News from the web

Apple held its Spring Loaded event on April 20 and one of the biggest announcements was the iPad Pro 2021. The tablet is packed with plenty of upgrades for 2021, including new display tech, a powerful processor and 5G-support. But, how does it compare to Apple’s other tablets? Read on to discover all the similarities and differences between the iPad Pro 2021 and the iPad Air 4. ...   The Inquirer

The word is out, the Garmin Venu 2 is officially here and while there’s a sizeable list of changes over its predecessor, these are the four new features you need to know. ...   The Inquirer

The long awaited follow up to the fantastic Garmin Venu smartwatch is finally here, with the Garmin Venu 2 and Gamin Venu 2S having been officially revealed. Striking the balance yet again of being a stylish wearable/fitness tracker, the Venu 2 brings back several key features including a bright AMOLED screen and the ability to store up to 650 songs for offline playback via services such as ...   The Inquirer

Specialized webcams that support Windows Hello are still, surprisingly, rare. Microsoft’s secure-login system using fingerprint, biometric, and facial recongnition technology is, after all, a unique feature of Windows 10. It makes sense users would want to pair a  desktop PC or older laptop with a Windows Hello-compatible camera in order to get its convenient security benefits. ...   PC World

Windows 10 has a fantastic set of built-in security tools. In recent years, Windows Defender, the built-in antivirus for Windows 10, has performed as well as (and sometimes even better than) the major third-party suites.Many of Windows 10’s security features are turned on by default, such as Windows Defender’s real-time malware scanning and scheduled quick scans. ...   PC World

Amazon has provided a threat to most traditional high street businesses down the years, but at least the local hairdresser is safe, right? Wrong. In a check-calendar-to-make-sure-it’s-not-April-1 moment, Amazon has opened a hair salon in the trendy Spitalfields area of east London. ...   The Inquirer

Stay on top of the latest tech with PCWorld’s Digital Magazine. Available as single copies or as a monthly subscription, it highlights the best content from PCWorld.com—the most important news, the key product reviews, and the most useful features and how-to stories—in a curated Digital Magazine for Android and iOS, as well for the desktop and other tablet readers. ...   PC World

Apple’s new Magic Keyboard will bring Touch ID functionality to the iMac for the first time, but those hoping to use it on the new iPad Pro M1 are out of luck. While iPad Pro M1 users will be able to use the keyboard, the Touch ID functionality won’t be available despite sharing the same architecture as Apple Silicon based Macs. ...   The Inquirer

OnePlus WatchThe recent torrent of negative reviews is uncharted territory for OnePlus. The company’s phones have been critical and cult favourites for years, but the OnePlus Watch has not followed suit. The company is hoping to temper those assessments of its £149 smartwatch by bringing a pretty standard smartwatch feature – an always-on display – in a future update. ...   The Inquirer

Microsoft has dropped the requirement for an Xbox Live Gold subscription in order to enjoy free-to-play online games like Fortnite, Rocket League and Apex Legends. After a limited test last month, the company has now announced a range of 50 games will be available to play freely, whether you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription or not. ...   The Inquirer

Sony PlayStation Plus members could be about to get an influx of Sony Pictures-made movies and TV shows as an added perk. The console-maker has launched a PlayStation Plus Video Pass trial in Poland that sees movies like Zombieland: Double Tap, Venom and Bloodshot available for subscribers to enjoy as an additional benefit, alongside the monthly crop of free games. ...   The Inquirer

The introduction of the new iMac 2021 has brought up a difficult question: which is the better option in the iMac 2021 vs MacBook Pro face off?  We’ve dug through the specs to offer a detailed comparison of Apple’s new desktop and the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro. ...   The Inquirer

In the ongoing feature war of videoconferencing software, Google Meet is shifting focus to, well, you by overhauling its interface as well as offering AI-powered autozoom and low-light features in the coming weeks and months. ...   PC World

Apple introduced a snazzy new purple hue for its iPhone 12 at the Spring Loaded event and yes, it’s a nice additional colour for one of the best phones you can buy right now. But, really, this new colour just got us thinking about what shades we’d love Apple to give us when the inevitable iPhone 13 arrives later on this year. ...   The Inquirer

When I was a kid, I’d absorb hints and cheat codes for the latest Nintendo games through a sort of osmosis. On playgrounds or at friends’ houses, we’d trade these bits of wisdom as if they were arcane secrets—even though most of us had simply picked them up by reading Nintendo Power. ...   PC World

Roku has announced that the content from the Quibi acquisition it made in January will launch on The Roku Channel and be re-branded as “Roku Originals”. Remember Quibi? Back at the start of the pandemic, the video streaming service launched as a sort of counter-programming service to the likes of Netflix and Disney+, offering a selection of short-form content to be enjoyed on mobile ...   The Inquirer

Square Enix has today revealed some jaw-dropping origami figures of the upcoming Nier Replicant remaster characters, including both the Protagonist and Emil in stunning detail.  Finnish Origami artist Juho Könkkölä is the genius mind behind these origami creations, confirming that it took him a whopping 210 hours for the preparation and folding of the figures. ...   The Inquirer

Signia – one of the world’s leading hearing aid brands – has announced its new Active Pro range, a hearing aid that emulates the look and features of a true wireless earbud. Hearing aids aren’t usually a news topic we write about at Trusted Reviews, but Signia’s new range has piqued our attention. ...   The Inquirer

The new M1-based iMac represents a significant upgrade for Apple’s popular All-in-One computer. But PC makers sell All-in-Ones too, though, and some of them are good machines. Can any of them measure up to the new iMac?We looked closely at the specs we know about Apple’s new computer, and compared it to the All-in-Ones from major PC makers. ...   PC World

Apple announced the sixth generation update to Apple TV 4K last night, but you can now bag the existing fifth gen streaming box with a hefty discount. Originally going for £179 upon release, you can now bag a refurbished Apple TV 4K for just £134.99 when you use the code PARCEL10 at the checkout. ...   The Inquirer

The iPad Pro 2021 is real, and it looks set to be the most powerful Apple tablet every made. To the point I’d argue it’s not even fair comparing it to Android tablets anymore. ...   The Inquirer

Apple debuted its latest iPad Pro (2021) on Tuesday, powered by the M1 chip that has propelled Macs to new heights of performance. But how does it shape up against Microsoft’s Surface tablets, among the best Windows tablets you can buy? Based just on the specs—pretty well, as it turns out. ...   PC World

Market-research firm Omdia says smart displays accounted for 38 percent of worldwide smart speaker sales in the first quarter of 2021, and Apple doesn’t have one.   PC World

Vinyl enthusiasts, get ready. Technics has launched a new entry-level direct drive turntable in the SL-100C and a new turntable aimed at DJs in the SL-1200MK7. The Technics SL-100C (£799 / €899) slots in beneath the SL-1500C – one of the best turntables we’ve reviewed in recent years – as the brand’s most affordable vinyl deck yet. ...   The Inquirer

Apple finally gave us a new Apple TV 4K and the price is anything but right. Apple won’t care, argues Chris Smith. Apple TV Plus is where the money’s at. As I watched Apple unveil its first new Apple TV 4K hardware in almost four years, I crossed my fingers. For me, the proposition would be all about the price. The existing model, as old as it is, is way too expensive. ...   The Inquirer

Iconic British hi-fi brand Bowers & Wilkins has entered the true wireless market with its PI7 and PI5, seeking to offer an uncompromising wireless audio performance. Better late than never, right? Bowers & Wilkins has finally jumped into the true wireless headphone market, and it’s aiming to make a big splash. ...   The Inquirer

We’ve waited longer for AirTags vs Tile than we have for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua. Now Apple has finally laced up the gloves, what can we expect from the heavyweight item tracker title fight? Apple has finally (it’s been so long this probably deserves a The Rock-like “fiiiiiiiiiiiinally”) announced AirTags at its Spring Loaded event on April 20. ...   The Inquirer

Breaking news: Apple’s new M1 iPad Pros won’t kill the PC. Yes, the new M1 iPad Pro family wields all the bells and whistles you’d expect of one of the most famous and popular pieces of technology in human history. In fact, I’m very impressed by the new iPad Pro. I think the new 12.9-inch version might actually be everything the original iPad Pro dreamed it could be. ...   PC World

Apple’s latest M1 iMacs may include powerful new M1 Arm chips that the Windows world may still dream of running on. But the company has yet to acknowledge that people like logging in with their face. Where are the Windows Hello depth cameras for the Mac?Apple’s new M1-powered iMacs debuted on Tuesday with biometric identification in the form of a Touch ID fingerprint reader. ...   PC World

Apple just unveiled its latest update to the iMac family: the iMac 2021. But how does it compare to its predecessor in the iMac 2021 vs iMac 2019 face-off?  Apple announced the iMac 2021 during its Spring Loaded event on April 20, alongside the iPad Pro 2021 and the brand-new Apple AirTag. ...   The Inquirer

Sound Dust has released Table Of Elements, a periodic table of sound for Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2, available now with special 40% off intro pricing. They say:... Read More   KVR Audio

HoRNet has released MultiFreqs, a multi track spectrum analyser that provides two different kinds of visualisation of the audio spectrum for up to 28 tracks together. The first... Read More   KVR Audio

Back on March 11th of this year, the audio and music software community was pleasantly surprised to see an announcement of cooperation between iZotope and Native Instruments, two of the... Read More   KVR Audio

UVI have just released Super-7, an '80s analog toolbox with vintage polysynth, drum machines and more, available now with special intro pricing. They say: Explore over 260... Read More   KVR Audio

Plugin Boutique has released a new version of VirtualCZ with support for Apple Silicon, the Oddsound MTS-ESP micro tuning system and several bug fixes. Existing users will be... Read More   KVR Audio

The Surge Synth Team has updated Surge (formerly Vember Audio Surge) to version 1.9.0. Surge 1.9 is a major feature expansion over January's Surge 1.8 release, including 4 new... Read More   KVR Audio

Ample Sound has released the Bridge library for Ample Guitar SC, and has updated the AGSC to version 3.3. The Bridge library is sampled from a Fender Stratocaster 50th Anniversary... Read More   KVR Audio

apulSoft has updated apShaper to version 1.1.3. Changes: Input and output meters now have units, markers and peak hold. Increased the number of user modulation knobs... Read More   KVR Audio

God Mode from denise audio has been updated to version 2.0. The new version features these improvements: GUI: Resizable interface. GUI: Precise value update, when holding... Read More   KVR Audio

Replika Sound has announced a substantial upgrade to their Electric Guitar multi-articulation Virtual Instrument for Kontakt 5.3 (or newer). New Features and Controls:... Read More   KVR Audio

Woodman's Immaculate Maple Syrup Studio has released WoodSynth 2.0, an update of its multi-layer synthesizer with some major new features: Added multi-point ADSR display/editor... Read More   KVR Audio

Nembrini Audio has announced the release of Shimmer Delay Ambient Machine, a new Audio Unit, VST plug-in and AAX plug-in for macOS and Windows. Prominently popularised... Read More   KVR Audio

Arturia has released Pigments 3, their polychrome instrument that spans every shade of synthesis. They say: Pigments 3 introduces the boundless power of additive synthesis,... Read More   KVR Audio

ANWIDA Soft has released SPAZIO Light, a free reverb plug-in for MacOS (the Windows version is 'coming soon'). ANWIDA Soft says: SPAZIO Light allows you to simulate... Read More   KVR Audio

Sample Logic has announced the release of Drum Fury 2, an extensive collection of more than 50 deeply-sampled world drums and found sound percussive instruments. Sample Logic... Read More   KVR Audio

iConnectivity has introduced the Audio4c, an Audio and MIDI interface designed to make streaming, playback and recording easy. Application-tailored modes for streaming, recording and live... Read More   KVR Audio

J74 has updated the J74 product line of Ableton Live / Max for Live plugins for compatibility to Ableton Live 11: J74 Progressive, version 4.1.4. J74 BassLine, version: 1.2.1. J74... Read More   KVR Audio

BFD Drums today launched their new website, bfddrums.com. The new website will serve as the online hub for all things BFD, including an online store, inMusic Profile management, and more.... Read More   KVR Audio

MusicDevelopments has updated RapidComposer to version 4.1.4. This maintenance update includes several bug fixes. Changes: Fixed: entering a melody formula crashed... Read More   KVR Audio

Samba Godschynski has updated Werckmeister, the open source MIDI compiler, to version 0.1.57. New Features: Volume fade in/out Define own note symbols (e.g. for drum... Read More   KVR Audio

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Audio Editing: VividTracker is an Amiga Protracker compatible music maker app. You can load, save, edit, and create new ProTracker modules. You can also export samples to Korg NTS-1 and Korg Volca Sample. Features: 1. Compatible with Protracker modules created on the...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Misc / Unclassifiable: Shazam will identify any song in seconds. Discover artists, lyrics, videos & playlists, all for free. Over 1 billion installs and counting! “Shazam is an app that feels like magicâ€? - Techradar.com WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT Find the name of any song in...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Training: Train and improve your trumpet skills with a consistent warm-up schedule. This app helps you to cover all relevant aspects of a warm-up with a set of well defined schedules. The musical scores can be zoomed, most steps contain a built-in metronome with...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Portable Studio / MultiTracks: AUM is the flexible audio mixer, recorder, and connection hub for your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Connect hardware inputs and outputs, Audio Unit extensions, Inter-App Audio apps, Audiobus, soundfile players, built-in signal processing and filters,...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Tuners: Violin Tuner is a tool for tuning musical instrument violin. It listens to instrument sound with your iPhone microphone and measures the sound frequency produces sample reference sounds when touching the strings on screen gives directives like TIGHTEN and...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Others: Try a completely new, original, fun, exciting and relaxing music and game experience with the sounds of your Laser Harp! Compose your songs or play the music game. Two apps in one! Are you ready for this great music experience? This is the FULL FREE version of...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Portable Studio / DJ: With DJ Mix you mix your media library items: perfect for your party! Features: • DJ Mix is very simple and easy to use • Find and select songs in your media library • Control the 2 players with the play, pause, back and forward buttons • Adjust...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Synthesizers: DronePlayer is a fun, interactive practice assistant for improvising musicians. Playing over extended tonalities is a great way to develop your ears as well as your musical ideas. Long, sustained tones are generally known as drones. Drones have proven...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Analysis: Scope Pro is an Oscilloscope that lets you see the sounds around you! Scope Pro takes the audio signals from your microphone and draws them to your screen! You can choose from 3 handy display views: Raw Signal, Timeline Waveform, or Frequency. Each is fun and...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / ToolBox: Featured in Apple's TV commercial 'Amazing Apps' Practice+ is a complete practice and performance toolkit for musicians that contains five separate modes including Tuner, Metronome, Recorder, Setlist and Loop Modes. Each mode can work simultaneously with the...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Sheet Music & Tablatures: ScorePlayer allows for network-synchronised scrolling of proportional colour music scores on multiple iPads. This is designed to facilitate the reading of scores featuring predominantly graphic notation in rehearsal and performance. Key...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Chords and Scales: Get the world's largest catalog of guitar, bass & ukulele chords, tabs, and lyrics to learn your favorite songs! Search for any song by type, difficulty, tuning, and rating. Focus on guitar techniques or discover songs for particular moments with...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Rythme Mach. & Loops: Featured 170 times on App Store category pages! Comes with Ableton Link synchronization and Ableton Live Set Export. Machinedrum: 'It's awesome, a lot of fun to work with and very easy to get something going. I love the sound presets too.“...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Analysis: Singscope is a tool for checking the pitch of your singing. It analyzes the singing voice and shows the pitch in the music scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) as function of time. You can visualize your pitch and singing features, such as vibrato, in the scope. Simply tap...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Games, Ear Trainig: What's the Frequency? will help you to become a better audio engineer. It helps you to recognise the frequencies you are hearing. Given short audio samples of pure tones or filtered noise you have to respond with the correct frequency of the tone, or...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Synthesizers: Video: A microtonal capable distortion synthesizer with an 11-string bass guitar layout with extremely low latency. This App gives you: Too much octave range The ability to play totally out of tune A small amount of help on...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Others: LoAdKer is a novel rhythm event generator that is based on fractal sequences. Unlike most other drum-mahines, LoAdKer has the ability to create complex patterns that evolve over time, sounding similar but not exactly the same. The result can be anything from...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Rythme Mach. & Loops: Wanna make bangin' rap beats on the go? Now you can with Rap Beat Maker for iPhone. You can make tight beats and drum patterns and play them back plus the app supports some audio out cables so you can play your beats on your stereo system or audio...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Sheet Music & Tablatures: Search for classical sheet music with your iPhone or iPad with this app. The app comprises a musical corpus from the Petrucci Music Library, (IMSLP), the Library of Congress and the Duke University Library. A sum total of 1.6 million musical...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Percussions: Play along i-XyloPhone for 'kids' of all ages! It’s the best Xylophone on the App Store! Try it now: it's FREE and really FUN!!! This app was in the Top20 in US, UK, Russia, China, France, Australia, Spain, Canada, Italy, etc. and featured in the 'New &...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Controllers: MIDITina is an English Concertina CoreMIDI control surface. MIDITina doesn't produce any sound on its own, it is for playing hardware or software VST-style MIDI synthesizers via CoreMIDI hardware interfaces connected to the dock connector or virtual MIDI...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Rythme Mach. & Loops: Proud winner of a 2015 Electronic Musician Editors’ Choice Award! Slice and sequence your loops with a matrix of markov-chain connections. Introduce order with the probability based coin-flipping pattern sequencer. Bend time with warp functions...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Drums: DrumJam is a whole new world of percussion and drums for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Designed by award winning international percussionist Pete Lockett and Sonosaurus LLC, the developer of ThumbJam, this app is a real first for percussion. It's an exciting...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Courses: Trumpet Studio Reviews: • My son is studying the trumpet and this is exactly what we needed to help him along! The animated fingering with pitch is not only very useful but makes practicing more fun for Ben. Best of all this will save me money in extra...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Analysis: LARSA, or Loudspeaker And Room System Analyzer, is a powerful impulse response measurement and analysis tool. It is ideally suited for measuring loudspeakers in rooms, multi-speaker setups, car audio systems, home theater systems or larger, installed loudspeaker...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Others: This app makes the famous Jeux d'orgues 2 sample set of Joseph Basquin (see ) available for playing with MIDI keyboards and a MIDI pedal connected to your iOS or macOS device. For more information about the app and the underlying...   440Software

iPhone, iPad / Education / Courses: • Learn To Play Your Favorite Bass Lines on the Bass Guitar. • Learn Scales and Jam to a Click/Backing Tracks. Save Riffs. • Learn typical patterns (e.g. reggae, walking bass, hard rock). • Highly configurable. Resizeable fretboard suitable for all...   440Software