Music

Rocking out with an imaginary guitar has gone from appreciative concert mimicry to a very serious business. Next month, finalists from around the world will head to Finland in the hope of being crowned Air Guitar World Champion. For those who aspire to get to the winner's podium in later years or just want to rock out to classic tunes wherever they happen to be, the newly released Air Pick could prove just the ticket. Rhythmically strumming the chunky guitar pick produces one of three included tunes from the built-in speaker. Read More

If you’re over a certain age and still have a stack of vinyl LPs, you may have witnessed the fascination expressed by younger people when you play those records on your turntable – as far as they’re concerned, you might just as well be cranking up a Model T Ford. Well, if you really want to freak them out, you could always tell them that ION’s Vertical Vinyl Wall Mountable Turntable lets you play records vertically. How crazy is that? Read More

There is no doubt that Berlin is at the center of the European music industry, with over 700 music companies nestled amongst a city filled with museums, theaters, clubs and concert venues. What could be better fitting for such a creative hub than a hotel inspired by music? The nhow Berlin claims to be Europe's very first music hotel, complete with recording suites, music managers and hotel staff who also happen to be music college graduates. Read More

I think it's fair to say that many music loving mobile device users are left somewhat wanting when it comes to built-in speakers. Listening to audio either involves having to wear cumbersome earphones or sacrificing device usability to plonk it in a dedicated docking station. You can, of course, just dock your device in Soundfreaq's new Sound Step speaker and top up the battery while listening or you could keep your mobile device where it should be - in your hands. Thanks to Bluetooth connectivity, users can stream audio directly to the speaker while enjoying lots of multitasking action on the device itself. Read More

It's often during those early stages of learning to play a new instrument that many people give up in despair. Even though you swear that you're hitting the right notes, everything still sounds like an old gramophone recording played at the wrong speed. If only you could let someone take control of your hands to fast forward through the arduous repetition phase before muscle memory kicks in and the piece you're trying to play begins to sound more like it should. That's precisely the kind of potential offered by the PossessedHand project. Electrode-packing armbands placed on a user's forearm send electrical pulses through the muscles to take control of the movement of the hand - with fledgling Koto players testing the system having demonstrated greater accuracy and speedier progress. Read More

There’s something a little disturbing about the thought of jamming something that looks like a bullet into your ears, but then again, MUNITO’s SITi (Standard Issue Titanium) Nine Millimeter Earphones clearly aren’t your grandma’s earbuds. Not only are their metal bodies modeled after 9 mm shell casings, but their flexible tips are actually trademarked as SiliconeHollowPoints. Lest you think that these earphones are all novelty and no substance, however, they do have some half-decent specs. Read More

Amongst countless other announcements in Apple's WWDC keynote today came official details on the long expected cloudification of iTunes. The famous "one last thing" this year was iTunes Match, which finally utilizes the scan and match technology Apple gained with its acquisition of Lala in late 2009. Read More

The word "grand" just doesn't seem to cut it when describing this piano. Created by Polish designer Robert Majkut, the Whaletone's beautiful design evokes its sea-going namesake slowly emerging from the water and combines this with the technology of a high-end professional stage instrument in a way that's likely to appeal to both music and design connoisseurs. Read More

Apple has officially announced what's in store for the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6 in San Francisco. The latest versions of its OS X operating system for the Macintosh, and iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad will be unveiled, along with a service called iCloud. Read More