only use one at a time but its cool for field use.  Even better is you can turn on pass through audio.  Where I am going is I wanted to be able to use my iPhone or now iPad as an inline noise gate for my sound board.  Why not?  I have it so why not use it?

To this end I needed a way to split audio in and out.  So I originally picked up a splitter cable from http://www.kvconnection.com/  This was made to work with the iPhone.  But it never would override the internal mic.  Now I find it works on the iPad.  I tried it again with the iPhone4 with little joy.

Next I go for the Griffin iMic.  The device itself works on the iPad and briefly FiRe recognized it fully and pass through audio worked. Then it quit.  Recording then playback can be heard through the output.  But the live pass through quit for a reason I cannot explain.  I have emailed the developer of FiRe.  I also find I cannot try it on iPhone 3GS or 4.  Because those reject the camera connector kit plug.  This is really irritating since I know that the iPhone4 changed the audio on the dock connector to be usb audio device.  So if Apple would just let the camera kit usb plug work I am betting the griffin imic will work fine.  All avoiding the inconsistent nightmare that is the headphone jack.  

In a nutshell which is appropriate since the changes and inconsistency are driving me nuts, get your act together Apple.  PLEASE!

I wanted to figure out a nice clean non invasive way to mount my iphone for use in my new Altima. The solution I came up with uses a combination of the Ped3 Form holder on a Naja King Coil stand both from Thoughtout.biz. You can watch how I put it all together on the video I made. I do also use the Belkin retractable stereo cable for feeding the audio into the aux of the Altima stereo system. It keeps the whole rig easy to remove and get out of the way.

Thoughtout.biz Form
http://thoughtout.biz/FORM

Thoughtout.biz Naja
http://thoughtout.biz/NAJA

Belkin Retractable Stereo Cable
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=377115

This is a fun little rig. I purchased the ped tripod adapter from http://www.thoughtout.biz/ Specifically I got the kit with the form holder meant for iPhones in a case and the adapter itself. You can find the actual kit at: http://thoughtout.biz/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=39

I just happen to have a mini tripod for desktops. It came with an old kodak full sized tripod from Sams that I got as a Christmas gift a few years back. The ped adapter went on perfectly. Then the ped form holder just pushes in and the iPhone sits inside the holder. The adapter itself is just the L bar you see screwed into the top of the mini tripod. So if you already have a ped3 holder you just need the adapter itself.

Now I can turn on video recording with my iphone, put my canon S2 IS on the large tripod to record video and have a two camera video shoot. *lol*

Overall I am still disappointed in the quality the iPhone 3GS camera. It performs horribly in low light situations. I will grant the touch to get spot metering is nice. But it really needs a lock so once you dial in the settings you want you can frame your shot as desired. Still if the entire scene is low light you might as well give it up. You will not get a photo that you will want to show anyone.

If you have good full light, the camera can still make some good shots. You can even make some even niftier shots by using a combination of three programs. My friend Victor turned me onto these apps.

1. Camera Genius is a replacement camera app. There are several good features it brings to the table. First you can turn on a grid for framing up the rule of thirds. Second you can turn on stabilization which makes the camera shoot when the iPhone is the most still. This reduces chances of a blurry photo. You can even turn on noise based photo shooting. I liked this one because I could plug in my earbuds with mic and call out "shoot" without having to disturb the iPhone to press the camera snap button.
http://www.codegoo.com/

2. Auto Stitch is an app for stitching together a panorama shot. The tip here is take your photos vertically across the scene. So you get the tallest photo you can. You only have to take more photos going across the scene to make up for it. Overall it makes for a better thicker shot. This is especially handy when used with Camera Genius above and the voice triggered stabilized shots.
http://www.cloudburstresearch.com/autostitch/autostitch.html

3. Photogene has some great and easy to use image enhancement controls. Mainly I use the level and exposure controls. You have to offset the lack of detailed control the iPhone itself provides.
http://www.i-photogene.com/photogene/main.html

So add those three apps together with a well lit scene and you can still make some decent and interesting iPhone camera shots. Just don't rely on it as an impromptu camera for indoor or night time shots.

(download)

Try adding the Nickname field to contacts in your iPhone address book. Then you can voice dial just by matching the nickname rather than the full name or hard to speak name of the contact.

(download)

Using iPhone memo recorder to send voice mms