Bebot for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Who doesn't like a cute robot? And when that cute robot can help anyone feel like a music synth genius, then all the better. Enter Bebot for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Bebot is drop-dead simple: just start tapping the screen to get different notes/pitches. Hold your finger on the screen and move up and down to move through different scales and tones.

Once that novelty has worn off, you can double-tap in the lower right corner, and experience all the different cool modes of bebot, including loop which loops the sounds you just made, while you add more.

The only downside is the app doesn't offer a way to record your creations, (although you can save your pre-sets) so while it's fun for fiddling, or perhaps in a live music environment, don't expect to save your masterpieces within the program.

We would recommend it on the robot artwork alone, though!

Here's a look:

Stephen Fry's Thoughts on Digital Piracy

At the iTunes festival in the UK last month, author/actor/comedian Stephen Fry took the stage. While many in the audience were probably prepared to be amused, instead Fry spoke passionately about the conflict and the questionable tactics of organizations like the RIAA to vilify individuals who download songs illegally. In short, Fry calls for common sense to prevail, painting a picture of the history of shared communication/information as the basis for the belief that piracy today does not negatively affect sales to the extent record companies would have you believe, and that alienating the biggest fans of music isn't good business.

It seems to me, a subscription service, or free ad-supported service is the only long-term solution to satisfy the studios and our appetite for music. Yet subscription services just aren't catching on...

You can listen below. (Caution, occasional NSFW language.)

Get 770 Free Songs From Amazon

So the pirates lost today (The Pirate Bay Pirates, not the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will probably lose as well), but that doesn't mean you can't still get free music. And what if you could get that free music legally, as well? "The Other MP3 Store" Amazon has 770 tracks available for free download according to CNet. Choices range from the obscure to the famous, but why not start the weekend with some free, fresh music...

Here you go... Go wild.

Macgirl's Media Pick of the Week (3/21/09)

Well I've been threatening to share my bests and worsts of iTunes, and so this week I start "macgirl's media pick of the week".  If you have any suggestions for a future post, pelase email me at stacy@thedigitallifestyle.tv

 
I'm starting off slow, with a dated and fairly well know album recommendation.  I noticed the iTunes home page listed "Get Off" By DIPLO and Blaqstarr in the What's Hot section.  While a fine tune, I suggest listening to DIPLO's 2004 release, Florida.  Maybe it's the Philly connection, maybe I'm just stuck in 2004... but I think it holds up and is still good hip-hop inspired dance music.  Check out Florida in iTunes and let me know what you think.

Video Interview with Pandora Founder Tim Westergren

Last year, Pandora released it's iPhone app, and quite possibly changed internet "radio" forever. Suddenly personalized radio, previously only available to the masses on computers, was free from any Mac or PC, and in the wild.

I had a chance to talk to Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, about the effect the iPhone app has had on the company (spoiler: it now accounts for 15% of daily listening) and the dark days last fall as internet broadcasters were facing a potentially game-ending music royalty hike.

Enjoy, and my apologies for the bad video quality. (That might be another blog post all in itself.) Also, to put this in context, the interview took place prior to the launch of the Palm Pre, another device aimed at massive adoption that sports a Pandora client.