The Frugal Networker

Flashpoint 300 LED on Camera Light (Review)

October 1, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

The Flashpoint 300 (300) LED is the first on-camera LED light that I’ve tried and I have to say up front that I love it. The 300 is a lightweight, versatile, fully adjustable light source that delivers as much or as little light as you want for a very good price. 300 individual LEDs provide you with strong, even light that you can’t reproduce with a standard flash unit.

Flashpoint 300 LED: On-Camera Light with Audio

The large 300 diode LED gives action videographers and still photographers super bright, high-quality output. With auto light levels, stereo microphones and a signal flash mode, the 300 LED can sense lighting requirements and delivers automatic balance exposure as it passes from one environment to another, making it ideal for run-and-gun shooters looking for the most light on demand. The on-board stereo electret condenser microphones are also invaluable for traveling shooters, minimizing the need to cage-rig a camera for attaching an external microphone. The sensitive mics are distanced from camera sounds on either top corner of the light, delivering clean audio directly to the camera. All fitting comfortably atop a camera’s hot shoe or off-camera via the convenient stand thread, the 300 LED is a comprehensive package in a superior, sleek design.

I like that the unit delivers consistent light at all levels. There’s no flicker or any odd color shifting at full power or at any power setting.

Advanced 300 LED lamp count in a sleek but strong unit.
Delivers amazing flicker free Daylight 7140 lux at 50cm.
Generous beautiful wrap around 80 degree angle emission.
Automatic light level mode responds to conditions automatically or total manual control with fine settings.
Dimmer dial from 0-100% with shift free color.
Renders at least 85% of total spectral value.
Digital display for battery level and light output .
Uses standard Sony NP 7.4v Lithium battery plus DC power adapters.
Built-in Stereo Microphones delivers clean audio to camera.
Constructed of super tough black ABS.
Keeps subjects and gear cool and comfortable when used close up.
Special emergency signal capabilities.

Why it’s Frugal: The Flashpoint 300 LED is frugal because it’s the only light you need for a variety of situations including run-n-gun, still photography, video, and fill lighting. When you only need one light that can fill almost every need, then it’s frugal.

I took the 300 with me to SpiceWorld 2015 in Austin last week and I had a professional photographer ask me all about it. I showed him all the same features that I explained in the video. I’ll bet that he’s already placed an order for one.

If you can only carry one light with you, this should be the one. In its bag, with two extra batteries (sold separately), that I highly recommend that you purchase, the space cost is approximately 9″x7″x1.5″. That small space contains the 300 LED, the audio cable, two batteries, and your filters.

The only reason that the 300 didn’t get the coveted 10/10 is that it drains batteries (sold separately for $22.70) pretty fast. And it drains them even when the unit is off, but the the batteries are connected. So, remove your battery from the unit if it’s going to be off for more than 30 minutes. Buy more than one battery. You get two plus a charger from the link above at Amazon.

Rating: 9.5/10

Recommendation: If you are a photographer or videographer, this light must be in your bag. And the batteries too.

Categories: Product Review Tags: Adorama, audio, flashpoint 300 LED, LED, lighting, Photography, professional lighting

Real time color correction with Premiere Pro Mercury Playback. New trackpad control capabilities. Support for DaVinci Resolve. New Looks Presets and LUTs

September 27, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

Portland, Oregon – September 23, 2015 – Red Giant today announced the availability of Magic Bullet Suite 12.1, a free update to the Magic Bullet Suite 12 color correction, finishing and film looks solution. Packed with new features, presets and host support, the Magic Bullet Suite 12.1 update offers a more fluid color correction experience that includes new trackpad controls and real time color correction during video playback.

Magic Bullet Suite 12 includes Magic Bullet Looks, Magic Bullet Colorista III, Magic Bullet Film, Magic Bullet Mojo, Magic Bullet Cosmo, Denoiser II and LUT Buddy with new key v12.1 features and capabilities in the following:

Magic Bullet Looks (v3.1)

A more intuitive and fluid way to control color correction tools, Trackpad Mode lets users interact with Looks using the computer’s trackpad, a control surface they already own.
Updated LUT tool with new LUTs and Looks
Support for DaVinci Resolve

Magic Bullet Colorista III (v1.1)

Support for OpenCL and Cuda allows for real time color correction during video playback via Adobe Premiere Pro’s Mercury Playback Engine.
Back by popular demand, Skin Overlay makes it easy to verify and correct skin tones.
Keyer “Cut Out” mode uses the Colorista Keyer to create layer transparency for more powerful, layered color corrections.

Magic Bullet Film, Cosmo, Mojo

Magic Bullet Film, Cosmo and Mojo now support Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. This adds to their existing host application support for Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and Apple Final Cut Pro X, allowing users to work within their editing environment of choice.

Magic Bullet 12.1 Tutorials

Getting Started with Magic Bullet Looks in DaVinci Resolve https://youtu.be/0gz6rgydXUw
Mercury Playback with Colorista III https://youtu.be/8MpX-sgiiB8
Trackpad Mode https://youtu.be/3scQGdFW9pI
Colorista III Keyer Cutout Mode https://youtu.be/uIrq3UBe-MM
Colorista Skin Overlay https://youtu.be/K76j8_uaRs4
The New Magic Bullet Looks 3 LUT Tool https://youtu.be/LJYysYIlfKo

How to Update to Magic Bullet Suite 12.1
To update an existing Magic Bullet Suite, please visit http://www.redgiant.com/product-downloads/ or use Red Giant Link to update. For more information, or to purchase, please visithttps://www.redgiant.com/products/magic-bullet-suite/.

The Red Pledge
Red Pledge is Red Giant commitment to customer happiness, with no purchasing hassles. Learn about the Red Pledge guarantee at www.redgiant.com/redpledge/.

About Red Giant
Red Giant is a software company made up of talented artists and technologists who collaborate to create unique tools for filmmakers, editors, VFX artists, and motion designers. Our company culture is focused on finding balance between work and life – we call it “the double bottom line” – this philosophy helps us ignore complexity in favor of building simple tools that yield giant results. Over the last decade, our products (like Magic Bullet and Trapcode) have become the standard in film and broadcast post-production. With countless users around the world, it’s nearly impossible to watch 20 minutes of film or TV without seeing our software in use. From our experiences as artists and filmmakers, we aspire to not only to provide tools for artists, but inspiration as well. Watch our films, learn from our free tutorials and behind the scenes, or try our software at www.redgiant.com.

Categories: Press Releases Tags: color correction, film look, LUT tool, magic bullet, Photographer, Photography, red giant, video

Pitch Me with upitch: Public Relations & Journalist Pitch Discovery App

September 22, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

There’s an app for that. If you want to pitch me a story, you might want to try upitch. The upitch service is an app and a website where you can pitch your stories to journalists who use the app. The app is also for journalists who filter your pitches based on content. The app allows journalists to connect via a chat applet with the pitch posting company. Companies can post their pitches directly to journalists who want to see them and journalists can filter the pitch noise to focus in on what’s relevant to them and their beats. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m just surprised, and sorry, that I didn’t think of it.

Every day, I receive at least two dozen PR pitches from various sources for stories to be posted on ZDNet, The Frugal Networker, Datamation, or other venues that I write for. Most end up in my mail client’s Trash folder. Some intrigue me enough to respond with a, “Please send me the announcement (or whatever) under embargo, but no promises.” A minority actually interest me enough to say, “Hey, let’s schedule a call for this.” It’s a public relations person’s job to pitch stories to journalists in hopes of getting their clients some ink on a website or to get a reviewer to review a product. I get it. I’m sensitive to it. Some products, services, and companies just don’t make the cut for my beats. We all have to live with that.

There are pitches that just aren’t right for the products and services that I write about. I don’t mean any offense when I say, “No.” Hopefully the PR person hasn’t only queried me for a potential story.

I sometimes say, “No” because of a poor approach, a bad pitch, a company that just doesn’t resonate with me, or for any number of reasons. I almost always say, “No” to pitches that involve companies that use cheap labor locations. It’s just my personal thing.

From the iTunes upitch app page:

upitch is a self-service public relations app (PR tool) for anyone looking to get media coverage, and a convenient and easy discovery tool for journalists to browse and swipe through story pitches and news announcements (or concise press releases).

Brands/People/Charities/Public Figures

Are you launching a product, company, movie, music single, art exhibit, event or maybe just have news you want press coverage for?

Upload concise, formatted story pitches and news announcements through the upitch mobile app or at UPitchApp.com on your desktop or laptop
Choose your industry and geographical filters
Your pitch will now appear on the smartphone or tablet screen of every journalist who is searching for stories in your industry and geographical location
When a journalist swipes right on your pitch you will receive a notification and you and that journalist can now message each other directly via upitch instant messenger.

Journalists/Producers/Bloggers

Are you looking for your next news story idea?

Log in and choose your industry and geographical location filters
Start swiping through concise and easy-to-read pitches that are relevant to what you cover
Swipe right on pitches you wish to pursue as stories and make direct contact with the person or brand who uploaded the pitch via upitch instant messenger to coordinate the story or to learn more
When you wish to end communication, simply hit “End Chat”

What’s not to love about a service that actually helps people connect with journalists who’ll write about their products and services? This is not an app review, but I have to tell you that I love upitch and I’ll be glad, hence this post, when more companies start using it so I can get some great stories that I choose to pursue.

Yes, it’s frugal. Any app or service that can help me do my job in a faster, more pleasant manor is frugal, because I don’t have to spend valuable time skimming through every random pitch that ends up in my Inbox. And I don’t have overzealous PR folks calling my cell phone number that somehow keeps being placed into the Cision database despite my protest and multiple removals.

The upitch app works for me. I like it. I’m glad that someone created this app and this service to better connect journalists and companies that have stories to tell. It’s not that I don’t love my PR homies; I do. It’s just that, for me, upitch works and it works well.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid or sponsored article and I’m in no way associated with upitch either financially or personally.

Categories: Articles, Product Focus Tags: app, Apple, iTunes, journalists, public relations, upitch

5 Places to Never Use a Bank or Credit Card

September 18, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

Contributed Article By: Shaun Murphy, CEO Private Giant

According to ConsumerCredit.com, 80% of consumers use their debit cards for everyday purchases like gas, meals and groceries instead of cash. While a card is more convenient to simply swipe through a machine versus counting out change and worrying if you have enough cash on hand to make a purchase, it is not always the safest way to pay. Cash cannot be traced to a bank account or to other personal financial information like a bank or credit card can.

Privacy and security expert Shaun Murphy, founder of Private Giant, has identified five places consumers should never use their bank or credit card in order to help prevent their identity from being stolen and to protect their personal information.

Here are the places you should think twice before swiping or entering those priceless digits:

1.) Online shopping sites that are not secure. Before you enter your credit or bank card information, look for the lock icon without any overlays. While you are checking out, you should see this icon in your web browser:

Not either of these:

Some sites, Amazon included, will not show you a lock icon until you login to your account or begin the check out process. This means anyone can see what you are shopping for while you are browsing.

2.) Hidden / out of view terminals. A hidden terminal could be as simple as the gas pump furthest away from the center or an unattended station for automatic checkouts at the grocery store. These are sweet targets for credit card skimming devices that can sit there for months without anyone noticing.

3.) Cell phone charging stations. While it may sound convenient to swipe your card to charge your phone for free when the battery is nearly dead, but you should think again. Despite being ripe for credit card skimming or nefarious credit card information storage, these devices can also dump the information from your cell phone while charging! This attack method even has a cool name: Juice Jacking!

4.) Apps (desktop or mobile) that ask you for your credit card information outside of the normal app store. Chances are this is not a legit application, especially if it is threatening you (you have a virus, please deposit $10… or I’ve encrypted all of your files and I’ll unlock them for a price.)

5.) Services that claim to be free or a free trial but still need you to input a credit card before you can start using it. It is almost guaranteed that service is either going to scam you or sign you up for some paid service that will be impossible to cancel.

Now, if you are wondering how exactly you are supposed to pay for the services you need in situations like those listed above there are a few options. One of the easiest is to use your bank or credit card to buy one-time use/reloadable cards that do not have ties to your personal information. Just make sure when you are checking out at the store that you go to a clerk, not a self-checkout lane.

Categories: Contributed Articles Tags: credit cards, debit cards, personal information, privacy, Private Giant, scams, security, skimmers

Technovator XE: Wireless Device Charging

September 14, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

I recently had the opportunity to interview Technovator CEO, Ivan Chuba about his new wireless charging technology solution, known as XE. The solution consists of a device case, a charging base station, and an app that handles the connection between the two devices.

This is a transcript of that conversation.

1. Can you tell us a little about you, your team and the company?

I have been actively engaged in programming and electronics for over 17 years, but familiarity with the computer (the legendary ZX Spectrum) and soldering happened early, professionally for more than 10 years. As I remember myself I always like to create something new. My first creations were power supply unit and detector radio receiver, toy car with engines from the tape recorder. First programs were calculator, of course and small games.
I began to observe the development of hardware startups practically with the appearance of crowd funding platform – Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Two years ago I became co-founder and CTO of startup Concepter, one of the most famous products of external flash for smartphones. The idea of creation of new project was appeared a year ago, but I understood that the existing team couldn’t implement new project due to many factors. I gathered a team Technovator who share with me my ideas and ready to new achievements.

2. What motivated your team to develop this technology (Wireless Energy Transfer), how did it all begin?

With possibilities of wireless transmission of electricity I’ve faced 17 years ago, collecting a radio detector receiver. I have often observed how many users often look for a charger cable for smartphones. Moreover, the number of devices increases and all require a power or charger. After this observations – idea of a wireless power transmission creation appeared. A search showed that no existing solutions and technologies.
The first few months of development I have studied materials and different theories and tested features. By the time I realized on how many all is real and what qualification required for engineers who have to bring my assistance. As a result we were looking for engineers who previously addicted to electronics and at least conducted experiments with wireless transmission of electricity and understand the capabilities and solutions. So Roman and Vladimir joined our team Technovator with a good theoretical and practical level in electronics.

3. Who are your competitors and what’s radically new about your solution compared to existing competitors?

There are already companies that work in direction of wireless power transmission, but each team works under own technology and with own specific. I think it’s too early to compare, because they and we do not have finished product. If you compare the prototypes, we have a fundamentally different scheme of work, built on the unique transmitter and receiver.

4. What advantages does your XE product provide to consumers?

Our technology is fully safe for people and all living; the transmitters can be placed in all areas of your home or office, where most of time a user spends with his/her Smartphone. As a result, smartphone is always fully charged, regardless of activity of its use.

5. Is this technology patented?

We constantly improve our technology, changes are inevitable. We have already begun to prepare documents for patents.

6. Please describe the design features and tell us which mobile devices you can use with XE.

Our system consists of two parts: transmitter and receiver. The receiver is an independent module that can be integrated in any device. Firstly, we plan to release case for Iphone 6/6+, and further models. Also we are considering possibilities for integration into the case for other manufacturers.

7. Is this technology safe for consumers health in daily use?

Our technology is fully safe for people, animals, environment and surrounding electronic devices. This technology is originally designed in accordance to requirements of health safety. We have already conducted required tests.

8. Have you received any certificate or confirmation of the safety of this technology?

We are still planning to conduct additional professional researches and tests that would consumers have full confidence in their security. Also we are going to obtain the corresponding certificates.

9. On what distance is possible to charge mobile devices and what is the maximum number of devices can be charged at the same time?

We have reached a distance of 5 meters (15 feet). And we still work on the improvement of efficiency and size reduction, so we do not plan to increase the distance at this moment, but in future, of course. At the same time you can charge up to 2-3 devices.

10. Can you tell us about the actual efficiency and the charging time of the mobile device using the XE system?

Current tests show high efficiency, the obtained figures will be announced later. You can view the calculated indexes in a table below:

	iPhone 6/iPhone 6s		iPhone 6 Plus/iPhone 6s Plus
Smartphone battery capacity	1810	mAh	2915	mAh
Average wireless power transfer, max	2.5	W	2.5	W
Average time to full recharge of phone battery by wired charging	1.81	h	2.915	h
Average time to full recharge of phone battery by wireless charging	4	h	6	h

11. How is your startup funded?

Our project is financed by our own resources, but we are going to attract additional funding for our further research and development. Implementation of this project will give great prospects for the electronics industry development.

12. Do you plan to improve the charging efficiency or the distance and what are the prospects of its development ?

We plan to improve our technology, to increase a distance, to reduce the size and maximize efficiency. Today, there are many devices around us that require wireless charging.

13. What’s your opinion on how your technology will affect mobile industry development?

I believe that our technology will influence on final devices, they can be made more compact with small accumulator without connectors.

14. Are you going to expand the scope of this technology in the future? If yes, in what areas?

The potential of technology lies in integration of receiver into devices. As a result, the devices will no longer require power connector leading to size reduction of the devices. You can use this technology in all areas that related to electricity and charging.

Categories: Articles, Mobile, Product Focus Tags: iPhone, iPhone 6/6S, Ivan Chuba, mobile devices, technovator, wireless charging, wireless power

IK Multimedia announces AmpliTube 4: hyper-realistic tone, control and feel

September 10, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

September 10, 2015 – IK Multimedia is proud to announce AmpliTube® 4, a major upgrade of the legendary guitar & bass tone studio DAW plug-in and software for Mac/PC. The new AmpliTube offers a whole spread of fresh specs and updated gear: It now features the most advanced speaker cabinet section ever developed, new speaker modeling, 5 new British amplifiers, a new acoustic simulator pedal, an additional “effects loop” slot between the preamp and power amp sections, a built-in 8-track DAW, an ultra-precise tuner, an inspiringly intuitive looper section and a whole lot more. These new features add to the jaw-dropping inspirational depth, hyper-real performance and amazing sonic accuracy that have made AmpliTube such an essential tool in the music studios and performance rigs of guitarists, bass players and other musicians all across the world. With more realism, more gear, better sound, more flexibility, more functionality, more tone and just plain more everything than ever before, AmpliTube 4 is the most powerful version of the ultimate guitar & bass tone studio ever released.

New hyper-realistic cab room
AmpliTube has always been about achieving the most realistic tone, and now that extreme commitment to accuracy is a part of its completely redesigned cabinet section. The new Cab Room feature is the most advanced cabinet section ever made, giving players a new level of customization and flexibility never before heard in software.

The cab room is a 3D speaker cabinet recording space that can be changed depending upon the desired “room” type and effect. Players can choose from a range of room types – from a cavernous “garage” to a full-on cabinet “dead” room – and mix the room effect and color into the overall sound.

On top of that, the cab room now has 5 distinct customization sections: There’s the cabinet selection, with size adjustment, where players can choose the speaker cabinet they’d like to match to their amplifier. There’s individual speaker selection where users can swap out individual speakers. There’smic selection and placement for finding each speaker’s “sweet spot”. There’s room selection where players select the surrounding recording environment. And there’s also a mixer section that lets players mix the levels of their speaker mics, room ambience, direct amp signal and overall main mix. Never before has such a level of control and customization been available for fine-tuning tones from the speaker section.

Dual 3D mic placement
Musicians can now mike their cabinets with up to two microphones in a full 3D space. With 18 highly coveted recording microphone models available in AmpliTube Custom Shop, AmpliTube 4 allows for a truly hyper-realistic recording environment. The room microphones can also be chosen from the available mics. This, coupled with its swappable speakers, allows for true cabinet miking with full speaker interaction – a digital first – making it easier to find that magic speaker “sweet spot” for an unprecedented level of tonal realism and control. Add in things like room ambience control, a new mixer for the cab section and gorgeous new graphics, and it’s easy to see that the new cabinet section is poised to revolutionize the way guitarists, bass players and other musicians utilize virtual cabinets in their music.

Individual speaker modeling
Never before seen in any other amp-simulator, AmpliTube 4 is the first software that now sports individual speaker modeling. This lets players swap out individual speakers in their favorite cabinets at will, allowing for creative speaker combinations that utilize the many precision-modeled speakers available for a level of tone customization that’s simply never been heard before. The AmpliTube 4 speaker cabinet section not only accurately reproduces the tonal characteristics of the individual speakers, but it also accurately picks up the harmonic interactions between the individual speaker models, the cabinet construction and the room, making it the most realistic speaker cabinet emulation available. AmpliTube 4 comes with 29 individual vintage and modern speaker models ranging from classic British to modern American and everything in between.

New hyper-realistic gear
AmpliTube 4 welcomes 5 new classic amplifier models to the mix that represent some of the best British tones from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Each amplifier has been modeled from scratch to embody a different aspect of powerfully classic British amplifier design: There’s the Brit 8000, Brit 9000, Red Pig, Brit Silver and Brit Valve-Pre – each sports its own matching cabinet. All of these new amplifiers have been created via the same methods and technologies that have made the AmpliTube brand name synonymous with world-class sound, hyper-realistic tone and extreme accuracy. These models also bring a new level of realism and sonic accuracy through a new technology that precisely replicates the dynamic interaction between the power amp and the speakers. This finally eliminates the “harshness” found in the upper frequencies of other amp modeling software. All of this new gear is exclusively available only in AmpliTube 4.

Acoustic simulator
AmpliTube 4 is all about exploring new tonal possibilities, and its new “Acoustic Sim” model pedal turns the electric guitar into a hyper-realistic acoustic. It delivers stunning realism and an amazing playing experience that can be tweaked via its intuitive onboard controls. Players can choose and blend between different 3 acoustic body styles and 3 types of top material to sound like a range of different acoustic guitars – it’s yet another technology premiere from the AmpliTube team. Now AmpliTube 4 guitarists can go from shred to strum with just one click.

UltraTuner
Also stock in AmpliTube 4 is an upgraded tuner section with IK’s patented UltraTuner technology. With tuning accuracy to 1/100th of a cent, this technology allows for the most precise digital tuner ever made. In fact, UltraTuner is so precise that it’s more accurate than mechanical strobe tuners – tuners that are widely considered to be the “gold standard” of tuning devices.

Creative connections and effects placement
New to the signal path in AmpliTube 4 is an effects “loop” insert slot situated between the preamp and power amp sections that can accommodate up to 4 daisy-chained rack effects. In addition to the new effects loop, any stomp or rack effect can now be placed into any effects slot. This means that stomp boxes can be used in the post “rack” section and rack effects can be used in any stompbox slot (on any pedalboard or in the effects loop section). This opens the door even more for creative tweaking and innovative sonic sculpting possibilities.

8-Track Recorder/DAW under the hood
When used in standalone mode, AmpliTube 4 now features a built-in 8-track DAW that makes recording ideas and songs a breeze. Its powerful sequencer-like waveform editing should be immediately familiar to any modern musician, making it easy for anyone to use it as a sketchpad for new ideas or as a full-featured recording solution on its own. Each track features standard treble, mid and bass EQ, pan control, level, mute, solo and record enable functions, plus there’s an FX enable button that allows for the application of different tone configurations to individual tracks.

As a learning tool, players can import any audio tracks into the DAW section, define loop points and use AmpliTube’s built-in speed control to slow down difficult passages without affecting pitch, and use the pitch control to change keys without affecting the speed. This feature is perfect for working out difficult solos or practicing different leads or melodies over a series of chord changes in a backing track.

A truly super looper
Rounding out AmpliTube 4’s new feature set is a MIDI-controllable 4-track looper. Dubbed the Super Looper, it’s an intuitive and full-featured 4-track looper that musicians can use to lay down multi-part backing tracks with speed and ease, and then practice leads, chords and melodies over the top.

Infinitely expandable
AmpliTube 4 comes with the built-in Custom Shop gear store feature that allows guitarists to add gear to their collections any time a-la-carte or in collections. The AmpliTube Custom Shop is the largest collection of virtual gear on the market. Its easily browsable selection of amps, stomps, cabinets and more includes officially certified models from the likes of such legendary greats as Fender™, MESA/Boogie®, Ampeg®, Orange®, Soldano™, Groove Tubes®, Gallien-Krueger®, Jet City Amplification™, THD® and T-Rex®, Fulltone®, Z.Vex®, Carvin®, Morley®, Wampler Pedals®, Dr. Z®, ENGL® and more. In addition to these well-recognized brands, there’s also signature gear from artists like Slash and Jimi Hendrix. AmpliTube 4 can also be expanded with legacy gear from previous versions of AmpliTube via the Custom Shop. Owners of previous versions can restore all purchases and gear with the “restore my gear” feature in the Custom Shop. All told, there’s over 290 pieces of professional-grade gear now available for trial and purchase in the AmpliTube Custom Shop! Gear released before AmpliTube 4 can be purchased individually or as bundles in either currency ($ or €) or in Custom Shop Gear Credits.

Plugging in to a world of sound
With IK Multimedia’s range of audio interfaces, getting tone from AmpliTube is as simple as plugging into an amplifier. iRig 2, iRig HD, iRig PRO and iRig UA are IK’s latest generation of interfaces that allow players to plug in and get pristine, pure sound quality from their Mac or PC (or iPhone, iPad or Android). Plus players can get the latest in wireless stomp control using iRig BlueBoard, IK’s Bluetooth MIDI foot controller (for iOS and Mac).

Pricing and availability
AmpliTube 4 is currently available for pre-order at a special limited-time price of $/€99.99* or 100 Gear Credits to everyone (users of AmpliTube 3, AmpliTube CS, AmpliTube collections and new users). AmpliTube 4 will be available in October via the IK online store and select music instrument retailers at a price of $/€149.99* and just 150 Gear Credits from the AmpliTube Custom Shop.

*all prices excluding taxes

For more information, please visit:
www.amplitube.com/4

A free version is also available here:
www.amplitube.com/cs

To see AmpliTube 4 in action, go to:
www.amplitube.com/4videos

Categories: Press Releases Tags: Acoustic simulator, AmpliTube, creative effects, guitar, IK Multimedia, Mac, music, music apps, musicians, PC, UltraTuner

IK Multimedia releases iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano for Android (Press Release)

August 28, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

August 27, 2015 – IK Multimedia, the leader in mobile music creation, is pleased to announce that iGrand Piano™ and iLectric Piano™ apps are now available for Android on the Google Play and Samsung Galaxy App stores. Now Android smartphone and tablet users have full access to some of the best concert-quality acoustic and studio-quality electric piano sounds on the planet. Both apps come with all the controls, advanced features and extreme playability that’s made their iOS versions such enduring classics. Now musicians with devices running Android 4.2 or higher can play some of the best sounding piano instruments ever made anywhere, any time.

iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano for Android

Both apps are perfect for use with IK Multimedia’s iRig® KEYS line of portable MIDI keyboard controllers, like iRig KEYS PRO and iRig KEYS. When paired they create the ultimate mobile playing solution for the discerning keyboard player on the go.

Pro quality acoustic and electric realism
iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano both offer an extreme degree of realism in their approach to electric and acoustic piano sounds. They feature world-class instrument sounds that have been painstakingly sampled at multiple velocities from the original sources – the same samples and process used in SampleTank 3, IK’s sound and groove workstation for professional musicians, engineers and producers – providing a supremely realistic playing experience. iGrand Piano comes with 8 instruments (plus 1 after registration) that offer a piano playing experience worthy of a concert hall. iLectric Piano comes with 20 instruments (plus 1 after registration) that are some of the most authentic sounding electric piano, electric grand and clavinet sounds ever made.

Full control
In addition to amazing sounding pianos and electric pianos, players have complete control over each instrument’s sound. Both iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano feature easy-to-use and adjustable controls that allow for intuitive tonal sculpting via the “Edit” panel. Real-time controls on the panel let iGrand Piano users adjust the amount of ambience, the position of the lid (open, closed or anything in between), brightness, envelope release, key transposition and tuning. Likewise, iLectric Piano users can adjust EQ, reverb, overdrive, tuning, transposition and a choice of 5 modulation effects (chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and auto pan).

Both feature a convenient “Variation” save system that lets musicians retain their Edit panel settings in up to 4 writeable locations provided for each instrument. This system gives musicians 4 conveniently accessible buttons (found in the Edit Strip of either app) that can be used to store knob positions and tweaks for later use when recording in the studio, on stage performing or just practicing at home.

Sounds, sounds and more sounds
Both apps can also be expanded with additional piano model sound packs that are available for in-app purchase. These packs expand the sonic range of iGrand Piano’s collection of gorgeous acoustic pianos and iLectric Piano’s stunning collection of vintage and modern keyboards by making 22 additional instruments available for each app – in total, that makes for 40 possible instruments in iGrand Piano and 64 possible instruments in iLectric Piano. The additions, titled “Piano Expansion 2” for iGrand Piano and “Electric Piano Expansion 2” for iLectric Piano, unlock an entirely new tonal dimension for mobile keyboard players to explore.

The power of Soundcamp
iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano are both compatible with Soundcamp, Samsung’s free and full-fledged music studio app that lets musicians record and compose entire songs entirely from within their devices. Both apps can be used as plug-ins for Soundcamp, which means that musicians with a Samsung Professional Audio-compatible phone (Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge or the Samsung Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Note 3 with Android 5 Lollipop installed) can use the full power of iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano in their mobile productions.

Pricing and availability
iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano for Android are available now on the Google Play and Samsung Galaxy Apps stores for an introductory special price of just $/€9.99. The “Piano Expansion 2” for iGrand Piano and “Electric Piano Expansion 2” for iLectric Piano sound packs are available individually for $9.99/€9.99. Free versions of iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano are also available.

For more information, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/igrandandroid
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ilectricandroid

To see the official videos of iGrand Piano and iLectric Piano in action, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/igrandandroid/video
www.ikmultimedia.com/ilectricandroid/video

Categories: Press Releases Tags: Android, iGrand Piano, IK Multimedia, iLectric Piano, iRig KEYS, iRig KEYS Pro, music, phone, tablet

Pet Pods Solve Lost or Damaged Earbuds Problem (Review)

August 10, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

Pet Pods
Education Outdoors PetPods
$15.99 – Amazon $5.98

So everyone loses earbuds, right? I’ve lost them. You’ve lost them. Your kids probably have lost more than one pair. It’s frustrating and it gets expensive too. Most often, my earbuds get misplaced to replace ones that have been lost. That’s even more frustrating. Well, Education Outdoors has a pretty good solution for your earbud problem that it calls Pet Pods. They’re cute little animal plush toys with earbuds inside.

The Pet Pods come in six different animal styles: Beaver, Buck, Bear, Fawn, Eagle, and Moose. Your child will love the stuffed animal and you’ll love that he or she will have a place to stash those earbuds. My daughter never knew where her earbuds were from one hour to the next, but now, she stores hers in the animal when they’re not in use.

Small children (not recommended for children under three years of age due to choking hazard) will love the plush animal as an extra “friend” to play with. Teenagers can carry the plush animal ironically to show how cool they are by carrying a stuffed animal with earbuds inside.

“My wife and I have teenage daughters and between the four of us on any given day, we always used to be at least one pair of earbuds short,” said Education Outdoors CEO Tim Paczesny. “Tired of constantly searching for earbuds, I decided to create a solution and came up with the Pet Pod. America already loves stuffed animals so I figured why not make a mini version that serves dual purposes by storing a pair of headphones inside.”

You can scan the QR code to learn more about your animal.

My daughter, who actually uses the Pet Pod and earbuds told me that the Amazon price is a real value at $5.98, “Because you’ll pay that much or more just for the earbuds alone. Plus, you get the animal that you can put your earbuds into.”

She told me that her earbuds had a “bend” in them that doesn’t affect their sound or functionality now, but might in the future. She also wishes that there was something to wind up the earbuds on instead of just having them loose.

Why it’s Frugal: Earbuds generally cost from $3.00 to $50.00 or more and even at $3.00 per pair, lost ones add up over time. The Pet Pod is a cute storage compartment for your earbuds and anything that prevents lost money is frugal.

The earbuds are quality made. The plush toy is a nice little toy with the added bonus of being storage for the earbuds. In all, Pet Pods make a great gift for birthdays, stocking stuffers, or just because you don’t want to keep replacing earbuds once a month.

About Education Outdoors

An avid outdoorsman, Tim Paczesny grew up at his family’s log cabin resort in Northern Michigan. As an adult with children of his own, Tim wanted to create a way to share his knowledge of the outdoors with his children and his “city” friends. He came up with the idea of creating games that would be able to teach families about the outdoors through trivia questions and fun facts. For more information, please visit www.educationoutdoors.net.

Rating: 8/10

Recommendation: Buy it, but not for children under three.

Categories: Product Review Tags: Android, Apple, audio, earbuds, education, educationaoutdoors, pet pods, plush toy

Glow Adds QuadraPop and ParaPop 38″ Portable Softboxes to Light Modifier Line for More Flawless Hard Light Diffusion

July 28, 2015 Ken Hess Comments off

New York, NY – July 28, 2015 – Glow, the award-winning brand of high quality lighting modifiers for professional photography and video production, has just announced two new additions to its softbox collection – the Glow QuadraPop 24”x34” and the Glow ParaPop 38” Portable Softboxes. The perfect solutions for speedlights, studio lights and large portable strobes, Glow’s latest models feature excellent softbox quality, marrying a sleek look with superior, innovative design for the “pop” of innovation needed in every imaging scenario.

Both models are available with speedrings for five popular types of speedlights, monolights and studio strobe heads. The interchangeable speedrings align either light modifier with virtually every brand, allowing creative imagemakers the flexibility and value of using their modifier of choice with any type of lighting and/or brand in their gear kit, simply by changing out the speedring. Because of their durable, easy-to-use and lightweight frames, both the Glow QuadraPop and ParaPop are perfect for mobile portraits, and travel photography and videography in addition to studio work. They are ideal for imaging enthusiasts of all levels, from novice to professional.

Made primarily in Korea, the Glow line is getting noticed by customers from all over for its high quality and variety of offerings. Photographer Wally Kilburg, of The Studio at 46 West, based just outside of Chicago, commented, “Glow products are engineered to compliment other vendors’ products, as in my use of Glow softbox grids. Softbox grids often cost more than the modifier they are used on, so it’s pure joy to find the Glow grids work on the standard sizes listed – and at a way low price! Well-made, priced right, and they work as good as you can find. Pretty much the same can be said of any Glow products I have used.”

“We love the Glow products, especially in studio and on location, for their affordable pricing, great build, quality and beautiful lighting effects,” adds Daniel Marcion of Belle Portwe Photography, a premier fashion, commercial and wedding photography studio located on the island of Saint Lucia. “I can recommend The Glow Line to anyone interested in great quality light modifiers. They have a variety of products that meet our needs and we plan to continue using them in our studio.”

The QuadraPop 24”x34” and ParaPop 38” Portable Softboxes are now available online at Adorama.com and at the Adorama superstore, located at 42 West 18th Street in New York City.

About Glow QuadraPop 24”x34” Portable Softbox
The lightweight, rectangular QuadraPop 24”x34” opens and closes with speed and ease, providing ultimate portability with one snap. It was designed by engineers using UV-A and UV-R diffuser materials, to reduce UV light by up to 98% and make it exceptionally heat and water resistant. With no falloff from edge to edge, it combines the strength of a portrait key light with all of the benefits of a soft wrap, blending perfectly with any additional fill. Its rectangular shape lights evenly and makes it a popular choice for fashion, portrait, child and beauty photography.

The Glow QuadraPop is now available from Adorama for 199.95 USD.

About Glow ParaPop 38” Portable Softbox
Like the QuadraPop, the ParaPop 38” snaps into action with jointed positioning rods that open, close and lock with one click. The ParaPop’s unique 12-sided shape and parabolic profile provides a huge 105-degree light spread. It creates sun-like shadows that are slight and beautifully graduated, giving dimension where it is needed the most. The size and shape of a softbox determines how soft and seamless shadows look on a subject, and the ParaPop 38” is being quickly recognized for creating a gentler, more pleasing final shot. Learn more about softbox sizes from photography expert Gavin Hoey at the Adorama Learning Center: http://www.adorama.com/alc/0015011/article/softbox-size-vs-soft-light.

The Glow ParaPop 38” is now available from Adorama for 249.95 USD.

About Glow
The Glow line of light modifiers for photography and video is comprised of universal lighting accessories that mold and shape light, changing its quality and bringing its function to a whole new level. Fully compatible with all brands of strobes and lights, Glow umbrellas, softboxes, reflectors and beauty dishes are crafted of the highest quality materials for durability and longevity. Innovative designs make our modifiers easier to use, bringing advanced lighting setups and tools within reach of the creative vision – and budget – of every photographer.

Glow’s Grand Softbox was named Best in Show by Professional Photographer magazine in its 2014 Hot Ones Awards. Available exclusively at Adorama, customers can visit the Glow brand store online to buy: http://www.adorama.com/brands/Glow.

Categories: Press Releases Tags: Adorama, fashion photography, glow products, parapop, Photography, portrait photography, quadrapop, softbox, studio lights

TomTom Bandit Action Camera (Review)

July 23, 2015 VideoGuyJoe Comments off

Tom Tom Bandit Action Camera
TomTom
$ 399.00 Amazon (Prime)

The TomTom Bandit (Bandit) is an action camera that is for those who are into sports and other high energy activities. It captures moments in time in several formats, from HD to 4k, single to burst photos, slow motion, time-lapse to Cinematic video, and viewable in normal or wide angle. The options are many. Photo size is from 8 to 16 megapixels. The suggested storage media to use is a Class 10 microSD card on which to store your video and pictures. The Bandit allows you to quickly capture, share, and continue your activities with few interruptions to the action. The TomTom Bandit Action Camera is the ultimate selfie machine. Film yourself in the action and post it. Done.

Bandit Highlight Video

While reviewing this camera, I received many comments and questions from passersby. Because of its unusual appearance, people would approach me for a closer look. Some thought it was a robot at first. Once I told them it was an action camera, they related it to a GoPro, but commented that it looks much nicer. They liked the shape and the overall design, instead of looking like a box.

Navigating the menus is easy to do by toggling through each section to select your options. There two buttons and one directional pad, which helps you flip though the choices. The main button, with the “star” on it, is your action button, both for capturing events and powering on the unit. While moving through the menus, all you need to do is use the directional pad to traverse the choices. Once you decide in which format you want to capture, you can select the “star” button and begin filming or taking photos. Using a 32 GB Class 10 microSD you can capture several hours of continuous footage.

Item Weight	6.6 ounces
Product Dimensions	3.7 x 1.5 x 2.1 inches
Item model number	1LB0.001.00
Batteries:	1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)
Warranty	1 year limited

Sharing the video can be done in three basic ways. First, you can connect to your cell phone via the wireless network that the Bandit broadcasts. Second, you can connect through the USB. And third, you can remove the microSD card and use a memory reader. If you use the first method you can use the app, Bandit, which is downloadable from play Store for the Android or AppStore for apple phone. At that point you can let the app create a highlight video. There are several ways that can be done as well. First, and the most fun and simple, is to shake the phone. After the quick shake you have 60 to 90 seconds of video ready to play and share on your social media accounts. Second, you can select the high points yourself and lay out the time line. You can add the overlay options with either choice. The first option is your music and the other two options are speed and g-force. See the video above for a demonstration of speed.

There are a few things that this product does lack and documentation is certainly one of them. What I mean by that is there is limited information about how to use the product and how to get your fun video to the people in your social circles. The menu it is intuitive and easy to use, so a lot of documentation might not be necessary for those who like to dive right in. One of the things that I learned rather quickly by experimentation is that I had to first enable the Wi-Fi broadcast from the Bandit. You are then able to connect your phone to the Bandit network. Once you establish connectivity between your phone and the Bandit, you have the ability to edit, preview, control, and create videos from previously recorded activities.

“The TomTom Bandit Action Camera is the ultimate selfie machine.”

Even though the documentation on how to use the Bandit is poor as I wrote earlier, the menu is much like a Timex watch from the old school days. You are able to quickly determine what to do and how to get there. We are now in a society of instant gratification in that we all love the quick and easy how to. It’s like your old Timex watch and like the apple IPhone–really did you ever read the instructions on how to use your watch or your iPhone? No, probably not. Using the Bandit is as simple as the IPhone and the Timex watch are. The ease of use and built-in instant gratification functionality allows you to share your videos “in the moment” and not hours or days later, but actually while the action is still fresh.

Why it’s Frugal: The Bandit is frugal because you spend no time creating a highlights video. Just film, shake, and repeat. Time is money and that’s a frugal use of your time. At $399, it’s roughly the same price as the GoPro Hero 4, but does so much more and seems more rugged for your investment. Plus it is water resistant out of the box.

I have more than 15 years of video editing and production experience and within in a few minutes I produced and posted video of my events to social media. Combining my passion of video/photography and bicycle riding has been a great combination for the TomTom Bandit Action Camera. In the past bringing a bike riding video from filming to editing, to producing, to viewing was a really big deal. Whereas this product allows me to film in the moment and to pass that glimpse of passion to those in my social network, even before my heart stops pounding and the before the sweat has a chance to dry on my face. Before the Bandit, I would have to ingest the video, preview the video, find the high points, edit the video manually, produce the video, and then manually upload the video.

The TomTom Bandit Action Camera is for who want to do something and share it right away. It’s fun and easy to use. What more could you want from the ultimate selfie machine?

Rating: 8/10

Recommendation: Buy it and get ready to have fun.

Categories: Product Review Tags: action camera, bicycling, helmet cam, microSD, sports, tomtom, tomtom bandit, video

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