News from the web

OPINION: This week Microsoft made big waves unveiling its latest smartphone, the Surface Duo 2, and updated Surface Pro 8 and Surface Go 3 tablets. But in the sea of announcements there was one key device missing: the Surface Book 4. Prior to the event there was a sea of “leaks” suggesting the firm planned to release a new Book. ...

TV antennas aren’t just for cord-cutters looking to cut back on the cost of TV entertainment. A good TV antenna will bring in anywhere from 20 to more than 100 channels, depending on where you live. The stations are free, don’t require a broadband connection (with the exception of some ATSC 3. ...

Stop right there! Did you see this deal? A decked-out Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop for only $1,200 at B&H! That’s a whopping $400 discount on this power-packed beast of a machine. This Lenovo Legion 5i is loaded with a top-end Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and a jaw-dropping 32GB of DDR5 RAM. ...

For the most part, we’re fans of Roku’s friendly, intuitive remotes, and particularly the ones that have voice capabilities. But there’s a sticking point—four of them, actually—when it comes to the Roku remote: the quartet of buttons at the bottom stamped with the logos of popular streaming services. ...

A decade after the Portege laptop exited the consumer market, it’s back — and with a user-replaceable battery, too. On Friday, Dynabook — which, as Sharp, took over Toshiba’s PC business in 2018 and then renamed itself — announced the Portege Z40L-N, a $1,699 laptop based upon the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processor. ...

Despite Nvidia’s dominance of the consumer graphics card market, AMD’s 7000 series is pretty great… unless you want ray tracing. The advanced lighting techniques are where Nvidia’s cards truly shine, and AMD just can’t keep up — even at (sort of) better prices. But what about the new RX 9070 and 9070 XT cards? Adam and Will investigate in the latest PCWorld YouTube video. ...

Spring and summer are right around the corner, which means it’s time to get out of your seasonal depression funk. Go outside, soak in the sun, and have fun with a Bluetooth speaker at your side! JBL’s Flip 6 portable speaker is up to the task — and it just so happens to be on sale for $99.95 on Amazon, a 23% discount off its MSRP. ...

If you’re still rocking a 1080p desktop monitor, I think it’s time to upgrade. At 27 inches, a 1440p display gives you almost twice the screen real estate in terms of pixels while still being comfy enough for day-to-day use. Today, you can get Acer’s take with upgraded IPS panel for just $109.99 at Best Buy. That’s a smooth $90 off. ...

You already know you should keep your computer, tablet, and phone updated to keep them secure (or at least I hope you know that by now, otherwise I’m not doing my job). But a recent malware attack shows why it’s also important to keep all the other devices on your Wi-Fi network updated as well. ...

If you haven’t been paying attention to the news, heads up—prices for tech gear are shooting up. Tariffs are now in effect for goods imported from China, and they’ve doubled since their original announcement. The US government is now imposing an additional 20 percent tax, instead of 10 percent. ...

If you’re thinking of getting an SSD and you plan on taking it out and about with you everywhere, across all sorts of terrain in all sorts of conditions, then you need something that’s ruggedized — like the Samsung T7 Shield that’s on sale at Amazon. Right now, you can grab the 1TB version for $100 (was $170, now 41% off) or the 2TB version for $150 (was $285, now 47% off). ...

Sonic Academy has announced Vela, a new reverb plugin based on a new reverb technology that, according to Sonic Academy, is designed for versatility, capable of creating everything from ultra-realistic spaces to expansive soundscapes. The plugin features a fully customizable early reflection system combined with a node-based late reflection engine. ...

AudioThing has updated Wurly, a vintage electric piano plugin to v1.2. Wurly is a plugin inspired by the famous reed electric pianos from the 60s and 70s. Changes in v1.2: Added: Effect Section (Overdrive, Phaser, Flanger, Spring Reverb). Added: New presets. Added: macOS Sequoia Support. Improved: CPU and memory usage. Fixed: Bypass causing note loop. Pricing: $69 (desktop) and $19.99 (iOS). ...

Ocean Swift has updated their Porphyra Hybrid synthesizer for Kontakt 8 to version 1.2. The update is available for free for all Porphyra Hybrid customers and bring lots of new additions, like new filters, wavetables and presets. New features: Added: Monark filter lowpass and bandpass flavors. Added: 85 New wavetables. Added: 107 additional snapshots by Fernando Abreu. ...

AudioKit Pro & Brian Funk have released KING OF VHS: VCR SYNTH, a standalone app and AUv3 plugin for iOS that features vintage synths recorded with a VCR to VHS tape, then resampled. It includes over 380+ custom presets to get you started. Features: Over 160+Multi-Sampled PCM Instruments Total – Thousands of high-quality VCR/VHS recorded samples. ...

Imaginando has announced the release of GRFX – Granular Effects, a new audio plugin designed to radically transform sound through granulation. Here's what they say: GRFX takes granular processing to new creative heights—offering a flexible, expressive, and highly playable environment for sound design, experimentation, and exploration. ...

Ueberschall has released a new loop pack for their Elastik player: Soul Club Vol. 2. Here is what they say about this construction kit library: Soul Club Vol. 2 brings you a set of laid-back construction kits with a warm retro sound. The loop pack captures the best of Soul music with the high fidelity of modern production techniques. ...

HoRNet Plugins has announced the release of version 2.1.1 of Multicomp Plus MK2, an update that enhances compatibility and stability for the versatile analog-style compressor plugin. Multicomp Plus MK2 is a dynamics processor offering five classic compressor models — VCA, OPTO, FET, Console4K, and VCA160 — along with an expander based on the VCA model. ...

Describing it as 'equal parts workhorse and abstract creative tool', Audio Damage has released Circa, a six track multi-layer looping environment that can do most of the things your popular floor pedal looper can while also paying homage to the serendipitous world of ambient looping. ...

FeelYourSound has released version 2.5.0 of its MIDI sequencer and effect plug-in ChordPotion (VST + AU). ChordPotion is a composition and performance tool. It can turn any chord progression into new riffs and melodies within seconds. New in ChordPotion 2.5.0: New 'Actions..' item in Pattern View: 'Shuffle note values'. New 'Actions..' item in Pattern View: 'Shuffle octaves'. New 'Actions.. ...

Fuse Audio Labs has released OCELOT Upmixer, a stereo upmixing plug-in for macOS and Windows in VST2, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in formats. Fuse Audio Labs say: The OCELOT Upmixer is all about bringing a natural sense of width and depth to mono sources without sacrificing phase integrity. ...

09/30/16 - Download and convert videos between various formats.

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Audio Editing: Hokusai is a multitrack audio editor for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Record or import a track, and make it sound the way you want it to: not just trimming the ends, but full cut, copy, paste and delete, and a suite of filters and special effects available....

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Audio Editing: Hokusai is a multitrack audio editor for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Record or import a track, and make it sound the way you want it to: not just trimming the ends, but full cut, copy, paste and delete, and a suite of filters and special effects available....

iPhone, iPad / Education / Training: An app for choral singers who don't read music well. Snap a photo or import JPG, PNG or PDF. Touch notes in the image to hear the pitch. Not for instrumental parts - see details below. Whether you sing in a choir, or a barbershop quartet, or other vocal group,...

iPhone, iPad / Education / Training: All aspiring music students understand the importance of Sargam practice. Practicing Sargams each day does wonders to your “Sureelapan� as well as confidence. Practicing every day under watchful eyes of your Guru is the ideal way. But that is difficult...

iPhone, iPad / Instruments / Sound Effects: Get the simplest soundboard creation app: Load sounds, samples or songs through your iTunes library Create and edit soundboards quickly and easily Up to 8 sounds per soundboard Make the most of your screen thanks to the adaptive layout Play multiple...

iPhone, iPad / Education / Games, Ear Trainig: Introducing Notes - Sight Reading Trainer, the ultimate iOS app for mastering sight reading in music! Whether you're a beginner or an experienced musician, Notes is your is your tool to become the musician you were meant to be. When you are ready to...

iPhone, iPad / Education / Games, Ear Trainig: StaffWars is a game designed to help beginning and intermediate musicians learn, practice and woodshed the note names on the grand staff, treble, alto and bass clefs. THE APP for anyone who wants to master these clefs.

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Analysis: SPL Graph is an audio Sound Pressure Level (SPL) environmental noise analyzer, real-time frequency analyzer, chart recorder and data logger. It includes: Plot sound level over time Record audio while plot is running, playback to identify sounds that may have...

iPhone, iPad / Education / Sheet Music & Tablatures: PLAY FREE MUSIC SCORES Whatever instrument you play, whether it's a piano, trumpet, guitar, or harmonica, or kalimba, you will always find notes of excellent quality. • Browse the most extensive sheet music collection from MuseScore....

iPhone, iPad / Tools / Tuners: Plays tuning notes for Viola (C G D A)