Adele streamed from London Roundhouse at iTunes Festival 2011
You have to hand it to Apple – a month of free concerts by top artists, streamed lived to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch at iTunes Festival 2011
There are no parking hassles, high priced tickets, and expensive beer – just free concerts courtesy of Apple for the month of July.
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Sonar X1
Update – Sonar X1b now ready for prime time
Roland will be releasing a new and easier to use version of Sonar’s X1 digital audio workstation software on December 8, 2010.
The recent merger of Cakewalk with music equipment giant Roland has given Cakewalk Sonar a shot in the arm and the new release is eagerly anticipated by Sonar users.
DAW software from simple programs like Garage Band to Apple Avid’s ProTools 9 are allowing musicians to record their own music without paying huge fees to studios. Along with the internet, DAW software is fueling a revolution in music. ( Update – Avid owns ProTools – the program sticks in my mind as Apple since it is meant to run on Apple OS)
Sonar X1 promises a new and improved user interface for Sonar 8.5. This will be a big boost for current users. Sonar is as powerful as any of the top DAW’s but it’s interface has become cluttered over the past decade with annual feature updates.
In many ways Sonar has pulled ahead of the pack with native support for 64-bit processing and an early jump on the Windows 7 platform.
The Cakewalk announcement says “SONAR X1 Producer has everything needed to deliver the polished, “radio-ready” recordings – all in one box. Included are all of SONAR’s cutting edge music creation tools plus an unparalleled collection of world-class instruments and effects. From the innovative Skylight interface to the legendary, “big-studio” sound of the ProChannel console strip, SONAR X1 Producer is the ideal choice for anyone serious about music production.” Roland Continue reading
Steve Jobs claims # 1 in the games market with iPod Touch
Yesterday Apple CEO Steve Jobs did a live announcement of Apple’s new or improved products for the fall. Some of his claims were so preposterous it’s hard to take him with more than a grain of salt.
The show had plenty of wow’s, ooh’s and aah’s for Apple fanboys but nothing as spectacular as a new product. Most of the announcements, like the iPod Touch upgrade, had been rumored for weeks.
Apple does a good job of keeping their product line fresh and giving their competitors a target to hit.
“Steve Jobs just told an audience that the iPod touch alone outsells Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s PlayStation Portable combined, worldwide.” Engadget Continue reading
Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant from Bell Mobility
Canada stopped being an Android Wasteland from this date forward. Bell Mobility is shipping the highly prized Samsung S Vibrant at the low price of $149 on a 3 year contract.
Try this on for size – SUPER AMOLED touchscreen. 4” with vivid colors in an ultra-thin display. 720p HD video camera plus 5 Mb camera for capturing everything that happens around you.
The shots I got of the flooding streets in Charlottetown were on a Blackberry. Nice but not HD. The Samsung Galaxy S is just under the amazing quality you get on a Flip UltraHD. Of course, the Flip gives you 2 hours of video but most moments worth capturing are only a few minutes long. Continue reading
The Apple 4′s antenna problem has created a public relations nightmare for Apple and more than enough problems for customers who have their calls ended by touching the gap in the case by mistake.
We didn’t think Mitch Wagner, the prime Apple fanboy at ComputerWorld, would ever admit the problem was less than superficial. Yesterday he said it plain and simple.
“If you’re primarily using your phone for voice calls, you’re better off with a different phone.” (ComputerWorld)
The “different phone” is the Android EVO-G. Continue reading
Apple versus Android with Android taking the lead
It would appear Apple’s rising star may be surpassed by Google who’s CEO told CNET they are activating 200,000 Android devices per day. Two months ago that was 100,000 per day and in March it was a paltry 60,000 per day.
We don’t know if Schmidt means every day of the month but that would make July a 4 to 6 million device month for Google.
That puts them well ahead of Apple’s claim of 2-3 million units in July. Apple’s sales are growing about the rate the market is expanding. Google Android devices grew a phenomenal 886% in the past year.
This is the same scenario Apple faced two decades ago when they introduced the Macintosh, a cool computer with a mouse and visual display that was much easier to use than the competition. It took Microsoft a few years to replicate the experience in Windows but when they did, Apple lost market share and became a rump computer company. Continue reading
Don’t get me wrong. I use the Apple iPad everyday but the frustrations tell me it’s not the simplistic computer solution for non-technical people. Apple advertise it was the magical computer for people who don’t want to fight with technology.
Problems and frustrations crop up daily until I am looking at product announcements for its replacement. 3G performance is too slow for browsing. The Wi-Fi will not reconnect to the router. I bumping up against videos and websites that won’t load because Steve Jobs doesn’t like Adobe Flash. The Bluetooth performance can drive you nuts when listening to music and the email application is useless. Continue reading
