Music making apps for the iPad are currently seen as more useful alongside musicians’ main recording rig rather than instead of them. This perception, however, may be changed with this new app. Wave Machine Labs’ Auria is a a 48-track iPad music production app that allows users to record up to 24 tracks simultaneously, provided they have a suitable USB audio interface.

In order to record music, the app requires users to have a Camera Connection Kit and a compatible USB audio interface.

The Auria also features AAF support, so users can copy their session files to their main DAW such as Nuendo and Pro Tools; multitrack editing; and VST plug-in support, which is one of the most interesting features of this app. Note that plug-ins are in iOS format only, so you won’t be able to use your own, which is pretty bad.

The new app also comes with a number of free plug-ins that have been provided by Wave Labs’ partnership with PSPaudioware. These plug-ins include stereo chorus and delay, convolution reverb, classicVerb and a pitch processor. More plug-ins created by PSPaudioware, Overloud Audio Tools, Fabfilter and more will be available once the app is launched in the first quarter of 2012.

via: Gear Diary

Wave Labs announces its Auria DAW for the iPad is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

RIM has unveiled the on-the-go music service last August to directly compete with other services such as We7 and Spotify. The service runs via the BlackBerry Messenger service and will charge users a $4.99 monthly subscription fee.

The system works by picking 50 songs (around 4 to 5 albums) for the user’s music library. If the user knows someone who users the service, their selected songs become part of his library as well. These songs can be cached for listening offline. Users can swap out half of these songs for others, and friends can do the same.

“With BBM Music, you can grow and keep your music selection fresh by swapping songs every month and by inviting friends to gain access to your music,” wrote RIM in its blog. “When you invite friends to BBM Music, you get access to their musical playlist (which means you get access to more songs); you can build new playlists that include your songs and their songs, you can comment on your friends’ music and you can start a chat with any of your BBM friends from within the BBM Music app in real time.”

The company has managed to get four major record labels, including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group.

via: BlackBerry

BlackBerry launches its BBM Music service is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The amendments to the old law comes after the commissioning of the Hargreaves Report, which advised the UK government to change its existing laws and make new ones to keep up with the digital age.

In Mr. Hargreaves’s review, he suggested that legalizing the ripping of CDs and DVDs for personal consumption, a process called ‘format shifting,’ would “enhance the economic potential of the UK’s creative industries and ensure that the emergence of high technology businesses, especially smaller businesses, in other sectors are not impeded by our IP laws”.

Reports have also suggested that the revision of copyright laws in the UK will also protect spoof versions or parodies of popular tracks from copyright restrictions. This comes after a YouTube video called Newport State of Mind (a parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ hit single Empire State of Mind) was removed after a complaint from EMI.

Legalizing CD and DVD copying will bring the UK law into line with other countries, which include the US and Canada. This change is expected to make it legal for other family members to use the ripped digital content from CDs. However, sharing digital copies online is to remain illegal.

Is it about time the UK changed media laws? Will it make a difference anyway?

via: CNET

CD and DVD copying to be legalized in the UK is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

According to the official Spotify website, “The award-winning music service that’s taken Europe by storm will soon be landing on US shores. Millions of tracks ready to play instantly, on your computer and your phone.”

People from the US can also get their invites in the same page by sending in their email addresses.

Spotify’s US arrival has been highly anticipated, much like the arrival of Duke Nukem Forever. And despite waiting for two years, its arrival in the country comes at a time when the digital music industry is enjoying a new surge. Apple, Amazon and Google are all creating or have already released their cloud-based services.

NoiseCast reported that it received an email from “an executive of a major label,” which said that the music service would be available sometime between July 5 and 15. The email also said that Spotify would charge $10 a month for an unlimited mobile subscription.

In an interview by Wired two years ago, Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek said: “We feel very comfortable, in that the labels want to see Spotify in the US. Our hope is to get something up and running before the end of the year. We get around a thousand e-mails a week from people in the US who want access to Spotify, so we know that there’s a demand for the product. It is important for us, though, to figure out the best execution, as we are very serious about being able to monetize the content that we license.”

via: T3

Spotify announces its American release is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

This service will basically give unlimited wireless access to the entire Napster catalogue for £10 a month, users will be able to stream music over wi-fi or 3G or download tracks to take with them. A £5 a month service allows users to download tracks from home without the ability to stream or download over the air when out and about, however, wireless music streamers and compatible TV’s as well as your other devices will all still work wirelessly in the home.

Napster also offer their own playlist discovery and recommended music features based on user preferences and download behavior. A neat addition is the radio recommendations feature which hunts down niche radio stations around the world using your catalogue of music.

Thorsten Schliesche, Napster’s VP of Sales, explained: “Napster strives to offer music lovers the opportunity to listen to music without barriers and with complete freedom, empowering users to take the music they love and discover on the move and access via multiple platforms. We are also committed to expanding freedom of access to streaming devices around the home and entertainment systems by integrating Napster services with devices such as internet connected TVs and wireless home audio systems.”

The Android and iOS apps are available to download now via their respective app stores, both are free to download but obviously require a subscription to access Napster.

Do you think Napster’s new streaming service can compete with Spotify or other cloud based music services?

Napster Launch iOS and Android Wireless Streaming Plans is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

“The product was invented after I experienced problems with my iPhone 3G after putting it in my gym bag. Some fluff or lint got in the headphone jack hole and tricked the phone into thinking that the hand frees function was activated or headphones were plugged in.”

We have known guff and fluff to get stuck in the headphone port before but never heard of a phone with fluff or vapor lock before; we wondered how common a problem this was. George continued, “I had to take my phone to an Apple store where they blew compressed air in to extract the offending material, however they had no products to prevent it happening again, I also found that it’s quite a common problem. Hence how the product was invented and then extended to allow corporations, clubs and associations to advertise their brands/logo’s”.

So we can see the benefits for protection but actually feel that that’s not the main strength of the iCatchi. These things are a great marketing tool either for businesses or for individuals, what do I mean by this? Well firstly individuals can personalize their phones easily and businesses could promote their brand by emblazoning their logo on one – we can definitely see business giving this away at promotions events and venues.

George confirmed our thoughts, he said; “The reaction[to the product] has been mixed, however the majority have been very positive. There are a number of large corporations currently reviewing the product/samples and its applications, without mentioning names, our largest local telecommunication carrier, a couple very large European car manufactures, one of the world’s largest fast food franchises to name a few!!”.

So we could be seeing this in restaurants and car dealerships in the near future, if you are interested in the iCatchi hop on over to their website where they can be purchased for $6.95 with free international shipping.

iCatchi Plugs a Gap in Your Gadgets Headphone Jack – Looks Cool is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The Samsung Galaxy player is the Android equivalent of the iPod touch in that it offers a multimedia experience with all the bells and whistles without actually possessing a phone function. The Galaxy Player is slimmer, smaller and in most cases lighter than Android phones, again, much like the iPod touch compared to the iPhone. But is this where the similarities end? Or can Samsung translate the impressive stats into a true iPod competitor? Let’s see.

What you get

- Samsung Galaxy Player 50 with 1000 mAh battery

- In ear noise cancelling earbuds/spare set of cups

- Mini USB data/charging cable

- Quick start guide

- Warranty Info

- A voucher for 50 free tunes

Design

The Galaxy Player 50 looks the part with its small frame and thin chrome surround, however it feels a little like Samsung media players of old, by this we mean it has a plastic and basic feel which certainly isn’t akin to the rest of the Galaxy family.

All of the input ports and some of the controls including the microphone, mini USB and 3.5mm jack are on the sides of the device making them easy to access. Sansung has sensibly placed the 3.5mm jack on the top so slipping the Galaxy Player in and out of pockets causes no issues at all, the sliding cover on the micro USB slot is another nice feature that keeps lint and pocket mulch out of the socket.

The square home button straddled by two soft touch buttons is housed below the 3.2 inch screen which is ergonomic and comfortable to use. Samsung has backlit these two soft touch buttons which prove to be handy when fumbling around in the dark.

The removable back cover has a central square cut out for the camera and three small slots in the bottom right for the internal speaker. When you take the cover off you will find the removable battery and a Micro SD slot.

So to summarize the design we’d say it’s small, compact but sadly lacks the luster of the other products in the Galaxy range. Samsung have opted for a design that whilst not feeling as solid as their Galaxy S Smartphone gets the job done on a budget.

Performance and battery life

The Galaxy Player isn’t built for multi-tasking despite what is says in the specs; it’s more comfortable doing one thing at a time which isn’t a great trait for a multimedia device. Despite this so long as it’s not overloaded with tasks it works pretty well and Samsung seem to have ironed out prior problems with crashing when installing or accessing apps.

Internet and keyboard

The only fault we could find with the web browsing experience was the lack of flash; admittedly this is down the Android 2.1 OS used as a basis for the Galaxy Player. So surfing the net is good but could be better (a bigger screen would also be an advantage here).

Text can be entered in a number of ways, a touch operated QWERTY, and old style 3×3 grid or handwritten. The best was undoubtedly the QWERTY when used in landscape as even with my small fingers portrait proved difficult.

Media

The 3.2 inch screen is a bit on the small side for a PMP and offers up a disappointing 432×240 resolution, a far cry from the iPod’s retina display and it shows. For this reason we’d have to again compare the video on the Galaxy Player to an older model or cheap Smartphone – not good for a PMP.

On the positive side the Android software means a lot of different formats are supported for both video and music and because it’s Android you can just drag files from your pc or Mac without any need for over complicated syncing.

Another positive is the built in equalizer which lets you tweak sound to how you would like it. You can accurately adjust treble, bass, vocals, instruments and more and it all sounded great.

One thing that is annoying is that 2 GB of the 8 GB storage is taken up by software leaving only 6 GB for storage of media and apps; thankfully you can easily expand this with the Micro SD slot – problem solved and something that Apple doesn’t offer.

The in-ear headphones are pretty decent and are about on par with the ones Apple offers, so basically good for everyday use but you’d do well to bring a third party set for an improved sound (at the time we were reviewing the Dre Beats which are awesome).

Photos

Another disappointing feature is the 2 mega pixel camera (without flash) which shoots video at 15 frames per second, this might have been excusable a few years ago but we’d have to question Samsung’s thinking with these specs. The interface is better though allowing users to select from normal, panoramic, portrait and smile modes.

There is also a simple interface for editing photos on the move.

Here are some photos taken with the Galaxy Player 50:

Conclusion

As you might have guessed the Galaxy Player hasn’t managed to blow our socks off, probably because we hold the rest of the Galaxy range in such high regard. The Galaxy Player 50 should be seen as an entry level PMP. The RRP of £149.99 has already tumbled at many online stores settling at a more sensible £134.99 for the time being. This is £35 cheaper than the iPod 4G which goes some way to explain the specs and performance. Let’s hope Samsung has something more up its sleeve with the upcoming YP-GB1 Galaxy Player. We’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Rear of Galaxy Player Box

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As far as boxes go this one is pretty nice.

Get it from Amazon with free delivery.

Samsung Galaxy Player 50 Review is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Gaga is the most followed person on Twitter with a might impressive 8.2 million followers, over the last week this has undoubtedly helped her rake in the sales but not for the reason you would expect, it’s not through spamming her followers but more like ranting at them about a claim the song was like Madonna’s ‘Express Yourself’.

This flared up much debate between fans with some siding with Lady Gaga and other insisting it was a rip off. Either way the hashtags were flying all week resulting in her topping iTunes charts and selling the monumental sum of tracks.

The achievement wasn’t enough to beat Adele to the UK number 1 spot on Sunday though, who knows what will happen this week though?

The power of Twitter compels you!

Via: Tech Radar

Twitter War Helps Lady Gaga sell 1 million Tracks on iTunes is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

What Comes With It?

If you just love to pretend that it is Christmas when you open the box of a new gadget then you will like the presentation but won’t find all that many accessories to spend time over here.  Once you open the clear plastic packaging and spill out the contents you will only see the player itself, a micro USB cable, some earphones and a short start up guide. The full user manual is stored on the device. So not much in the box but everything you need at the same time.

What Does it Look and Feel Like?

The player weighs in at a smidgen over 50 grams and is really compact at 42.2mm x 95.1 mm x 8.6 mm. The screen size is actually smaller on the Q3 than on the Q2, at 2.2”. The classy aluminium trim is very nice to look at nice and to hold too. If there is one drawback with the design then it is the fact that the plastic areas suffer from the age old problem of fingerprint retention.  The tactile buttons and the navigation controls do what they need to do and feel solid and sturdy enough to last a good time.  Overall it looks and feels like a quality device.

Audio quality

The marketing people at Samsung have been pushing the player’s SoundAlive effects and the sound itself is of a high quality once you get round the shock of seeing sound presets with unusual names such as Tweeter and Big Bass. Whatever ever happened to Rock and Jazz? Whether it is quite the amazing advance Samsung claim is open to question but the sound is clear and sharp. There is a new level optimizer which aims to solve the perennial problem of the volume jumping up and down from one track to another. While it doesn’t do a perfect job of this it should save you from those terrifying shifts in volume which always seem to happen just as you are about to fall asleep. As you will no doubt be buying an MP3 player above all for listening to music you are unlikely to be let down by the performance. The Samsung Q3 MP3 Player comes with earphones which are of a decent quality, although to make the most of the player’s sound quality it is recommended that you upgrade to a more powerful set. 

Playing your Songs

The interface is very easy to pick up and offers all the shuffle/back/repeat options which you would expect. The Samsung Q3 supports all the most common types of file – MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, FLAC etc. Browsing for songs is also quick and easy.

Playing Videos

As mentioned earlier, the screen is a bit smaller than on the predecessor and playing videos is not really this device’s main strength. That’s not to say that it gives a bad image or that it lacks adjustment options. It is just that we are so used to seeing fantastic quality images these days that you are unlikely to see its display as anything other than average quality.

Listening to the Radio

This is very simple to do, and scanning and selecting stations is quick and straightforward. Up to 30 frequencies can be stored and the audio quality is high enough to make this a viable option when you want to listen to some fresh music or even the news.

Other Features

If you are looking for a handy place to store and carry around some pics then the Q3 is a reasonable challenger to most mp3 players. You can look at 30 thumbnails at a time to help you pick the right one. Zoom, desktop setting and slideshow options are all available. Although it is a bit strange that you can’t rotate the pics we suppose that you could rotate the player instead. There is also a text reader which might come in handy for making some notes to yourself before you go out.  You can also make your own audio recordings, which will turn out to be of reasonable quality.

Battery

You get around 6 hours for watching videos and an impressive 45 hours if you are just going to be listening to music. Fully recharging takes a couple of hours. If you use the SoundAlive settings to their full capacity then you will drain the battery quicker than the official time given.

Summary

A nice presentation and a good overall package makes the Samsung Q3 MP3 Player a wise purchase if you want to have a handy little multi media player you can slip in your pocket. The SoundAlive options don’t really seem to live up to the hype but in general all the different elements (sound, video, screen) are good enough to keep most of us happy.

Notes:

Our Samsung Q3 unit was supplied on behalf of Samsung who asked us to review the unit to give our honest opinions which we have. Any questions or feedback on the device is welcome below or via our contact page.

Samsung Q3 MP3 Player Review is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The device will be a mere 9.9mm thick, be powered by a 1GHz Hummingbird Processor, include a 4-inch touch screen, a DVB Tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Dual-camera, GPS support, HD video player, Micro SD slot for memory expansion and a removable battery. So the Galaxy Player includes plenty of things that the iPod doesn’t currently have.

Whether the interface and its integration with Google’s Android market will work better than the iOS app store remains to be seen. Samsung is currently doing well in the tablet market and will be hoping that their new media player will be able to compete with the might of the iPod, which to be honest has been king for many years.

What do you think of the new Samsung Galaxy Player? Does it have what it takes to beat the Apple iPod?

Via: Phone News

Samsung Galaxy Player set to Take on Apple’s iPod is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos