Official UK Music Charts iPhone Applications
Im not really one for charts, but there are a lot of people who want to see who is leading the charts for any given time. Thus, here is the official UK Charts iPhone applications.
Archive for: iphone
12 Days Of Christmas Free iTunes Downloads
What was I saying yesterday about being sick of all the music/Christmas blogging? Sigh…
This however is something well worth paying attention to. It’s not very often that Apple give things away for free, so when they do it’s essential that between us we squeeze as much as possible from them.
From the 26th of December until the 6th of January you will be able to download one free song every day from the iTunes store.
There are two ways of registering for this; 1) Sign up your email address via the 12 Days of Christmas website or 2) Downloading the iPhone app. I’ve tried both and advise the latter, especially if you’re a fan of Kylie, they seem to be offering a free EP on the iPhone app exclusively.
The website doesn’t say if there is a limited number of subscriptions, so get involved now. You can find out everything you need to know about this offer by clicking here.
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Evenno Fingerist – The iPhone Keytar
Have you ever found yourself flicking through your overpriced iPhone music apps and thinking “these are all great, but what would really complete my life would be if I could take them onto a stage with me, or go busking with them”
Of course you haven’t, only an idiot would confuse virtual music toys with real performance instruments. This, however, hasn’t stopped gadget company Evenno from creating, producing and now marketing the single most pointless iPhone accessory on the planet.
The Fingerist is essentially an iPhone holder that vaguely resembles a guitar and can be strapped around your neck. It has a small speaker built into what would be the guitar’s body, but if you’re booked to play the o2 fear not, it can also be plugged into an amplifier with a quater inch jack.
So, you may be thinking “this sounds like quite a cool little toy, stop being such a stick in the mud you miserable bastard” and I agree, I thought this until I saw how much one of these things cost; £210. You might be able to find it for cheaper on ebay or Amazon, but as of yet I’ve not seen them in stock anywhere other than the Japan Gadget Shop.
So, if you do fancy spending a hell of a lot of money for this novelty toy, be my guest and please let me know how it has worked out for you on twitter @monkeyhotel
Curtis Heavy – The Handheld Granular Synth
If you don’t know what a granular synthesizer is then first of all, there is no need to feel stupid, it’s pretty specialist stuff and you may wish to have a quick read of this wiki article before going any further.
When I first discovered the joy granular synthesis, I became so obsessed with it I didn’t make any music that didn’t involve one for about 5 months, a serious hinderance if you are studying for a degree in music composition.
Well, for £1.19 you can share this joy without having to go through the pain of learning a programming language and making one yourself. All you need as an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
The app is fairly versatile and allows you to load your own samples via a web style drop box. The interface is pretty intuitive too. If you need further convincing of how fun messing around with sound is, then check out the video below.
Filtatron: Real Time Audio Effects Suite and Studio iPhone and iPod Touch App
Filtatron is a new real time audio effects suite and studio for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Filtatron is produced by Moog Music who normally focus on more traditional musical equipment.
New Apple Products
Just a quick post for those of you who missed yesterday’s Apple news because you live in a cave on the moon or somewhere beneath the ocean – here are the most exciting bits from the keynote;
1) iPod Shuffle – not much new to say here. They have returned to the clip design which I approve of. The voice over feature might be useful; this will say the name of the song, album or playlist to you so you know roughly where in your playlist you are. This has been a genuine problem with previous shuffles. £39 for 2gb is excellent value for money.
2) iPod Touch – consistently the most underwhelming of the iPod range. This new version has made a move inline with the iPhone 4, as was probably to be expected. HD video recording, front facing camera allowing for ‘FaceTime’ blah blah blah. It’s not that I don’t think this is a great product, I do, it’s just that the entry level 8gb model is £189. For that price you could just get an iPhone 4 and have the same product as your mobile phone.
3) Apple TV – you’ve got to give it to Steve Jobs, the guy is persistent. After years of trying to make Apple TV work they are still grinding away. Here is the latest redesign/revamp of the service. I really want this to work and think that the Movie rental feature will be key to its success. Call me a capitalist if you will, but a way to monetize the online video market is something the media has been in desperate need of for years. I will be buying it, I suggest you do the same.
4) iPod Nano - this 6th generation of the iPod Nano has taken my first place award as the best announcement of last night. A brilliant multi-touch screen on a device that clips to your jacket is inspired. If I didn’t already own an iPhone 4 this would be the iPod for me. At £129 for the basic 8gb I think that these will sell quicker than any of the other new announcements. Watch the video below for full details.
Soundrop iPhone App
If any of you own or have at any point owned a Nintendo DS, you might have come across a game called Electroplankton. In my idiotic and useless opinion, it was the first ‘music game’ that really worked on both levels as a game that you could really spend hour playing and as a genuine musical compositional tool.
The reason for its success was the simple interface and its ‘open’ music format. Too many music games tried to replicate a sequencer, which inevitably led to lots of people making very shi*t house music out of an extremely limited bank of samples.
Soundrop iPhone is an even more simplistic version of the Electroplankton model, that you can download for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
The interface really is as straight forward as; draw a line, let a ball bounce on it, when the ball hits the line a marimba sample will sound, draw another line, create rhythms and patterns. Before you know it you’ll think you’re a regular Philip Glass.
The free version of the app is fun enough, but if you can stretch to £1.19 you’ll get the pro version which allows you a broader range of sounds.
Very fun and addictive app that I urge you to try. You can find out everything you need to know by clicking here.
NME Wants The World to Read Their Music News on iPhone or iPod Touch
Leading UK music magazine the NME has launched their official iPhone app. The application is priced at £1.19 and allows users to personalise their music news experiences. I really wonder how many people will choose to buy this application, when there are so many free options available.
The app lets users browse news, galleries and videos from the NME.com website, and tag individual artists to receive alerts on their activities. The app supports offline browsing and Twitter/Facebook sharing too.
The application is currently only on the iPhone and iPod Touch, but im sure they will develop an iPad version soon enough.
Vevo iPhone App: Lets Users Watch Their Favourite Music Videos for Free on their iPhone
Online music video portal Vevo has launched its app for iPhone and iPod touch this morning (App Store link). The application is completely free and lets users find and watch music video, create playlists and more.
The app will access to Vevo’s entire catalogue, which currently stands at 20,000 videos from more than 7,000 artists. Additionally, the Vevo iPhone app will include social media sharing options, so you can tell your friends about which video you are liking via Twitter, Facebook or email. The app also ties into iPhone’s GPS feature, by letting users see what videos are being watched around their current location.
Currently the application is only available in the US, but Im sure we will be seeing it here soon in the UK.
Universal and UKs Official Chart Company Launch TimeWheel iPhone Application
Universal Music Group has launched its latest iPhone app, in partnership with the UK’s Official Charts Company. The app is called TimeWheel and is a very simple music time machine.
TimeWheel is a database of Top 40 singles and albums since 1955.
The app has also roped in UMG artists like Lady Gaga, Tinchy Stryder, Kelly Rowland, Take That, and Chase & Status to contribute their own lists of favourite songs from the past 55 years.
The app naturally ties into the iTunes Store for users to buy songs (not just Universal artists).
