Voice Memos — Apple's iPhone development people probably figured adding voice memo recording in a native app in OS 3.0 would make the iPhone seem more corporate. That's only a guess, but if I'm right, I suspect Voice Memos won't be a big hit around the water cooler. I would take Griffin's iTalk, QuickVoice PRO Recorder, Voxie Recorder or JMDictate-Professional Dictation ahead of Voice Memos.
Voice Memos is like a boring novel with a fancy cover (it's good looking). You can record, playback, trim clips and share by email your voice recording. Oh yeah, you can also give it a label by picking one from a list.
"It does the job and besides, I didn't pay extra for it," I can hear you reply. You don't have to pay for at least one of other apps I just mentioned either... and the rest, well they're worth the extra coin.
Developer: Griffin Technology
Price: free Download on the App Store
Griffin's iTalk, at least the ad-supported version, is free. Don't worry, the ads aren't in your face.You can record your audio at normal (8kHz), medium (11kHz), high (22kHz) and CD quality (44kHz). Then, you can use iTalk Sync, a free download, to drag and drop your recordings to your desktop over a Wi-Fi connection. It’s available for the Mac OS and Windows PCs.
Developer: nFinity Inc
Price: $2.99 Download on the App Store
There's also QuickVoice PRO Recorder, which is only $0.99. Add here the ability to transfer files via iTunes, Wi-Fi or email. QuickVoice PRO Recorder works best in conjunction with its free desktop app. Importing a voice recording from QuickVoice for iPhone to the desktop app is easy: Launch QuickVoice, select “Import” under the “File” menu and the rest is taken care of.
Developer: Bottle Rocket
Price: $4.99 Download on the App Store
Voxie Pro Recorder, is a voice recorder and dictation app for the iPhone and iPod touch with features such as Wi-Fi syncing with your desktop, audio file emailing and texting, audio-quality settings, customizable categories and audio file sizes limited only by the amount of available storage space.Other features include an express mode that is activated by shaking the iPhone, wallpapers, icons to flag recordings, the ability to send quick notes to a list of friends and family and to your contacts in the Contacts native app.
Developer: JOTOMI GmbH
Price: $16.99 Download on the App Store
With JMDictate-Professional Dictation you have a good variety of options if you would like to transfer your recordings to your desktop and manage them. JMDictate handles email, iDisk MobileMe, WebDAV and FTP. You’ll also find on the Settings screen a switch to automatically activate voice recording and a field where you can enter your initials. JMDictate-Professional Dictation is $7.99; which is pricey compared to most audio recording apps in the App Store but if you often record audio, you shouldn’t find the price too hard to swallow.
