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Creative announces Sound BlasterAxx wireless speakers with mics (update: hands-on!)
In a departure from its traditional sound cards, Creative has just unveiled a line of Bluetooth speakers with built-in mics, called the Sound BlasterAxx range. Yes, these are the pun-heavy ones we anticipated last week, but now we have a lot more detail. There are three different sizes of speaker, but only the larger two (the SBX-20 and SBX-10) are Bluetooth -- the smaller and cheaper SBX-8 must be tethered. All contain the new SBAxx-1 hardware processor, and even the SBX-20 can be powered over USB from a mobile device (with sufficient current output) or a power pack. The speakers are designed to bring Creative into the Internet Age with a number of voice-enhancing features for video chat apps like Skype. These include highly-focused directionality and noise reduction, to frame out peripheral sounds, and also Smart Volume, which automatically adjusts audio levels as you move closer to or further from the mic. This same processing technology is also claimed to assist with voice-recognition platforms like Siri when you use a Sound BlasterAxx speaker to communicate with your device instead of its regular microphone. There's also some quirky stuff like comic voice effects, just in case you're not embarrassed by how you sound on a mic already. The SBX-8 and SBX-10 will be available in the UK from early July for £80 and £130 respectively, while the flagship SBX-20 will arrive in August for £180. Update: Now with added gallery and video after the break! %Gallery-156420%
Creative teases Sound Blaster Axx with the most forced puns we've ever seen
It's been a long, long while since Creative spruced up its Sound Blaster audio hardware, so a teaser for something new certainly has us intrigued. The page mentions little beyond an Axx name and that there will be a "whole new generation" of the technology uncovered on May 30th. There's a contest to win whatever the device might be if you're astute enough to predict the future name, but this may be a softball question given the not-so-subtle hints. Between terrible puns about the "axx-traterestrial" coming and winners getting to "axx-perience" the technology first, we have a feeling that any name that doesn't put "Axx" front and center is out of the running.
Adobe Muse is ready to let you design websites without the coding headaches for $15 a month
If you've been looking to get that web project off the ground but despise the idea of coding it, Adobe's recently announced web design tool has just landed. Muse, the program that allows you to design websites without having to get your hands dirty with HTML5 is now available. The kit behaves more like a layout program (like InDesign) instead of a web publishing / programming tool, allowing those who are more design-minded to feel right at home. As you might expect, the software is available with an annual $49.99 per month Creative Cloud subscription alongside CS6 heavyweights like Photoshop and Illustrator. If Muse is all you're after, you can snag it alone for a $24.99 month-to-month fee or $14.99 for a twelve-month commitment. Need to see it in action before you open your wallet? No worries. Hit the coverage link below for a look at what the application can do.
Digital artists imagine Siri's face
If you're like me, you've probably anthropomorphized Siri. I think of her (as a US resident I have a female voice) almost as a person and address her as "Siri" when I make requests. I'm not alone as a recent contest from Shapeways, a 3D printing service and online marketplace, asked its community to submit their ideas of what Siri looks like. The contest recently ended and the New York-based start-up released its winners in both the 3D and non-3D Inspiring Design category. You can check out the winning entries and the runners-up on Shapeways's website. [Via The Huffington Post]
Creative pumps out $99 HN-900 noise-canceling headphones
Fact: not everyone's willing to pay a premium to enhance their personal listening experience. Fortunately for those of you who like noise cancellation and a flush bank account, Creative's just taken the wraps off its $99 headset that'll do the trick. The HN-900 offers great features -- aside from the low price tag -- such as 40-hours of active noise canceling powered by some AAA juice (for the times when you feel like ignoring the world), 40mm Neodymium drivers, and a built-in microphone to help with making and answering calls, just to highlight a few. Naturally, with such a stout feature set and low price, the headphones are selling like hotcakes and are currently out of stock. That said, you can still head over to the source to check out the rest of the deets and be one of the first in line once the second batch hits Creative's virtual shelves.
Woz says Apple could not emerge in Singapore
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak got a little political lately, saying in an interview with the BBC that a society like Singapore, with its relatively strict approach to aberrant behavior, would never be able to host a company like Apple, with its early days of long-haired weirdos working on groundbreaking technology in their garages. "Look at structured societies like Singapore where bad behavior is not tolerated [and] you are extremely punished," Woz is quoted as saying. "Where are the creative people? Where are the great artists? Where are the great musicians? Where are the great writers?" I'm not quite sure if it's as simple as all of that -- I'd suggest that great, creative people can flourish in whatever environment they happen to be brought up in. But Woz at least makes a good point in saying that if creativity is to really shine, it's got to be in a place where new ideas (even the crazy ones) are welcomed with open arms. Singapore is also reportedly trying to build up its tech scene, and Woz is no stranger to the city-state: He was there earlier this year to give a series of talks organized by the government itself. Interesting that he takes this position, then -- it's hard to believe the government would loosen up all of those restrictions just to support their tech industry, but then again, if Woz says so, it must be true. [via WSJ]
Interview: Olivia Broadfield on Macs, apps and DIY music making
You've probably not heard of UK based singer songwriter Olivia Broadfield before, but chances are you've heard her music at some point, especially if you watch a lot of TV. Songs from her debut album, Eyes Wide Open (released in 2009), reached over 50 TV placements on shows like The Hills, Ghost Whisperer and Melrose Place. Following that, Eyes Wide Open reached No. 3 on the iTunes Electronica charts. Daydreams, the opening track from Olivia's second album, This Beautiful War (released in June, 2011), was featured on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. And if that's not enough, in her spare time Olivia composes jingles for commercials, too. After reading that, you'd be forgiven for assuming Olivia works in swanky studios around the world while she's not touring, and that she has the backing of a big record label behind her, too. But her situation couldn't be more different. In fact, Olivia hasn't really done all that much gigging (let alone any tours), she's not with a record label and the studio where she does all her recording, well... it's an old garage attached to the side of her house. OK, she's converted said garage into a modest-but-capable DIY studio, and yet, it's not the rock 'n roll lifestyle you'd expect. That's not a bad thing. What really caught my attention, besides her music, was Olivia's setup. Without wanting to undermine the clear production power that it has, it's an undeniably simple setup with absolutely no frills. And to me, that's a testament to the musical creativity of Olivia, the Mac and DAW at the center of her studio and the reality that producing great music doesn't always require the most expensive gear and equipment you can (or usually can't) get your hands on. About a week ago I was fortunate to get the opportunity to chat with Olivia over Skype. Tea cups in hand, we chatted about the tools she uses to produce her music, a little about her workflow as a songwriter, her musical and production influences and what she does to recharge her creative batteries. Read on to find out what she had to say. TUAW: Tell me about your current setup? What gear are you using? How do you make the magic happen? Olivia Broadfield: So I have a Mac Pro. It's got two 2Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon processors in it with 8 GB of Ram. I've had it for a year or so. I bought it second hand off this guy on eBay who was selling off gear from his studio that I don't think worked out. I got it for a really great price. When he handed it over I could tell he wasn't too happy about it, but I was! I'm running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I like to stay one release behind the latest release so everything's super stable. I've got two screens (one old school Apple one that came with the Mac Pro and one Acer one). I'm a Reason Record user, so my 2 screens make mixing and programming super quick and easy. I'm using a Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 interface, little M Audio BX5a monitors and a Rode NT2000 mic. I have to confess I did have an outboard compressor, but sold it because I never used it as the pre-amps on the Focusrite are so great. The MIDI keyboard I use is a M-Audio Prokeys 88 SX. TUAW: Was your Mac Pro your first Mac? OB: Ha! No. I got my first Mac off eBay about 6 years ago! It was an old silver door G4 Mac, I can't even tell you the spec, but I know it was probably pretty teeny compared to what I have now! It still sits under my desk as a giant hard drive because it's got loads of my old music on it, but I rarely plug it in these days. Back then I was using Reason and Logic with ReWire, (which was a pain in the backside), and it struggled a bit with that, but it still got the job done. Before that I had a PC, but really just for emailing etc. I've never been a PC for music user. Studios I used before I set up my own always had Macs and I just believed that they were more stable units for making music on. From what I can tell, they don't suffer the same virus problems, so I think I felt my music and data was safer in the hands of a Mac. TUAW: So now you're a Reason 6 user and you've left Logic behind. Why Reason, don't all the big players use Pro Tools or Logic? OB: Well, usually people are quite surprised when they hear I'm using Reason. People seem to get all snobbish about the fact that I'm not a Pro Tools or Logic user. They give me the look that says, "aww, that's sweet. She's playing with Reason." But when they see Reason in action, they're genuinely impressed. At university, I did use Pro Tools, but to get Pro Tools for yourself is quite expensive. So one day I was recording at a friends house and he was using a really old version of Reason, maybe 2.0. It was quite a long time ago! But Reason just looked really accessible compared to what I'd seen in Pro Tools or Logic. So when I set up my own studio and became my own producer, because I'm not a very technical person when it comes to recording, I knew I'd need something simple and easy to use, so I got Reason. Of course, back then Reason didn't do audio recording, so I got an old version of Logic off eBay to handle that side of things, but once Reason came out with Record, I happily left Logic behind. And that's why I love Reason, but I guess I'm just used to it now. I must add that I do have a producer (Josh Crocker) I work with as well as a few others who I bring into the mix for the final finishing touches to my music. I like to think of it as the icing of a cake, I bake it, and then get some others in to help me decorate it. TUAW: There are so many great music apps out there for the iPhone and iPad. Do you have an iPhone or iPad? Do any particular apps assist you in the workflow of how you make music. OB: No iPod or iPad, but yep, I have an iPhone 4 -- although I'm ashamed to say I haven't updated it to the latest version of iOS, yet! My friends give me grief for that! I know there are so many music apps out there, but I tend to just use the inbuilt voice memo for ideas and getting down songs, particularly if I'm out and about or it's late at night and I can't be bothered to boot the studio up. As I get most of my initial ideas on piano and guitar, I find just the dictaphone on its own meets most of my needs. The other night I was twinkling on the guitar and came up with a little skitsy idea that would work great for an advert., I was able to put the idea down from start to finish on the iPhone so I could remember it the next day. It's nothing fancy, but it simply gets the job done. I actually think the iPhone mic is pretty good for that sort of thing. TUAW: While we're talking about iPhones... Besides all the usual suspects (the Mail app, Safari, Facebook etc) what apps do you find you use the most on your iPhone. OB: I love Hipstamactic. And I do use the Flashlight app A LOT! One of the weirder apps I've got is Shakra Chime. It literally plays a chime! That's it! I find it helps me calm my mind.... You know, after a busy day of making music with tunes buzzing around your head. Oh, I also like Sleep Maker, where it's just rain noise. "Gentle rain onto porch roof." That is my favorite! TUAW: What about when you're not making awesome music, how do you spend your down time? Any games you into? OB: When I first go the iPhone, I played games all the time. The popular ones like Angry Birds. Oh, and Bejewled. I was obsessed with trying to score a million on Bejeweled, but I only got about 700,000. I am a bit of a nerd, so I do love games like Scrabble and other word games. I could just spend all day my iPhone playing games. So occasionally, I have to force myself to go outside and look at animals and hear bird song! TUAW: Who are your musical influences? What artists and musicians really inspire you to make music? OB: I like people who are versatile, people who keep it fresh. I love Gwen Stefani for that reason. Influence wise, I think Feist is a beautiful singer and songwriter, her career is the one I would probably like the most. I've seen her live and she just has this great energy, relaxed like everything comes so easy to her. TUAW: What about recording / producing influences? Are there people out there who really inspire you about the technical side of making music? OB: When I first set up my studio over 5 years ago, Imogen Heap's Speak For Yourself album was huge. Seeing someone go out there, particularly a woman in such a male dominated studio world, and do everything herself was very motivating. I have to say, I'm not the most able technically, which is why I love my software, the presets are pretty amazing and I can make some great sounding stuff without having to tweak much... Or I'm just lazy... Yeah, probably the latter! TUAW: Here's a curve ball, but If you open iTunes and click on the Top 25 Most Played playlist, what's the number one song you listen to in your music library? OB: Um... That can't be true. OK, it's a dog food commercial song that I did. I can't believe that's my most played song in my iTunes library, especially since I just finished my album and I should have been listening through to those tracks over and over AND OVER again to make sure they were all fine. Oh well... slightly embarrassing! OK, here's the thing. I don't listen to music on my studio Mac. I am really, totally old school when it comes to listening to music. I listen to CD's in my lounge. In fact, oh gosh, I've never downloaded a digital song...
Creative Zen X-Fi3 gets covered in FCC fingerprints
Remember the Zen X-Fi3, that little, bitty portable media player that we spent a bit of hands-on time with, back in September? Well, the FCC has had its crack at the thing, and the agency wasn't quite as kind, ripping pint-sized music player apart and displaying its innards for all the world to see, which might be for the best, really. While the outsides of the device aren't particularly exciting, the player's got some stuff going on under the hood, like built-in Bluetooth, which the company claims can stream high-quality audio courtesy of the apt-X codec. See the X-Fi3 exposed to the world in the gallery below.%Gallery-138461%
Whiteboard plus paint equals huge iPad at app agency
The above picture was taken in the offices of Appency, a PR firm that helps market and sell mobile apps, including iPhone and iPad apps. It's indeed a big iPad, though instead of a functioning touchscreen, the whole thing is actually a working whiteboard painted onto the wall. Founder Aaron Watkins tells TUAW that the studio moved into its new offices a couple of months ago, and decided to use a substance called IdeaPaint to literally paint a whiteboard on the wall. Originally, they wanted to paint two whole walls with the stuff, but it's pretty pricey, so instead, design intern Lorin Estes had the idea to turn the whole thing into a giant (to scale, we're told) iPad. Pretty awesome -- though not quite as portable as the real thing.
Creative doles out Sound Blaster gaming headsets, Recon3D audio platform / sound cards
Creative isn't nearly the aural force it once was, but it's still a respected name when it comes to headsets and -- gasp! -- sound cards. Here at IFA, the outfit has busted out a new range of Sound Blaster (yeah, seriously) gaming headsets for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac platforms. The 360-friendly Sound Blaster Tactic360 Sigma is being revealed with a steel core headband design and 50mm audio drivers, not to mention separate voice and game audio controls. Moving right along, the Tactic360 ION slims down with a pair of 40mm drivers, while the Tactic3D Wrath Wireless caters to Mac / PC users who'd rather not sweat the whole "cable" thing. The Tactic3D Omega Wireless does likewise for console gamers, and for those infatuated with three-dee, the outfit's new Recon3D audio platform / sound cards sound give you reason to celebrate. Full details are posted up after the break, for those who find themselves strangely intrigued.
Creative keeps stabbing at the MP3 market, reveals bantam ZEN X-Fi3
Another IFA, another minuscule ZEN X-Fi media player. And somehow, they manage to get less and less impressive with each passing year. This go 'round, we're looking at the ZEN X-Fi3, equipped with a 2-inch LCD, 8/16GB of internal storage, Bluetooth 2.1, a built-in microphone / FM radio / speaker and a battery that should last up to 20 hours when playing back audio alone. As with prior ZEN units, this one also supports a multitude of file formats (FLAC, AAC, MP3, WMA, Audible, etc.), and for those kosher with watching Alf reruns on a thumb-sized panel, MPEG-4 / WMV9 / DivX video files are also capable of being played back. This guy's slated to ship at the end of October across Europe, but with $99.99 (8GB) / $139.99 (16GB) price tags, we're guessing most are bound to just collect dust. For shame.
Gigabyte G1 Assassin motherboard is a last-gen gamer's dream come true
For a motherboard, the G1 Assassin from Gigabyte sure is gaudy and actually rather interesting. First off, that Killer E2100 networking solution from Bigfoot has been integrated into the board, as has Creative's X-Fi audio. The three-year-old X58 chipset at its heart is starting to look a little long in the tooth but, with support for three-way SLI or four-way CrossFireX, 24GB of RAM, and Intel's Extreme Edition processors, you probably won't miss Sandy Bridge too much. Starting at around $450 the Assassin isn't for everyone, but hardcore gamers determined to squeeze every ounce of performance from of their setup will not be disappointed. The one unfortunate fault of the G1 is timing -- the next-gen of high-end performance parts from Chipzilla are right around the corner. Though, that banana clip-shaped heat sink has to count for something. We know you like benchmarks, so check out the reviews below. Read - HotHardware Read - Legit Reviews Read - Overclock 3D Read - TechRadar
Bill Atkinson part of the Google+ team (Updated: Apparently not)
Update: The San Jose Mercury News got this one wrong and the info has been redacted in their original story. While Mr. Atkinson is a user, he's not a part of Google's team. Thanks to everyone who brought this to our attention and Mike Swift for the correction. Bill Atkinson, the developer of HyperCard, MacPaint and a number of other goodies in the early days of the Mac OS, is now part of the Google+ team as Andy Hertzfeld reported to his Google+ profile a few days ago. Atkinson's recent work includes PhotoCard for iOS, and he spoke about interface design at this year's Macworld. We don't know what Atkinson has contributed to Google+ thus far, unlike Hertzfeld whom we know contributed to the architecture of the new product. [via San Jose Mercury News]
Google+ design credited to original Macintosh team member Andy Hertzfeld
You may have heard about Google+, the hot new sharing product from Google that went official today, and it sounds cool (sounds cool, but remember how cool Wave and Buzz sounded? Let's just say we're reserving excitement so far). But one exciting thing about the new project is how cool and smooth it looks, and TechCrunch has noted the reason for that look, based on Steven Levy's reporting: it's designed in part by Andy Hertzfeld, one of the members of the original Macintosh team back in the 1980s. Hertzfeld now works for Google, and supposedly he was let free to exercise his creative influence as he liked on the new Google+ system, creating something for the folks in Mountain View that looks like it might have come from the early days of the Cupertino company. Hertzfeld even credits some of his influence at Google to Apple's own resurgence lately, saying that Apple's sky-high relevance in the tech and mobile industry may have "had a little bit to do" with his chance to help create Google+. In other words, when you finally get one of those invites that are starting to float around, and finally log in to the system to see what it is and what it's like, take note of any Macintosh-related influences you might see. Odds are, they're Mr. Hertzfeld's work.
THQ uDraw GameTablet goes HD, we go hands-on (video)
Nintendo's Wii U controller is a gaming display, video conference device, and yes, a stylus-toting tablet, but no such tool has been announced for those other consoles, so PS3 and Xbox 360 owners who want to get their sketch on will have to turn to THQ's new uDraw GameTablet instead. Tablets for both gaming systems were announced last month, and today we had a chance to paint on the big (HD) screen at E3. Though the drawing surface feels just as roomy as the Wii version, the tablets are noticeably smaller than last year's counterpart, with the obvious absence of a Wiimote holder taking credit for the device's reduced footprint. That Wiimote also made it difficult for lefties to tackle the tablet, but no such issues exist on the PS3 and Xbox versions. Other major design changes include shifting stylus storage from the rear to just above the resistive capacitive touch surface, and trimming some girth off the instrument itself. Both tablets will be coming in November for less than $100, though specific pricing has yet to be announced. For now, you're limited to uDraw Studio and Pictionary on the game title front, which appear noticeably sharper in HD, though otherwise similar to the versions we used with the Wii. THQ has promised more games for future release, including Disney Animator, though reps weren't able to confirm any other titles or dates. We had a chance to draw in both games, which respond to both the stylus and hardware buttons for brush selection and other functions, such as undo and navigation. A rep pointed out that the new versions are also more sensitive to stylus pressure, adjusting brush thickness based on how hard you press, for example, but we didn't find that to be the case. After you've spent a few minutes concocting your next digital masterpiece, you can fire off your work of art via email, instead of just sending it to an SD card like on the Wii version. Overall, there's nothing groundbreaking here, but if you've been looking to balance out your Halo and Resistance by sketching honeybees and rainbows (or making your console a bit more kid-friendly), then uDraw may be worth the investment. %Gallery-125867% Tim Stevens contributed to this report.
Creative Live! inPerson HD webcam does onboard processing, doesn't milk your CPU
When Logitech and Microsoft released a bunch of HD webcams last year, Skype refused to certify them for use with its HD video calling service. (That's not to say these webcams won't work with Skype HD -- it's that Skype won't guarantee that they'll work well.) And why this resounding slap in the face? Because Skype will only certify HD webcams that come with onboard video processing and therefore run even on tardy old machines. And that is precisely why Creative has followed the lead of other manufacturers like FaceVsion and Freetalk in including a built-in H.264 encoder with its latest offering, maintaining judder-free video and a chill-axed CPU. The webcam also has more flexible autofocus and a "quad mic" system, which together should allow users to sit as far as 10 feet away and still be seen and heard clearly. The only problem? A $150 price tag that's significantly more than the competition and only slightly easier to face than your cousin's acne condition at 720p. If you're still keen though, check out the PR after the break.
ZiiLabs outs dual-core ZMS-20 and quad-core ZMS-40 for Honeycomb tablets, clocks 'em at 1.5GHz
For now, the HTC Flyer can console itself for not having a second core (like all the other guys) by noting that its 1.5GHz clock speed is faster than any other tablet. Pretty soon, however, the choice between speed and core count might not have to be made at all, as ZiiLabs has just announced new dual-core and quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 systems-on-chip that run at the same 1500MHz speed as the Flyer. Dubbed ZMS-20 and ZMS-40, respectively, they're taking the ZMS-08 legacy of focusing on HD video decoding even further, while also throwing in specific optimizations for Android Honeycomb tablets. The earlier-gen SOC was only picked up by parent company Creative, who inserted it in its ZiiO tablets, so let's hope the new silicon proves compelling enough for us to see it in more manufacturers' slates. Full PR and an intro video follow after the break.
Creative's new Bluetooth speakers sound vaguely familiar
Creative's family of Bluetooth speakers got a few more additions today. The company unveiled the wireless one-piece D80, which for most intents and purposes, is identical to its colorful sibling the D100, save for a lower price tag at $50 and a loss of battery power. The $300 ZiiSound D5x, meanwhile, looks an awful lot like 2010's D5, though this one plays nice with the newly announced D3x modular speaker and DSx modular subwoofer, both of which are priced at $150 a pop. The D80 is hitting this month and the ZiiSound's various components will be arriving this summer, so don't throw out last year's models just yet. Press info after the break.
Creative debuts compact, Bluetooth-enabled Zen Style M300 PMP
It may not be quite as convenient to wear as a watch, but Creative's new Zen Style M300 PMP does have a leg up on the slightly smaller iPod nano in one key respect: it packs built-in Bluetooth 2.1 support so you can use wireless headphones with it. You can also expand the PMP's memory beyond its basic 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB capacities thanks to its microSD card slot, although you won't get a touchscreen here -- the 1.45-inch display is simply complemented by a couple of touch buttons. Otherwise, you'll get a built-in FM radio, a mic for voice recording, a promised 20 hours of battery life, and your choice of four different colors: black, white, red or yellow. Those that can do without Bluetooth can also opt for the slightly cheaper, and otherwise identical M100 model -- look for both to be available in June, with prices running from $40 to $90. Full press release is after the break.
THQ brings uDraw Game Tablet to the PS3 and Xbox 360, redesigned for big boys
Bored of blowing stuff up on your PS3 or 360? Then take some time out to paint flowers, butterflies, fruit and other lovely things with the uDraw Game Tablet. It's coming to the big boys' consoles after a decent debut on the Wii. Don't worry though, you won't have to sully your hardcore gaming shrines with any soft-edged blue and white silliness -- manufacturer THQ says it has "exclusively designed" the tablet for the more serious platforms. Unfortunately the company paints a pretty ambiguous picture when it comes to a release date - it merely says the tablet will be out "this holiday". Fine, we'll just go back to blowing things up until National Applesauce Day rolls around.
