..or at least a professional sounding podcaster.  I’ve considering doing the podcasting, but I want to build up my reader subscription a bit more.  The Alesis USB podcasting kit doesn’t care who you are, it’ll work on Mac or PC computers.  The kit is designed for the novice user with features an advanced technical geek would enjoy.

Stream from 16 bit, 44.1-48kHz directly from your computer and use the high-quality headphones for monitoring your session.  The USB podcasting microphone makes it a snap to get connected and get going.

One of the best applications for this type of product, other than being self-absorbed and loving the sound of your voice on the net, would be setting up a portable studio for trade-show interviews with customers, clients and critics.  With the ease of setup from the Alesis system, your booth could have a podcasting station for in depth interviews, tutorials on products or guest speakers you could immediately deliver to the world via podcasting and the internet.  After all, the classic 10×20 booth with some posters and fliers is so old-school.

The Alesis USB podcasting kit is priced at just $99 bucks.  A drop in the bucket for anyone reading this post.

I’ve written about USB albums many times before and even a microSD music disk from Ricky Martin, but I thought he was going out on a limb.  Apparently not.

SanDisk just announced a sponsorship in association with the Billboard Latin Music Conference and Awards from April 6-10 in Hollywood, Florida.  I guess the sponsorship is a reflection on SanDisk’s marketing campaign to “Wake Up Your Phone” by providing pre-loaded entertainment on microSD cards.  “Wake Up Your Phone” is focused on informing mobile phone users how they can capture their experiences and take their music with them by expanding the storage capacity of their mobile phones - or between the lines - “hey consumers, don’t forget to stuff your memory slot with a microSD card for $30.”

The Billboard Latin Music Conference will also offer attendees the ability to download additional multimedia entertainment to the microSD cards, such as photos and video, in the attempt to show there is more to do that just microSD music cards.

“This year’s Billboard Latin Music Conference is all about exploring the new way of doing business, so it is extremely fitting that SanDisk Corporation is an in association sponsor of the event,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s Executive Director of Content & Programming for Latin Music & Entertainment. “From ringtones to video, understanding and utilizing mobile technology is crucial for any artist or company that wants to succeed in the Latin music business, and we’re thrilled that SanDisk will be giving our attendees the opportunity to experience the true power of mobile entertainment through its microSD cards.”

To increase awareness for how microSD cards can be used SanDisk launched this very entertertaining website WakeUpYourPhone.com.

AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX is a long name to describe the multitude of functions the USB TV tuner does. The USB based TV tuner stick has the ability to receive HDTV, Analog TV and FM radio on any Windows XP or Vista computer or laptop.

Unless you need specific subscription channels, you no longer have to put up with cable or satellite costs to get the High Definition TV everyone is craving for. The AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX does it all. For video quality, playback and speed consider this:

“The AVer MeidaCenter provides users more joy from Clear QAM digital cable TV. Advanced real-time H.264 recording compression significantly reduces CPU loading and the amount of hard disk space needed for recording. The optional 320×240 resolution enables users to save and playback video on an iPod.”

Don’t hold doubt either, the AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX can truly present the details of HDTV in 720p/1080i resolution. With an exclusive Vista MCE Video Gaming Plug-in, the AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX resolves the (more…)

The Sharper Image does seem to come out with some cool stuff.  Example, they announced a laser beam music system powered by USB.  The music system is shaped like a big “W” with laser beams spanning each post.  Using your fingers or hands, breaking the laser beams produces pre-authored sounds.

Although it appears simplistic with only 6 laser strings, the pre-authored pulses allow you to play pulses, streams, riffs and loops from a variety of instrument selections.  Configure the laser beam music system to play strings, keyboards, winds and percussion instruments.

The laser beam music system from Sharper Image includes 30 original songs in 19 different music genres.  Genres include Jazz, bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, reggae, heavy metal and more. (more…)

It’s been said for a while now that WiiWare was expecting Karaoke ability under a software program called Joysound. It appears this is finally coming to fruition. The Joysound Karaoke program has some ambitious plans with over 20,000 title by it’s release in mid summer with an additional 1,000 songs added each month.

“Although it’s being referred to as a WiiWare title, Joysound is a bit different from the rest of the WiiWare lineup. Users download the Joysound program from a server that’s being exclusively set up for it. This server will also house the songs for downloading.

Hudson is currently considering a billing system based not on a per song rate, but on a subscription rate. Users will presumably be able to download as much as they want over a set period of time.”

As previously mentioned the Karaoke Joysound will be available in two packages. You can either download the software to run Karaoke but you’ll need to have your own USB microphone. Or a bundled package will be available which includes the software along with USB microphone. There are even talks about including (more…)

Review: Casio LK300 Keyboard

Today I’m able to report about the Casio LK300 with USB and TV connectivity. I didn’t perform the review, rather my brother did. So lets see what Ned had to say:

I have to say the Casio LK300 is bigger than I expected and definitely more solid and quality built than anyone would expect for the price (about $200). The LK300 keys provide just enough friction to make them feel almost real, but obviously not exactly like a real, piano hammer like feel.

Although I’m not a piano enthusiast, I did pick up the LK300 to learn. After all part of the enticing thing about the Casio is the ability to connect it to a TV and learn along with instructional lessons. During a lesson, the LK300 keys will light-up as the song is played giving you the exact location of which key to hit and when. It’s even got a nice feature to cover any delay you might have in stroking the key…a little late…that’s OK, the sound still matches the lesson song.

With the lessons, the software will provide feedback in the form of a scoring system whereby it calculates the number of (more…)

 Is that a PMP in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Sorry, that’s all I could think of for this super mini video player that sports a 2.4″ or 2.8″ full-size bright high-res LCD display. The device can be expanded with a memory card (T-Flash or MicroSD) but comes with 2GB built-in. The battery life will let you play video for 3-4 hours and audio for 6-8 hours.

The device is so simple but really combines many features people look for in a PMP including simplicity of transferring video to the device (supports USB mass-storage mode for easy transfer of video on any OS), expandability memory, charging via USB (when traveling I hate bring extra chargers) and can play FM Radio, Text, Pictures, Games and Videos. (more…)