iPhone Garageband conversations

I found this post on theappleblog.com which seems to have got a number of people interested in Garageband on the iPhone.

I think it is a good concept, but I doubt that Apple would do it without introducing something more interesting to an iPhone GB version.

tags technorati : iPhone, Garageband, Mobile Music making, Palm Sound

6th Generation iPods running OSX?

This post on iLounge claims that iPods running OSX could be announced as early as September. I have to say that if they are as limited in terms of their scope as the iPhone, I don't think their going to do much for me!

DS Emulator for Palm not so likely it seems

It seems now that this forum thread about the GBA / DS emulator for Palm may not get to the DS part for some time after all. A bit of a shame, but you never know, it still may deliver in the end.

tags technorati : Palm, Emulator, GBA, Nintendo DS, Electroplankton

Kinetica Soundwaves Closing Event

A bit late to go along, but I thought it worth noting that the Soundwaves exhibition / festival has had a closing party tonight. I would have like to go, but couldn't make it tonight. I would expecially have liked to have seen the ZX Spectrum Orchestra.

Soundwaves Closing Event, Friday June 29th, 6pm-11pm

To celebrate the success of Soundwaves we are organising a special closing event this Friday. The event will feature final performances by Soundwaves artists, and a programme of live acts and visually-motivated music from the Noise of Art.

There will also be a beer terrace, and it'll be your last chance to smoke in Old Spitalfields Market (a covered public area).

Level One: Live acts
George Demure - the velvet voice of London's electro scene
Anarchist Wood - feisty new punk cabaret band
ZX Spectrum Orchestra - experimental pop/electronica using no more than Sinclair hardware and peripheral devices
Devil Fish - north/south London duo peddling acidic electro-breaks

Level Two: DJ vs VJs
Screenings of audiovisual works including Barbican Centre commissions by Tal Rosner ('Stravinsky Concerto for Two Pianos' & 'Doppelganger') and Sophie Clement ('Bicycle Samba')
+ Ben Osborne and Elliot Adams (CD Baby) DJ to an eclectic electronic mash up of visuals courtesy of Funk Cutter and Hybreed.

tags technorati : Kinetica, Soundwaves, ZX Spectrum Orchestra

DS Emulator for Palm?

This forum thread on 1src hints that there may well be GBA / Nintendo DS emulator in the pipeline (although a later post suggests that the DS 3-d hardware emulation will be more of a long term goal). Even so, I would love to see Electroplankton running on a Palm!

iPhone day!

Fair enough, the big day arrives, in the US at any rate. Let's see how things progress and what the consumers say about iPhone.

iPhone -1

The hype is amazing. I hope it lives up to it all. I dare say that the media attention will continue for a few weeks at least.

Processing Beta 1.0

I've downloaded the Processing Beta 1.0 and have just started playing with it. I hope to be able to make some simple applications and get them running in the IBM Java Websphere Micro Environment on my Treo. I'll let you know how it goes.

iTunes 7.3 custom ringtones

Of course the iPhone needs to have some kind of ringtone, and I guess it makes perfect sense for those to come from iTunes. Here's what Macrumors has to say about it.

Saguaro

I like the look of Saguaro, but I wonder what (if anything) it will bring for mobile music. I think it would be great if it had some sort of music widget apps you could run, or if you could window current palm applications.

Saguaro has been releasing beta versions with limited functionality, but they are very heavy on memory. No idea of when a final version will be released though?

tags technorati : Palm, Saguaro, OS, Mobile Music

Pocket PC and UMPC all in one!

This is an interesting story from Brighthand about a new HTC device that will run MS Vista and Windows Mobile 6. It has to be said that it is a very high end device, but something like that could be a mobile musician's dream. I think?

I think I'll have to keep an eye on this.

MeTeoR 1 Month in

A month on from the release of the first mobile multi-track. Some thoughts ...

One month ago 4Pockets brought Windows Mobile users the ability to record and edit up to 12 audio tracks on a PDA, with the final mix being exported to .WAV or an MP3 file.

MeteoR lets you bring audio into an audio pool from which you can import clips in standard .wav format, work with them and clips recorded directly on your device.



After a month I have to say I am still impressed.

A multi-track in your pocket? The dedicated hardware version have been around for a long time. Devices from Zoom and Tascam spring to mind, with 3 or even 4 tracks, but 12. With automation, effects, and MP3 export, and running in Windows Mobile? Now I still think that's amazing.

tags technorati : 4pockets, MeTeoR, Multi-Track Recorder, Windows Mobile, Audio Editor,

Chocopoolp Default Dir

Another, cool freeware application from Chocopoolp.

This application is the easiest way of getting rid of the no application on your handheld to open these files error message that is displayed when you try to install a file with an unknown extension on the SD card. Register, unregister or modify the default directory information for any file extension!

tags technorati : Palm, ChocoPoolp

Nintendo Games on an iPhone?

There have been loads of rumours about Nintendo Games being available on the iPhone. I'd like to see Electroplankton on the iPhone, or perhaps Band Brothers.

Nanoloop Live?

It does look like this is a picture of Nanoloop being used at a live gig. The caption reads "playing the gameboy with nanoloop at my bar 23 gig".. Cool.

Ring Tone Librarian

A lesser known product from Chocopoolp. This application allows you to copy MIDI files stored on your memory card to the ring tones database of the Treo 600 / 650 and archive the ring tones as MIDI files on the memory card.

Useful!

tags technorati : Palm, Chocopoolp, Ringtone librarian

Drum Kit ACE: Mini Review

I've posted on this app for Pocket PC once before, but now I've had a bit more time to play with it, I thought I'd post a brief updated.

It is unusual in that it is a combination app including a memory game and also an easy to program drum machine. In the two game modes Memory Master and Rhythm Master use your touch screen stylus to hit the drums and follow the computers lead. Practice drumming in Freestyle mode, complete with metronome to help improve your timing.

The Drum Machine enables you to create up to 99 drum tracks. Whilst the interface is simple and intuitive it isn't going to break any new ground.

Fun to play with though and nice drum pictures.

tags technorati : PocketPC, Drum Machine

Kinetica YouTube Channel

Keep up to date with video from Kinetica.

Tenori-On?

My mistake, One Tonne Music had a totally different idea of what was going on from the one I thought of.

My apologies!

tags technorati : Tenori-on, Yamaha, LEDs, Alternative Interfaces,

Tenori-On?

This post on One Tonne Music has some possible news on the demise of Tenori-On. I hope not though.

PLEA: Anyone got a BeatPlus Module?

If you know of a spare or unused BeatPlus module, please let me know, I'd be very interested in acquiring it.

tags technorati : Handspring, Visor, PDA, Springboard, BeatPlus, Module, MIDI, Mobile Music, Palm Sounds

Syntrax tutorials

Some very good video tutorials on Syntrax. Worth a look now especially as Syntrax is now free!

New forum at Intermorphic

If you hadn't heard there are new forums available at Intermorphic.

DSMI (DS Music Interface)

Here's a video that demonstrates the wireless capabilities of DSMI



About DSMI

So what is DSMI exactly?

DSMI consists of libdsmi An open source library for DS homebrew development that makes it easy to write DS software that acts as a MIDI controller or MIDI client.

DSMIDIWiFi Server
An application that runs on the computer and forwards the MIDI messages received via Wifi to MIDI applications. The DSMIDIWiFi server is open source and is available for



DS MIDI Keyboard

DS MIDI Keyboard acts as a MIDI keyboard, including pitch wheel / MIDI control adjustment by sliding the stylus vertically/horizonally.

Kaos DS is an XY controller similar to the Kaoss pad. You can use the stylus or your fingers to adjust MIDI controls.

Pulse DS turns the DS into a MIDI synthesizer that uses the DS's PSG (programmable sound generator) to produce Game-Boy-like sounds.

tags technorati : Nintendo DS, MIDI, DSMI

ZX Spectrum Orchestra

I guess in some ways you could argue that the good old ZX Spectrum was almost a pre-cursor to a handheld. It was tiny (in many ways), and very portable.

This video is from the ZX Spectrum Orchestra which you can find on the Warmcircuit site. It is really amazing.

tags technorati : ZX Spectrum Orchestra, Warmcircuit

Intermorphic and Mobile...

Thanks to the guys at Intermorphic for their comments, not only about the Palm Sounds blog, but also confirming that they have plans to bring their new suite of apps to the mobile world in due course.

That's something to look forward to!

Theremin (Clangers) for PocketPC

Freeware Pocket Clanger Theremin
How cool is that. This is a real fun app for Pocket PC. It even has a cute Clanger right there in the middle. Pick it up here. Here's what the Ledset site has to say about it:

A FreeWare Theremin for your PocketPC - V1.02 24th Jan 2004

With a real Theremin, the user is able to create music by simply moving a hand in the proximity of a radio aerial, this movement effects the tuning of an electrical oscillator circuit, and thus music can be played with nothing more than gestures of the hand.

A PocketPC doesn't include the means to replicate the radio circuitry capable of detecting the presence of a hand, but it does include a CPU powerful enough to synthesize the analogue circuitry within a theremins sound generation stage.

The Pocket Clanger Theremin is controlled by moving your stylus/finger around on the multicoloured pad with the picture of the Clanger on it:

Moving horizontally will cause the frequency (pitch) to change.
Moving vertically will cause the amplitude (volume) to change.

With skill and practice there's no reason why you can't become a virtuoso on this peculiar instrument.

Reminder: Kinetica GPS PDA workshop

A quick reminder for the following event

Saturday, June 23rd 2-5pm
AURA: THE STUFF AROUND THE STUFF AROUND YOU - WORKSHOP
Probably the best metaphor for an aura sound world is to imagine walking through an array of invisible audio speakers suspended in space. Each speaker represents a sound node and emits different audio depending on where you, the user, is situated in relation to it. The sounds appear to act like real sounds in the real world. Steve Symons invites you play with his aura software and create your own 3D audio worlds using GPS enabled PDAs

Kinetica are hosting a workshop on 3D audio worlds using PDAs with GPS. I am sure I read about something like this at one of the Mobile Music Workshops.

Sadly it is yet another event I can't attend, but I thought it might interest others.

Audio Modification Talk at Kinetica

I enjoyed the talk last night, it was interesting and explained some of the questions I had about audio modification / circuit bending. I especially enjoyed the presentation / talk by Brian Duffy of Modified Yoy Orchestra fame.

He was very enthusiastic about modification, passionate even, and that's good to hear. It is worth checking out the Modified Toy Orchestra site which has some good video and audio clips.

I guess for me the thing that kept coming to mind was how this applies to mobile music. Lots of the modified toys are very mobile, but they aren't really what I'm after. I love the noises, I love the sounds, but it isn't quite right for me. It is a good place to start. Let's see where it leads.

tags technorati : Kinetica, Circuit Bending, Audio Modification, Modified Toy Orchestra, Hardware Hacking

News from Intermorphic

I've posted on Intermorphic before, but if you didn't know, Intermorphic is Pete and Tim Cole (colartz), creators of miniMIXA, a powerful mobile music mixer for Windows Mobile / XP, Symbian and Linux.

They are developing a range of multimedia tools to help you come up with new ideas, be they musical, lyrical or visual :

noatikl - replacement for the "legendary" Koan Generative Music system
liptikl - powerful lyric ideas generator for songwriters and poets
optikl - colourful light synthesiser for experimentation





Whilst all of these are aimed at desktop systems, let's hope they get some time to do something mobile too.

Audio Modification Talk at Kinetica

I went along to the audio modification talk last night at kinetica. Very interesting indeed. I shall post some more info when I have time.

Pacemaker pictures from Sonar Barcelona

Some cool pictures of the Pacemaker device from Sonar in Barcelona. Looks very nice too, and smaller than I expected...

Interfaces

In many ways the PDA has a limited number of interface possibilities available to it for music, and yet in other ways so much is possible.

Many applications use interfaces that are very similar to laptop / desktop applications, but are re-designed for a significantly smaller screen. Other applications go in a different direction and actually exploit the nature of the PDA in their interface, although this is rare.

One such application is SpinPad from miniMusic. Hopefully SpinPad will become available in the summer of 2007.

Here's what it looks like:


But I think that the PDA or handheld can support many other types of interface as well. The Tenori-ON concept could (I think) be applied to the PDA interface. There's a very good article all about the device itself and background on Create Digital Music which gives lots and lots of information about the device and specs.



But I don't think that the possibilities really end there either. Perhaps I'm too hopeful or too enthusiastic about the subject, but I think there's lots more life left in mobile music.

VITO SoundEditor

VITO SoundEditor was a finalist for the Windows Mobile and Smartphone Best Software Awards 2006.

VITO SoundEditor features basic set of tools for sound editing on PocketPC.
It is small, fast and reliable, running smoothly and operating very large files (over 100mb) in just few seconds! Wherever you are, take this unique tool along to enable sound editing using your handheld PC!
Supports Windows Mobile 5.0.

- supports native non compressed WAVE format;
- basic set of tools (copy, cut, paste);
- works with external storage cards;
- stylish and intuitive user interface;
- proprietary visualisation algorythm provides quick access to large files and fast editing;
- one step Undo/Redo;
- recording new sound file;
- file copying for editing.

dSTAR Sequencer

Another app I stumbled over the other day ...

dSTAR sequencer is a MIDI Music sequencer for the Nintendo DS. It inherits and expands upon functionality from famous x0x style sequencers of the past, and the present including the Elektron Monomachine and the Radikal tehnologies Spectralis. In contrast to these two sequencers, dSTAR is available as free software for your Homebrew Enabled Nintendo DS. For MIDI output it relies on a dserial device (see http://www.natrium42.com) or a wifi connection to a PC using libDSMI (see http://dsmi.tobw.net/).

PocketGear Sale

In case you didn't know PocketGear are having a 20% sale at the moment. Handy for picking up those apps you've been meaning to buy.

iPhone applications list

Ok, we all know that there aren't going to be any real iPhone applications, but there are going to be lots of web apps. Well, now there's a site dedicated to those apps. I'm sure that the list will grow and grow and ....

AudioBay for Pocket PC

I don't know if I'd podcast from my Pocket PC, but if I wanted to I might use this application:

AudioBay is an integrated podcasting solution for Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. Using the AudioBay software, users can set up a podcast, record an episode, and upload it to the Web within a matter of minutes. If you've got a Pocket PC and Internet connection, this software.

Main Features:

Simple podcast creation
Generates standard RSS 2.0 feeds
Generates HTML interface
Includes free hosting for 12 months
Includes podcast reader
Location-based podcast search

Requirements:

Mobile Devices: Pocket PC 2002, 2003, or Windows Mobile 5.0
Supported Platforms: Windows 98/XP
Supported Resolutions: All resolutions
RAM: 400 KB

Hands Off 2007: UK Theremin Symposium

Ok, a bit off topic, the link being that AxisPad and Theremini are part of the theremin family.

Mobile Music Workshop 2007 Proceedings

Proceedings are now available online.

20% off palm apps at PalmGear

A quick post to let you know (if you didn't already) that PalmGear have a 20% off sale at the moment which is on until the 26th of June.

More about Griff ...

Having posted on the Griff Network MIDI plugin I realised that I haven't posted on Griff itself. So, for starters here's a good review.

More on Griff soon ...

OT: Writing tools for lyrics

I guess that lots of people use their PDA for writing or documents of some kind or other. Sometimes I use mine for lyrics, and one of the best (if not the best) application for my kind of writing is "tejpWriter". It is really feature rich, easy to use, and best of all open source. Give it a go.

Here are some screen shots to look at:

TX / T5 Mic with a vibrate function

PalmInfocenter posted this story on a new mic module for TX / T5 devices.

Intermorphic

Worth looking at the Intermorphic this is what Tim Cole (one of the chaps behind miniMIXA) is doing now. I'm hoping that he's going to do something clever in the mobile music space. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

we make money not art

More notes from the 2007 Mobile Music Workshop from We make money not art (.com).

MiniMusic MIDI adapter

One of the MIDI interfaces that I've overlooked for a long time is this one from miniMusic. It is simple, small and completely uncomplicated, which are all very good features of an interface.

Soundwaves at Kinetica

Some interesting video of the Soundwaves exhibition at Kinetica Museum. A bit off topic I know, but interesting stuff though.

Axim adapter diagram

I promised to show the adapter diagram for the Axim headphone / mic splitter, so here it is.

NCH Tone Generator

This is a bit of a strange app, for pocket pc and palm, and desktop for that matter. Here's what their site says:

"Tone Generator lets you create audio test tones, sweeps or noise waveforms using your computer or a PDA handheld. The full features list of Tone Generator follows but if you have any doubt about its suitability a quick way to test it is to simply download and install it. You don't need to purchase to download and it only takes a couple of minutes to complete downloading and installation.

Typical Applications

Test tone generation in radio and other studios for the alignment of levels.
Calibration and testing of audio equipment or speakers.
Tuning music instruments as an accurate reference tone.
Demonstration of audio principles to students.
Acoustics testing and equalisation.
Quality control and testing of sound cards.
White noise generator
Audio band signalling.
Hearing tests (under suitable medical supervision).

Features

Sine wave, square wave, triangular waveform, saw tooth waveform, impulse, white noise and pink noise.
Supports frequencies from 1Hz to 22kHz bandwidth (subject to sound card).
Multiple simultaneous tones (1 to 16 tones can be created at the same time) (useful to create harmonics).
Mono or separate stereo operation (ideal to create dual tones or 'beats').
Tone Sweeps (Log or Linear).
Plays tone or saves as wav file."

Request: Kinetica workshop this weekend

IF ANYONE DOES GO TO THIS WORKSHOP I"D LOVE TO KNOW HOW THIS GOES

Saturday, June 16th, 2-5pm
AUDIO MODIFICATION - WORKSHOP: Kinetica Museum
DJ Tendraw & The Gypsies Dog (Gluerooms, Erm on Resonance fm) host a practical workshop on the repurposing, often quite messily, of analogue electronic hardware and children's musical toys to create a palette of otherwise unheard sounds and musicality at Kinetica which is an interesting place to go.

Processing code for phone synth app

Here's a quick link to a blog I found with some sample code for a synth app running on a mobile phone. Nice, something to build on perhaps?

Ubisoft Jam Sessions in UK on 27/7

According to Amazon Jam Sessions will be available from 27/7 this year.

Griff Network MIDI plugin

I was browsing around the Griff forum to see if there was anything of interest, and stumbled upon this thread:

"..... serendipitous timing. I met up with Tim from TAO the other day and he reminded me about the network midi plugin I put together for Griff but never released. I finally tracked it down

run the midiPlug_setup.exe to install the midiplug on your pocketpc.

Run the dmidi_server.exe on your pc - It's pretty basic but should show you the network adapter IP address you're listening on. If you're connected by activesync you'll see at least two adapters: your pc lan adapter and your pc->pocketpc adapter. You can connect over activesync

you'll need to edit the registry key on your pocketpc: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cobwebb\MidiPlug\Settings] and add/edit a STRING: destinationIP to be your PCs ip address eg: 192.168.1.1 - you may be able to edit then use the .reg file attached. Otherwise install PHM Registry editor (free) http://www.phm.lu/Products/PocketPC/RegEdit/

The interface is pretty sparse - hover over the knobs and sliders to see what they do. Also the server will output each midi command received.

I was having fun controlling VSTi's through it yesterday.

Please let me know how you go with it. The idea has a lot of potential that we will never realise. Controlling PC DAWS, live use etc.
-----------------------------
Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 5:34 am Post subject:
ok my bluetooth adapter is not seeing my pda so i will use the usb cable to get midi from midiplug to the desktop

ok i have run regedit on the desktop,
i have updated the ip to the lan ip
so i have activesync'ed the pda to the desktop via a usb cable
i run dmidi server and it is outputting midi to native instruments kore
it is listening on the lan ip

my question is .... since dmidi server is outputting to kore does that mean that i should connect a midi cable to the output of kore to a midi in of a computer that will be responding to midi cc value such as volume that is transmitted by midiplug and through kore midi out to something that i want to control with midiplug?

i start griff and add instrument / midplug...
it says that it will send midi to the hkey_current etc etc, but is this talking about the registry ip address value that i updated on my desktop or the ip address value that i am supposed to be updating in the registry editor on my pda (which i cannot figure out how to do)?

so...does this mean that midiplug is trying to send midi to the lan ip, and if so, is it connected via activesync (i edited the registry entry on my desktop, not my pda, how do i edit my pda's registry???, i downloaded the editor but it does not show up in my program files, i did activesync it and it did say that it was installed on my pda after the sync)

so since i have my pda connected via activesync... is the volume slider in midi plug once i move it trying to send volume cc data to kore output (since i said "y" to output it to kore in dmidi server?

so i connected the midi out of kore to the midi in of a roland d2 and listened for a volume change on channel 10 as i was moving the volume and pan knob also...

..nothing...i had set the channel to 10 on midi plug

it seems that kore does not hear dmidi server, and why should it? is dmidi server supposed to be sending to it? or is dmidi server somehow supposed to be able to access the kore midi out withour kore knowing / showing it?

also, how does activesync tell the lan ip that it is connecting the pda to the lan ip?
am i supposed to be editing the ip address of the registry on the desktop at all?

it should be working because midiplug said it would send midi to the registry, but is the problem that i did not insert the registry file in the pda? i think this is the error, but how do i edit the registry of the pda?

where is the registry editor program supposed to be on my pda? it said it successfully downloaded.

i think i know the problem, the phm registry editor download is not showing up in the list of items to be installed on my pda, perhaps because it is not designed for use with my devie? my device is a cingular 8125 with windows mobile 5 (200 mhz cpu).

but i can manually edit the registry on my pda right? how?
please advise, thanks

I don't think that this is a finished conversation, and I'll be keeping an eye on how it develops, but it is a really useful addition to the Griff suite of plugins. I haven't tried it as yet, but I plan to.

According the the guys at Griff, all the instructions for setting it up are in the above.

More soon
PS. The Picture above is of the original Griff MIDI plugin, but I thought it might help.

MeTeoR PC version

A quick post to let you know that the PC version of MeTeoR is available on the 4Pockets site (for registered users).

QOTD: Would you use flash music applets?

There have been a number of flash applets available for PDA use. They have tended on the whole to be more fun than for serious music applications.

Do you think that you'd use more flash apps if they were available?

DJ Watch!

Cool DJ watch, not really Palm Sounds, more wrist sounds!

Music apps built in Processing?

I don't know if anyone's tried using "Processing" to build music apps, but this post on CDM seems to suggest it isn't that difficult to build simple apps? Who knows, maybe I'll give it a go.

More details on Pacemaker DJ device

Lots more information on Pacemaker's forthcoming portable DJ device. Looks tempting I have to say.

IN THE BOX
• Pacemaker®
• Quick start guide
• Stereo amplifier cables
• USB 2.0 cable
• Power charger

SIZE AND WEIGHT
• L/W/H: 164/69.6/22.8 mm.
• Weight: 200 g (approx.)

CAPACITY
• 120 GB hard drive

INPUT AND OUTPUT
• Mini USB
• 2x3.5 mm stereo plug

POWER AND BATTERY
• Exchangeable rechargeable battery; full-charge time: 1,5 h, fast-charge time: about 1 h
• Music playback time: 18 h
• DJ operating time: 5 h
Our patent pending device, Pacemaker®, is the world’s first pocket-size DJ system – a superior portable music player
enabling the playing of two tracks simultaneously, equipped with an extensive range of professional audio manipulation
features allowing for creative mixing between two independent channels. Any mix created can be saved for legal sharing.

DISPLAY
• Dimensions: ø 45 mm
• Resolution: 166 dpi screen resolution (0.153 mm dot pitch)
• TFT display with 262 K colours AUDIO
• Frequency response: 20–20.000 Hz (SNR: 103 dB)
• Audio formats supported: MP3 AAC, WMA (128–320 Kbps), WMA Lossless, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, WAV
DJ FUNCTIONALITY
• Two output channels: headphones and lineout
• Two crossfaders: headphones and lineout
• Pitch control: ± 100%
• Equalizer: for adjusting treble, mid and bass amplitudes.
• Mix saving: continuous caption to hard drive.
• User Input latency: approx. 5 ms
MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• Mac with USB 2.0 port; Pacemaker® music client installed
• Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later
WINDOWS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• PC with USB 2.0 port; Pacemaker® music client installed
• Windows XP Home or Professional or Windows Vista

Reminder: Audio Modification Workshop

Saturday, June 16th, 2-5pm
AUDIO MODIFICATION - WORKSHOP: Kinetica Museum
DJ Tendraw & The Gypsies Dog (Gluerooms, Erm on Resonance fm) host a practical workshop on the repurposing, often quite messily, of analogue electronic hardware and children's musical toys to create a palette of otherwise unheard sounds and musicality at Kinetica which is an interesting place to go.

MeTeoR PDF Manual available

If you want to know more about MeTeoR (the 12 track multi-track for Windows Mobile), there's a PDF manual on the 4Pockets site.

CDM on iPhone

I agree with the comments in this article on CDM.

I'll try and stop talking about it now.

NanoBook-Based Ultra Portable Laptop

On a similar note to the last post, here's another sub-notebook on Brighthand:

"Last week, Via Technologies announced the NanoBook reference design for a small and light laptop computer based on one of its low-power processors. Via won't make this device itself. Instead it is offering the design to other companies to produce. The first to sign up was Packard Bell, who will doubtless release its version in Europe.

More About the Via NanoBook Reference Design

The design Via has come up with is for a laptop that it believes is small enough to compare to a handheld computer. Devices based on it will have a clamshell shape, and be 9 inches wide, 6.7 inches deep, and 1.14 inches thick when closed. (230 mm by 171 mm by 29.4 mm). They will weigh about 1.9 pounds (850 g).

NanoBook models, naturally, will be built around a low voltage 1.2 GHz Via C7-M processor, and be capable of running either Windows XP or Windows Vista Basic. The design includes a 7-inch, 800-by-400-pixel (WVGA) touchscreen, a full-size keyboard, a touchpad, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. In addition, it includes a place for MobilityPLUS Modules. These allow the addition of Bluetooth VoIP phone, GPS, DVB, 3G/CDMA or Clock functionality.

Via has also included an Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 4-in-1 card reader.
A 30 GB or 60 GB hard drive is part of the design.

Via doesn't say what it believes laptops based on the NanoBook design will cost, but it does say it is "targeted at aggressive consumer price points".

The company also says that these devices should offer up to 4.5 hours of battery life."

An interesting development, maybe the long predicted demise of the PDA is really at hand?