Listec, a company which specializes in teleprompter equipment, has a kit which utilizes your camera and smartphone (Android or iOS) to create a low-cost teleprompter. For bloggers or podcasters who are always in front of the camera, this could be useful instead of trying to remember what to say mentally or off a piece of paper. If you do a lot of reporting on the field, this could be a handy gadget to have with you as well.
The $319 kit supports smartphones up to 4.9″ long by 3.2″ wide and DSLRs/ camcorders with 58 mm, 55 mm, 52 mm, 49 mm, 46 mm, 43 mm, 40.5 mm, 37 mm or 30.5 mm threaded lenses. For those wondering, the iPhone 5 will work, but the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 are all too large. If you’re bummed that your phone is too big, you’ll unfortunately have to wait for the next iteration to come out, but there’s no word on when that’ll come.
In the box, you’ll find the teleprompter hardware, adjustable cradle holder (for your device), 60/40 trapezoidal mirror, folding hood assembly and Bluetooth wireless controller. Everything can be stored inside the included ABS hard case.
The Bluetooth remote is equipped with a QWERTY keyboard and touchpad, allowing you to change the speed of the prompter, in addition to basic play/ pause controls and script writing.
Technically, you could use any teleprompter app with this, but Listec’s PromptWare Plus is the recommended app to use. The app is free for Android and iOS devices and features landscape or portrait mode with mirrored display, editable fonts and colors (including background color) and importable scripts (.txt) via Dropbox or Email. Even if you don’t want to buy the kit, you could load this app to your device and use it in a homemade teleprompter.
I first saw this at CES and thought it would be great for small studios, like the one I’m building. If I decide to use it in the future, you can expect a review on it.
