Hi Rob,
We have done a lot of work on smartphones and smartphone apps for voice recording and also addressing the issues you raise with Notetalker app for smartphones and tablets we have a solution for the battery, storage and audio quality issues you refer to.
Storage - Agreed it is a space management issue, but since we introduced a voice recording app for the DSA in 2013, space available on smartphones has increased dramatically. Then there was 13GB of storage space, enough for operating system of 3Gb, Apps 3Gb and not much for images and voice recordings. Now smartphones come with 32, 64 and 128Gb of memory as standard. A typical .WAV file for a 1 hour recording occupies 60-80Mb of storage. With the MP4 file recording option this drops to around 30-40Mb per hour of recording. So a Gb of spare space out of the current memory capacity is not a large proportion.
As Nick also pointed out, Notetalker app can be linked to Dropbox, Googledrive or ICloud so that files can be stored online. Once a file is exported to one of these services, it can be deleted from the phones memory and therefore does not require storage space on the phone.
Battery Life - Battery life is always an issue with smartphones and there are three things the student can do. Two are management issues. Switch off apps operating in the background and switch off Bluetooth. Also if they are not using Wifi during the lecture for interactive sessions, then switch that off as well. Secondly take your battery charger for recharging during breaks. And thirdly Notetalker have introduced a power card which contains 70% of a full battery charge for back up purposes. Once charged these cards hold the charge for up to 3 months. They are slim devices which are smaller than a mobile phone and easily fit in a bag or pocket with the phone.
Microphones. Directional microphones have been used for over 10 years in the DSA with digital voice recorders and can be used with apps using a connector cable. A connector cable which splits the audio and microphone channels so that the user can plug a microphone into the device and listen on playback with earphones without unplugging the microphone is required. The connector kit is a universal cable and connection kit for All smartphones and tablets- some phones have a differently wired headset socket(Apple vs android). The student can also use one of a number of wireless microphone options available.
Here is a link to an article in Ability Magazine which goes into a little more details
http://www.abilitymagazine.org.uk/Articles/AltArticle-10349-9.aspx
If you require any further help or require assessor copies please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Adam Pearce
Notetalker division of Conversor
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rob Jackson
Sent: 08 January 2016 12:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: using smart phone as a digital voice recorder
Thanks for your reply, looks good, quite completely prices as well. I recall from a demonstration of the Notetalker app that Sonocent audio notetaker still was a little bit better for functionality, but the package that's available makes it an interesting option. I'll ask my centre to get the package and experiment, really intersed to see how good the battery life is.
Rob Jackson
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Holland
Sent: 08 January 2016 11:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: using smart phone as a digital voice recorder
Notetalker already provide an App for recording in a pack with external microphone and USB battery pack. It also allows files to be uploaded to Dropbox to save storage space on the phone.
http://www.notetalker.com/
Nick Holland
Needs Assessor for Disabled Students Allowance Aseswr Anghenion Lwfansau Myfyrwyr Anabl Glyndŵr Assessment Centre Canolfan Asesu Glyndŵr
Prifysgol Glyndŵr Wrecsam
Glyndŵr University Wrexham
Ffordd yr Wyddgrug, Wrecsam, Cymru. LL11 2AW.
Mold Road, Wrexham, Wales. LL11 2AW.
Ffon/Tel: +44(0)1978 293254
Ffacs/Fax: +44(0)1978 293231
[log in to unmask]
www.glyndwr.ac.uk/assessmentcentre
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rob Jackson
Sent: 08 January 2016 11:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: using smart phone as a digital voice recorder
Dear all,
I was wondering if anyone has looked in to the use of smart phones as digital voice recording devices?
At the moment I’m reluctant to recommend this as an option as smartphones are a general device media device and not set for ‘voice recording’ specifically. However as phones become better media devices I’ve been looking at the typical negative issues of using a smart phone as a recording device for lectures, seminars etc. Those issues a far as I can see will be battery life, memory, interruptions from texts/calls and sound quality. My own research (internet searching) has identified potential resolutions to these issues which are increasing battery time by use of external power boosters (example <http://www.gearbest.com/iphone-power-bank/pp_234199.html?currency=GBP&gclid=CJit1qKMmsoCFRcYGwodrJYNDQ> ), external mic’s (example <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Directional-Microphone-iPhone-iPod/dp/B005GLDAX2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452252097&sr=8-2&keywords=external+mic+for+iphone> ) and the space issue could be resolved by a student leaving sufficient space to record 5 hours audio which is approximately 300MB( eg. the Sonocent Recorder app uses 57.8MB/hour) which I would consider a ‘reasonable’ request. And as for interruptions if the student enable flight-mode that should prevent any calls or texts making noise on a recoding.
I just wondered if anyone has conducted any real-world testing and had any comments/advice on this subject.
I look forward to you replies.
Rob Jackson | AT Trainer/Needs Assessor | Access SUMMIT – Joint Universities Disability Assessment, Training and Personal Support Centre
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