At long last: Sensomusic releases Usine 5.0, the most advanced live-oriented DAW in existence
First, to quote rekkerd.org (just because I like the site): Sensomusic has announced the release of Usine 5.0, a universal audio software especially designed for live or studio utilization. Usine is made by musicians and audio engineers to respond to their specific problems in a lot of domains like live sampling, effect ... read more.
A Long Vacation? No, megalomania
As anyone who noticed that I posted many blogs per day and then disappeared from the interwebs for a couple months, I offer a simple explanation: I've been busy trying to fix all of the problems in modern digital music creation and performance. At home, in my spare time. OK, you ... read more.
Touchable: pocket-sized PMP/digital turntable/MIDI controller
This just popped up on engadget. I must say, this seems to be a good week for handheld gizmos easily repurposed by musicians for their own nefarious ends. "Not that we haven't seen turntable capabilities shoved into production and concept devices alike before, but there's something curiously seductive about this one. ... read more.
EFO Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touch Pad
dragonsteelmods has a review of this, the EFO Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touch Pad, and it seems like a cheap, multi-purpose and multi-platform wireless controller that any computer-based musician could find a use for, especially on stage when you don’t want to be hunched over a keyboard most of the time, ... read more.
Fujitsu LifeBook UH900: world’s smalled dual-touch UMPC
Fujitsu just announced that it's going to be selling a little 3.5G dual-touch gadget called the LifeBook UH900. Click through for the press release. 62GB SSD 5.6" touchscreen with a stylus 1280x800 screen resolution 500 grams, 8" x 4.2" x 0.94" Windows 7 compatible 1.6Ghz single-core Intel® Atom™ Z530 with HT Bluetooth Webcam and stereo mi 2.1+EDR 3 hour battery ... read more.
X9: Windows 7 multi-touch plus pressure sensitive tablet out of reach in Shenzhen, China?
I finally, at long last, have found a Windows 7 tablet PC with what is apparently a true multi-touch with pressure-sensitivity touchscreen, via Shanzaiben.com (Google translate link). I, of course, immediately contacted their salespeople to inquire as to the price of this most promising of UMPCs. The tablet PC in question apparently ... read more.
Stantum Slate PC beats everyone else to the punch: a proof-of-concept tablet made from a Dell Inspiron Mini 10
Liliputing has the scoop on this new project by Stantum, which I am under the impression is the R&D arm of Jazzmutant, makers of the brilliant but horrendously overprices Lemur, and though I'm still poking about for more info I just had to pass it along here: "The Stantum Slate PC ... read more.
FingerPlay MIDI: an Android MIDI controller UI
Being the proud new owner of an Android device which I intend to use primarily as a multi-touch digital music control surface I went in search of MIDI and OSC applications. Here's a freeware MIDI UI controller, FingerPlay MIDI: "FingerPlay MIDI is a MIDI controller for Android. Any changes made to ... read more.
retracted: Asus Eee PC T91MT DUAL-touch tablet now available for pre-order on Amazon $549 USD
Ah, finally, a multi-touch device that's affordable! I don't know that it's the right device for me, but it's under $600 USD so I'm momentarily delighted. Of course, I'd view a netbook like this as a multi DUAL-touch, wireless control surface for a real DAW-strength computer like my overclocked i7 desktop This is from Liliputing: "Asus ... read more.
FTIR = multi-touch + pressure sensitivity (#1)
First, let's look at NYU's Frustrated Total Internal Reflection, which has a Quicktime video and this lovely description: "We introduce a simple technique that enables robust multi-touch sensing at a minimum of engineering effort and expense. It relies on frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR), a technique familiar to the biometrics community ... read more.
Asus Eee PC T91MT-as-in-Multi-touch
I saw this a while back on Liliputing but I forgot to post it. I'm still getting used to being online at home at long last. According to the T91MT's leaked "roadmap" they posted about, the MT stands for multi-touch. This is good news, as Eee PCs are cheap. And you've ... read more.
BumpTop 3D Multi-Touch Desktop with large variety of gestural commands
Found via TechCrunch where I was looking for news of their TechCrunch Tablet, who wins my adoration for saying of mice and keyboards, "I want them to die," is a post about the BumpTop 3D desktop "overlay," which is now multi-touch, with a great variety of gestural commands. Watch the video on ... read more.
Nokia N900 / Maemo 5 preview
The upcoming Nokia N900 has a touchscreen, but it's not multi-touch. Nevertheless, it runs on a Linux-derived OS and I've had a friend successfully demonstrate to me that previous versions didn't have a problem running homebrew applications so I thought I'd pass along this in-depth review of the N900 and Maemo ... read more.
Creative’s Zii developer kit, Plaszma OS & Zii Egg gadget, Android to come
whyterabbyt, éminence grise of dialectics and perpatrator of the netlabel Viable Hybrid, home of my favorite FSU muppet, vurt, turned me on to what may be the holy grail of my recent personal obsession. How I overlooked this so long I don't know, but here's Creative's Zii: What has this got to ... read more.
$250 Open Source smartphone as wireless touchscreen MIDI controller, Linux or Android
In my Quixotic quest to find something to repurpose as a cheap, wireless, touchscreen MIDI control surface quite a while back I stumbled upon the Openmoko Neo FreeRunner, a special kind of smartphone. On their site's "about" page, they describe themselves thusly: "Openmoko is open. Open to life, desire, function, and simple beauty. ... read more.
“Archos 5 with Android” update #2
Here's a nice review by someone who's already got their hands on a 160 Gb version of the new Archos 5 with Android in a blog called Androidian. It's long and detailed and indispensible to anyone who is thinking of sinking money into becoming an early adopter. "It is also possible ... read more.
“Archos 5 with Android” update #1
Well, it seems that they've already jacked up the prices on the "Archos 5 with android" to $500 for the 500 GB version. Good news, though, is that apparently some companies can do some things right occasionally. That is not always the case. Archoslounge has announced a firmware update for it ... read more.
Can homebrew Bluetooth MIDI/OSC apps by installed in the Zune HD?
I can't say I was particularly paying attention to M$'s release of a the new Zune HD til this caught my eye: Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.1 Zune Extensions wrote: "This add-on for XNA Game Studio 3.1 adds the following functionality to the product: 1. The ability to target and develop for the ... read more.
Wacom releases 2-finger multi-touch Bamboo Touch HID
Well, speaking of Wacom apparently they just released a two-finger multi-touch Bamboo Touch. via engadget Check out the Comments below, and on the 2nd page of Comments, to see pictures that people snapped of it, such as this one: and here's a youtube video by boxubi aptly demonstrating that it's not especially easy ... read more.
wireless Wacom “nextbeat” controller
Wacom's nextbeat NXT-1000 is to be supposed to be released September 18th in Japan for 169,800 ($1,796) , according to Engadget. Granted, this is way out of my price range, but it's reassuring that someone is thinking in terms of the future possibilities of wireless, touch-sensitive controllers. Notably, that someone does not ... read more.
Packard Bell’s Viseo 200T Multi-Touch Monitor
At last an affordable multi-touch monitor is coming in October, the Packard Bell's Viseo 200T, according to Engadget. Being someone who needs to use all the power of my i7 overclocked desktop PC this is the best possible solution for me to obtain multi-touch capabilities, since I need to drag my ... read more.
Archos 5 internet tablet with Android OS
I've been ranting about the need for a wireless touchscreen to use as a MIDI or OSC control surface for many years now. We've seen many a piece of hardware repurposed to accomplish this task: the iPhone, PDAs, etc. Today Archos has finally announced the release of it's Android-based internet tablet. It uses ... read more.