jamstikplus
Latest
Engadget giveaway: win a Jamstik and SOL Republic speaker courtesy of Zivix!
There's a new generation of MIDI-connected interface tools to help your creative juices flow without being tethered to a computer or lugging around a full kit. The Jamstik smartguitar is a mobile instrument for the digital age, whether you're a seasoned guitar player or just looking to learn a few chords. It's a lightweight, 16-inch guitar interface that uses WiFi to connect to Macs, PCs and iOS 7+ devices. The Jamstik works with hundreds of apps including GarageBand and Ableton Live, letting you play guitar, synth, drums or anything else simply by plucking the strings. There's also a Kickstarter for the new Jamstik+, which adds Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and a focus on musical education. What's more, for every 15 Jamstik+ devices that are backed, Zivix will give one to a non-profit educational organization, opening up the world of music to tomorrow's musicians. To help give you a taste, the company has given us two Jamstiks, along with a set of SOL Republic Deck Bluetooth speakers for a pair of lucky Engadget readers this week. Just head down to the Rafflecopter widget for up to three chances at winning. Winners: congratulations to Jeremiah N. of Moscow, ID. and Jeremy M. of Southington, CT!
Jamstik+ is a backpack-friendly 'smart guitar'
The first time I encountered Jamstik, a guitar controller for Mac and iOS, was at CES 2013. Zivix -- the team behind the product -- came to our trailer and gave us a demo. That was a prototype, which eventually got crowdfunded and did pretty well as history tells it. Now there's Jamstik+ with a few significant improvements, and once again, the company's looking to you to fund it (spoiler: It's already met its goal). While the original Jamstik won people over, concerns over latency left some users wanting. Has version 2.0 cracked it?
