Gadget gives iPods gift of recording gab

Accessories maker Belkin on Monday said it will start selling an adapter that allows an external microphone to be used to record speech onto an iPod. Belkin, which already sells a microphone for the iPod, said the new device will sell for $39.95 and works with any microphone with a 3.5-millimeter plug.

"We listened to feedback from our customers who wanted a better way to record their lectures and interviews," Joe Jaconi, senior business unit manager at Belkin, said in a statement. The unit will begin shipping March 17.