Ocean Sonics – the young sister company of Instrument Concepts of Great Village, NS – is planning to launch a new product called icTalk in the autumn to complement its successful icListen smart hydrophone.

Begun by marine engineer Mark Wood in 2000, Instrument Concepts made a name for itself designing products specializing in underwater sound transmission and receiving. In March, it launched icListen as an underwater microphone that is so simple to use that you can hook it up to your iPod.  Its applications range from monitoring underwater drilling equipment from oil rigs to recording the sound of whales calling to each other.

Wood also launched a new company, Ocean Sonics, to handle the side of his business that develops and markets products like icListen. Instrument Concepts will continue as the consultancy side of Woods’ business.

Woods said in an interview yesterday the company’s next product launch will come in September when it introduces icTalk, which will allow the user to transmit sound underwater, just as its companion devise allows listening to and analyzing underwater noises.

Woods said he and his team designed the icListen after receiving feedback from customers on what they wanted in underwater monitoring equipment. As well as low power levels and small size, customers wanted a product that was easy to use. So Woods came up with something that met all those criteria and has already logged some sales.

Now that he has worked out a few kinks in the product, he has larger, more significant sales in the works in the U.S., Azerbaijan, Australia, China and Canada.

The company today will hold a ceremony to announce a $150,000 loan from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency – its second Acoa loan. It borrowed $300,000 from the agency four years ago.