Professional audio recording on-the-go made easy with Spark Digital

It doesn’t cost or take that much to get your rock star dream going these days and this new studio mic from Blue Microphones is bound to make things easier for you. Blue’s Spark Digital is a studio condenser mic with both USB and iPad connectivity via 30-pin jack.

This digital mic assures the same high-fidelity recording and detailed audio you can get from professional studios. It can be used to record a wide range of sources—from vocals to guitars to drums—and it even comes with a custom desk stand that withstands any disruptive rumblings and vibrations. There are also studio controls on the mic, such as volume and gain controls, as well as instant mute. A zero-latency headphone out is also built in for direct monitoring. Additional information on the $199.99 Spark Digital is available here.

New version of MiniPlayer and more with Apple iTunes update

You can call it bloatware but this latest Apple iTunes update might be just what you need. The revamped MiniPlayer on the iTunes version 11.0.3 now lets you appreciate album art even more. You also get a progress bar built right into it and you can view songs in the album or playlist or search through your library all from that little square player.

Other incremental updates for this iTunes version include being able to see album art in Song View as well as support for multiple disc albums. There are also said to be search performance and sorting improvements, particularly to help those with large libraries.

Apple celebrates 50 Billion App downloads

Apple today announced that customers have downloaded over 50 billion apps* from the revolutionary App Store. Customers are downloading more than 800 apps per second at a rate of over two billion apps per month on the App Store. The 50 billionth app was Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, LLC, which was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio who received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to commemorate this historic milestone. 

Click to read more ...

The Apple Beat: Wish List for iOS 7

Great Scott!: With iOS proponent Scott Forstall gone from Apple, what direction with the valuable iOS take?By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple's yearly WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) is a month away and we're sure to see the latest features and builds of Mac OS X and iOS. Studying the current mobile landscape and features available to competing smartphone and tablet platforms, I've compiled a personal wish list of features I hope to see on iOS 7.

Click to read more ...