Let Your Music Get Hitched

We all know how easy most portable media players make it to transfer files from one device to another, i.e., not at all. In many cases, you have to burn a disk with the files and then give that disk to your friends who then have to install the files in their computer before finally uploading those files to their devices.

Instant gratification, it is not. Which is what makes the new Hitch from Sima Corp. so appealing. The gadget works as a bridge between two USB media devices to transfer any file, whether that be music, videos, term papers, what-have-you. The Hitch is only slightly larger than an iPod, so carrying it around in your bookbag wouldn’t be a chore.

Another bonus: the Hitch powers the devices that are connected to it, so it works as an extra battery for your media player as well.

How does it work? We tried the Hitch out by transferring files from our 20 GB iPod to an Archos Gemini 400 portable media player. It worked flawlessly, however, since the Gemini stores files like a hard drive, it was difficult to find the music because it wasn’t stored properly on the hard drive. But when we transferred files in the other direction, the songs showed up in our iPod menu just like they would if we’d uploaded them from the PC.

Transferring a compressed album takes just over a minute, so if you’re someone who likes to grab music off of someone else’s iPod and listen to it right away, this is a great tool to have around. This would also be extremely useful for iPod video owners since you can download the movies someone else has pirated, rather than worry about doing it yourself.

The part where we had some hang ups was with trying to transfer files to a digital camera. We’re not sure if there was a software problem with the digicam or the Hitch.

At $150, the Hitch is for those who really enjoy giving and getting movies and music from their friends. And, for iPod video owners, the fact that it will power up your device is a big plus as well. yy