Entries tagged with “hardware” from O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

In our recent review of the otherwise slick Yamaha Pocketrak 2G digital recorder, we complained that its MP3 recording topped out at just 128kbps. Yamaha just released a free firmware update that boosts the resolution.

After several years of daily jostling in my pocket, my Olympus WS-200S stereo voice recorder started distorting in one channel. So I cracked open the case and discovered this scary dust-bunny invasion. Perhaps it was shorting out the mic? Grabbing an old toothbrush, I flicked off most of the linty debris. But then, with a sickening snap, I accidentally severed...

With 486 comments at last count, our discussion on the Zoom H2 handheld surround recorder is teeming with questions and tips. One of the latest struck me, because I'd been wondering about this myself. Reader Lee Wong wrote: Help! Does anyone have a schematic they can share for making a really small, portable preamp so I can stick my Soundman...

We were impressed with Edirol's R-09 handheld digital recorder when we reviewed it, and thanks to a free firmware update, it just got better. OS 1.30 adds support for 8GB SDHC memory cards, which by my quick calculation should boost the recording capacity to eight hours in 24-bit, 44.1kHz WAV format or more than 132 hours in 128kbps MP3. The...

Just a quick message to capture my enthusiasm for this new version of the Vocalist Live stomp box. I got mine today, and I feel like I've been given a gift that I've been longing for my whole musical life......

Wearable electronics continue to astound. First we had the graphic EQ T-shirt: Now there's the Wi-Fi finder T: With flat-panel displays getting thinner and more power-efficient, I bet we'll be able to walk around with rotating photo galleries on our chests soon. What will you wear on yours?...

A mysterious email arrived the other night. It said, "Please find enclosed two pictures of Midi Controllers. Do you know the make and model of this two units?" The top one looks like a commercial product; the bottom one looks more homemade, but I could be wrong. Any guesses? Please leave a link. I'm off to browse Analogue Haven....

Fourteen minutes into last week's Digital Media Insider podcast, "Secrets of the Demo Gods," I asked longtime reviewer Mark Nelson if any recent music-making gear had surprised him. Mark started praising the M-Audio Black Box, a digital guitar effect co-designed by Roger Linn, the drum-machine pioneer (and a fine guitarist himself). "It was just...inspiring. Amazing stuff would happen," Mark enthused....

The Variax is an elegant, functional guitar, whose look is lent a great dignity by its lack of pickups. To play in my wife's Nerd Band, the Captains of the Chess Team, I took a perfectly good, new Variax and taped a pickup to it. I also run three wires (Well, four if you count the one I added last...

If you've been following Brad Fuller's blogs on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) movement, you're probably as intrigued as I am by the creative potential of these tools. Today, though, I received a press release touting a more sinister use of laptops. The Spy Laptop, from an Indian company called SpyInvent, is built around a remote-controlled pinhole camera that...

Why put an iPod on your waistband when you can sport a bulbous red guitar effect instead? The pioneering digital kidney bean of tone now comes in a battery-powered version called the Pocket Pod. Five inches wide yet loaded with 300 digital effect presets and a guitar tuner, the Pocket Pod retails for around $129....

What has a flexible rubberized tube, like a short version of the hose you find on a vacuum cleaner, and a piece of optical glass at the end? Why, my Lensbaby, of course: a specialized interchangeable lens that fits Nikons, Canons, and other dSLRs. The point of this somewhat bizarre but dearly beloved piece of photo gear? To allow a...

Here's the wackiest warning sticker I've ever seen on a musical instrument. What's stranger is it was from a keyboard designed for little kids! The image below is a scan of the sticker laid on top of a photo from the company's website. Insert your punchline here.......

I saw a bunch of wacky MIDI controllers at the recent Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) festival, but none as creepily expressive as the Sonic Banana: According to the inventor's site, The Sonic Banana consists of four bend sensors in a row, running the length of a rubber tube, with a pushbutton switch at the end. Software in...

If you missed it, see 60 Minutes interview with Negroponte about the teams dreams and the origin of the laptop idea....

I've been away from the blog for a while due to many different factors in my life ... but I'm back now and I bring you a great deal on namebrand compact flash. J&R Photo World is offering the Sandisk 16GB Extreme III Compact Flash card for $289.99 with a $130.00 Sandisk rebate making it only $159.99 Offer expires May...

The German webzine "heise mobil" has an excellent 8 (web)page article on the XO (English translation provided), A good review of the hardware, the XO's unique dual-mode display, the innovative software (including Etoys!) and the cooperating developers and sponsors....

In retrospect, it was so easy. Last week I got a mysterious e-mail saying, Our host just had a birthday (perhaps a BIG one, I'm not sure) and was "lamenting" according to [his wife], that there was no celebration. She asked us not to bring gifts, but Chris and I have an idea: when we all sing him the surprise...

Hello everyone! I'm new here, and I've decided to introduce myself by asking a pretty divisive question: How much does fancy gear really do for you?

Jessica Dolcourt posted a great article on the One Laptop Per Child initiative in Nigeria on CNET news. We are finally seeing the beginning of the first deployments of the laptop. I think we're going to be impressed with what these young children do with this technology. Photos and Video of the 3-day event also available. Nice overview of the...