7 August 2007 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Another week another FM radio transmitter. This time it's iStuff iCast available from iPod World, but can this one offer anything more than any of the numerous others available on the market? We get tuning in to find out.

On the surface the iCast looks like any other FM transmitter, its small, connects to your iPod or MP3 player via the headphone jack and then transmits your signal (and therefore tunes) to a nearby radio that you've happened to have turned on.

With car manufacturers only now just adding AUX in sockets to the car stereo and the FM transmitter becoming legal in the UK it's a good chance to get your tunes shared, but one of the biggest problems is fining a spare frequency to broadcast to.

The iCast AutoScan FM Transmitter from iStuff claim to fame is that it has a button that once pressed automatically scans for the clearest FM frequencies available in your area.

Once it has found the clearest frequencies you can save them on iCast's four memory channels and away you go. In practice and it works very well leaving you just the task of tuning in your car or kitchen radio into one of the suggested frequencies.

Frequency is displayed via the onscreen display and the units range is from 88.1 to 107.9.

As for power, like other FM transmitters the iCast is powered by a AAA battery, and iStuff, its makers say you should get around 18 hours from a single charge. Even better is the fact that there is an auto switch off mode so you won't waste that battery after you've forgotten to turn it off.

Verdict

We were surprised by the iCast as it managed to stand out from the crowd by offering something a bit different to the run of the mill offerings from everyone else.

The autoscanner is a welcomed additional technology, however as with all FM transmitters be warned that you won't get decent performance in a heavy urbanised inner-city area.

This product was kindly loaned to us by iPodworld.co.uk

Score

Review Recap

Made by

iStuff

Price as reviewed

£29.99

The good

Autoscan feature, 18 hour battery life, works with all MP3 players

The bad

Doesn't work that well in urban areas

Quick verdict

We were surprised by the iCast as it's managed to stand out from the crowd

Score

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