Tune transmitter: The NoeStringsAttached widget (above) transmits tunes from your MP3 player to your friends’ headphones via FM radio.
Passive Devices
A new gadget can broadcast music from your iPod to friends nearby.
A San Francisco teenager has invented a gadget that turns iPods into miniature radio stations, broadcasting beats to nearby devices. The system, called NoeStringsAttached, uses FM radio waves to transmit music from a portable music player to any other specially equipped player within 15 feet.
The NoeStringsAttached system consists of two identical units. Each one plugs into the standard headphone jack found on most MP3, CD, and tape players. A user selects one of five radio frequencies and then opts to transmit or receive music by flicking a switch. (The five frequencies were specially selected because they are not often used by traditional broadcasters, but in theory, the device could pick up FM radio stations.)
Listeners don't even need a music player if they just want to tune in to someone else's music. All they need is a pair of headphones plugged into a NoeStringsAttached unit.
"It's basically like you're listening to a radio with headphones," says NoeStringsAttached inventor Kristyn Heath.
The 16-year-old says she made the gadget so that she could share her favorite songs with her friends. Heath tried sharing ear buds, but that requires two people standing relatively still and very close together. Even using an adapter to plug two sets of headphones into one iPod wasn't ideal, Heath says, because the cables "only go so far." Heath was sure there had to be a way to share her music with lots of friends at once without being tangled up in wires or blasting her music through speakers, forcing everyone to listen to the same thing.
Three years ago Heath turned to her father, Allen Heath, for help. He says it took Kristyn six months to convince him of her idea. "I did not buy it at first," says Allen, who has more than 30 years of experience in information technology. "We had a number of conversations over time at the dinner table about wireless technologies, and she then formalized her idea in writing with a descriptive drawing." Kristyn says they decided to take a low-tech approach and use FM radio to transmit the music because they wanted to keep costs down. Other wireless options, such as Wi-Fi (a communication protocol used to wirelessly connect laptops to networks), would have made the product too pricey for their target audience of 15-to-22-year-olds. "Most people my age don't make that much money," she says. "We want to keep it affordable."
Can I have email address for Allen Heath ?
and this is differant from a FM transmitter ?
I don't c a point in reinventing a FM transmitter. There are more than 1000 different short range FM transmitters and they are cheep to operate as FM radio can be bought from 1$.
Simplest example is a Car changer or there is a big new expensive range of FM transmitter for I-Pod ?
Re: and this is differant from a FM transmitter ?
agreed.
i actually had one of these in around '98 or so in my car. it was hooked up to my discman and i had my stereo tuned to the FM frequency, because i didnt have an in-dash CD player.
Can you point to even one out of "over a 1,000" FM transmitters that is relevant? Where did you come up with an inventory of over 1,000 FM transmitters on the market?
i'm not sure what you mean by "relevant", but here's one designed for the iPod: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7521149&st=FM+Transmitter&type=product&id=1127210996478
his point is that the device itself, a simple FM transmitter, has been around for years. i had one 10 years ago in my car to get my discman to play through my car stereo. you could create your own NoeStringsAttached system youself by hooking a self-powered FM transmitter to your MP3 player. anyone nearby with an FM radio could hear what you're listenting to.
it's her use of it, to share the signal with others rather than just yourself, that's novel. i dont think anyone's thought of using it for this purpose before.
Brunascle, I think you know what I mean by "relevant": This article is about a "novel way to share songs" - not the formerly novel idea of broadcasting music to a car stereo. The Griffin and similar devices wouldn't qualify as prior art and they aren't relevant because they do not solve the same problem that Kristyn Heath addressed: sharing songs with other paired-device connected person(s).
i dont know if it would qualify as "prior art", but the Griffin device (or any other like it) most definitely is relevant. the NoeStringsAttached system is two devices in one: an FM transmitter and an FM receiver. many MP3 players (such as Creative's Zen) already have an FM receiver. assuming the devices around me also have FM receivers (if not, you can usually buy an adapter), all i need is an FM transmitter.
actually, the Griffin device is only relevant if the iPod comes with an FM receiver (i dont know, i have a Zen). i was going to link to anyother device that adds an FM radio to an iPod, but it looks like both the Griffin and this radio use the same plug, which is unfortunate.
here's a better example:
Kensington iPod Digital FM Radio & Transmitter
http://www.educational-software.com/kensington-ipod-digital-fm-radio-and-transmitter-details.html
this is a transmitter and radio in one for the iPod. this _does not_ have the words "share with friends" in the description, but if it did have that description before Kristyn invented her device i believe that would qualify as "prior art".
Now the Kensington device is a better example, Brunascle. Question: does the Kensington allow simultaneous transmission of music over FM _and_ listening to the same music on the device transmitting? This may be the one remaining crucial difference: Kensington does not appear to allow the music-sharer to listen to the music on the device to which it is attached. That is to say, it can only be heard on an FM receiver. From what I can discern, Kristyn’s invention allows the music-sharer to not only share songs with other paired-device connected person(s), but also listen to the music she is sharing on her own headphones. Hmm… In any event, I hope Kristyn jams all the way to the bank. ;)
Re: and this is differant from a FM transmitter ?
Give the young lady a break. She didn't reinvent the FM transmitter, she found a new use for it. Her invention was making a device that was convenient and cheap for sharing music.
Re: and this is differant from a FM transmitter ?
I could not agree more, cyberpageman. Kristyn's work exhibits the exploratory problem solving nature of inventing. What these ridiculous comments on automobile FM transmitters have to do with her wireless music sharing invention totally escapes me.
That's pretty neat, 15 feet is a bit short though, but a great star!
A different way to share music under different circumstances is to let friends browse the music folders on your harddrive. They can copy what they want to their own harddrive, even entire folders of music, and it's not just restricted to music files. The way to do this is with GigaTribe software, which is free at: http://www.gigatribe.com
Congratulations, Kristyn, on your first patent pending _and_ new business. Sixteen and already cultivating your inner inventor and businesswoman. I hope to see NoeStrings on the store shelves, subways and streets of New York!
No offense to the inventors, but I could buy an Apple Shuffle (not to mention a multitude of less expensive players) for my friends to listen to and have it cost about the same...
...and burden yourself with loading music while only sharing that subset music collection from your total collection until you get home to rebuild the Shuffle library. Perhaps, you should just burn them a CD. ;)
actually, i think price is one of this thing's positive points. you could actually put together something that did the same thing as this right now, but it would cost quite a bit more than $60, and it would probably be awkward to use and could have limitations, because it was not designed with this use in mind.
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1 Comment
Way to go!
It's great to see more young entrepreneurs doing great things. Keep it up Kristyn! I think you can definitely get retail distribution for your device.
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