Over in Berlin, IFA 2025 is underway, which means that there will be some interesting technology announcements coming out (and we’ve got more planned for later this week). Today, we’re talking about a trio of new devices from viaim.
viaim NoteKit
While online meeting apps are starting to add tools for transcription and recording, your experience can be varied. That’s where the viaim NoteKit can come in and help you out. It looks quite similar to a thumb drive, with a native USB-C connector (and a USB-A adapter included). It has mics on both sides of the device, meaning it can pick up voices within 5 meters (and yes, you can mute the mics with an obvious green/red status light). You can have it record your online meeting (Google Meet, Teams, Zoom, etc), an in-person meeting, or recording the audio/video that you’re playing on the device.
So, why would you want this to record what you’re talking about? Because it can do real-time translation (and transcription) of 21 different languages. Pretty handy if you’re commonly working with teams around the world. Then, once things are captured, you can have the AI integration generate summaries of what was discussed, as well as pull out action items that need to be handled.
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viaim OpenNote
The NoteKit can also work in conjunction with earbuds from viaim (though they’re not required). If you’re using them, the earbuds pair to the NoteKit, and then you’re listening (and speaking) to the meeting on the earbuds, while the dongle goes the work.
One pair of earbuds you could use with that - or on their own - is the viaim OpenNote. Now, you can be using these like a standard bluetooth headset. But if something pops up that you want to start recording, you don’t have to open the app on your phone. You can do a long-press on the earbud, and then you are recording - whether it’s in-person, a phone call, or even something you’re watching or listening to on your phone.
As with the NoteKit, you can get transcription (and translation), along with the summaries and to-do’s. If you’re using them more as earbuds for day-to-day use, you can also setup custom equalizer profiles, go into a “game mode” to reduce latency, and have it paired to two devices at the same time (which the earbuds will then automatically sense what is sending audio and switch to it).
viaim RecDot
On the other hand, if you want something a little less obtrusive, there’s the viaim RecDot. They can do everything that the OpenNote can do, with a few other tweaks. For instance, for the quick “flash record” kickoff, you can also do that with a quick press of the red button in the charging case (this is just for in-person conversations). They also offer some solid noise cancellation (and a transparency mode if you want to hear what’s going on around you). Past that, you get all of the live-transcription (handy to review “did they really just say that?” moments) and the post-call things the AI can handle.
Wrapping things up
All three of these were announced today, and expand the AI transcription and translation devices that viaim has been offering for a few years now. Check them all out at viaim.ai