The iPhone 4 Bumper program launched on Apple.com today and you can either select your iPhone bumper through iPhone 4 Case Program (click to download) app or get your refund. Luckily, those who paid with a Credit or Debit card can verify the status of their refund–which is sent back to the account automatically. I verified mine but it could take up to one billing cycle to see the refund. Oy! >.<
Gladly I’m not in need of this, but I most certainly get and appreciate the humor in this.
Lovingly made by Aaron Dra-blah-blah. I’m kidding Aaron. 
…Just in case you see this post. It’s Aaron Drazcynski. Check out his site: www.papermodelplane.com.
I learned of this thanks to my friend Jason Dunn on Facebook.
With the awesome reception that Smule has received for Ocarino, Zypher and Magic Piano to name a few, it’s no surprise to see more companies pop up with their own virtual instruments. Jordan Ruddess (below) launched a virtual musical instrument company called Wizdom Music (MorphWiz), that develops apps for the iPhone and iPad and has released one called MorphWiz, which has become very popular since it’s initial release.
This is a product that is packed with very diverse tone manipulation features that demonstrate it’s purpose, providing one with a modern musical instrument in a new form; the virtual instrument. For example, you can change the sound wave velocity, adjust the finger vibrato, adjust the attack, set the scale, adjust sound delay, record performances on the mobile device, just to name a few of the details within this app. Frankly, a classically trained musician or composer would have to be impressed and get a total kick out of using MorphWiz.
Here is Ruddess playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on an iPad:
While granted electronic instruments isn’t a new concept, the difference lies in the elimination of a kinesthetic manipulation of physical keys, strings, holes, or what have you, apart form tapping, swiping, and pinching a glass surface. More importantly, these virtual instruments are now more widely available and attractive to a diverse consumer base of mostly non-musicians. The great thing about apps like MorphWiz is that advanced music theory knowledge isn’t really required to indulge in instant music making–assuming of course one shelled out the money for any one or all of the Apple touch platforms.
Excerpt from morphwiz.com:
MorphWiz is a both an expressive musical instrument and an exciting visual experience. Created by Jordan Rudess and Kevin Chartier, MorphWiz is enjoyable for beginners and seasoned musicians alike. It contains over 50 presets programmed by the wizard himself, Jordan Rudess, to allow for an instantly musical experience from the moment the application is first opened. For more experienced users, a wide array of synthesis, effects, and visual options allow the instrument to be precisely configured to the user’s tastes.
I counted 82 presets to be exact, among which my favorites were “Aliens R Us”, “An Asian Way” with it’s cool pentatonic (five tone) scale and fancy sounds, and lastly “Space Tilt”. There were more, but that would amount to a very long list. Here are some screen shots below of the apps user interface.
I had a chance to play around with MorphWiz prior to writing this post thanks to Jordan’s publicist, Christopher Buttner, president of PRThatRocks.com. I will likely do a video review of the app later this week along with some other apps I want to review. MorphWiz costs $9.99 in the app store and you can download it here.
Jordan Rudess is the keyboardest for the successful rockband Dream Theater, who are currently touring and opening for Iron Maiden. Check them out on their site and myspace page. By the way, I like their song “Wither”. Check it below the photo. 
This might shock you but I don’t want to talk so much about the fact that it was shot entirely with an iPhone 4 camera. The most I’ll say about that is the image quality was superb enough to even pursue a project with the mobile device. Great! But in any case…
I want to mention the post production work on this video, as I think it’s wonderful. You might be shocked to know that this video was shot in 9 locations (the obvious part of the video), but it was all accomplished in one day. Wowzers!
The video was color corrected using Final Cut Pro, and admittedly rushed, according to the production notes. I think that ironically, the look is very artistic and effective in spite of the setbacks and short timing, per the editors mentioning. Among the logistical limitations were the iPhone 4′s limits: “lack of lighting, aperture and shutter speed control”.
I just want to say hats off to the producers of this music video! It’s a job well-done.
Please check out this video editor and his work via the links below:
Artist: flakjakt – flakjakt.com
Song: “Cascades”
Director/DP/Editor: Marty Martin
Website: themartymartin.com”
Twitter: @themartymartin
Tumblr Tumblr Blog
Here is the YouTube video for iPhone viewers.
This is the world’s first embeddable album according to coolhunting.com. I think that this is absolutely amazing. This is going to change everything! And yes, I feel very confident about that. Why is this album embeddable and amazing? It was made possible with full HTML5 development and is playable on the iPad, iOS4, and basically any web browser on any computer or capable mobile device. Thank muxtape.com founder Justin Ouellette. And for those who are already familiar with Muxtape, you might be pleased to know that this is the direction in which the site will be going.
For example, you can embed an album on your website. The player below is HTML5 version, but for you Flash loyalists there is a Flash version too. But why bother, the HTML5 version can be viewed on anything!
Go ahead and pick one of the songs below to play.
This is incredibly exciting!!
Coming back to the iPhone and iPad, when you open up the album in Safari for this album above at itllbebetter.com and choose the song you want to play, you can actually close Safari and the music will continue to play. You can also download the album from iTunes from the website.
I am very impressed and very excited about what HTML5 brings to the table through all of these talented web developers for my geeky satisfaction. lol Alright enough gushing.
When I read this I sat up straight in my chair because I was partly in disbelief. But it turns out that this project is real, but is in serious need of financial backing. The project is on kickstarter.com and needs $12,000 dollars raised by July 15, 2010 8:02pm. As of the time of this post, $257 dollars have been raised and by my estimates, time is a-flyin’. I would love to see this film completed, so I will make a donation–a small donation, but at least I’ll be cheering it on with my monetary support. I will update this post once I have made the donation.
Here is some info on the film and and the camera setup with the iPhone 4:
About the Film
“I’m Going Home” is a short film that explores one man’s accidental discovery of the city he loves.
Film is slated to be shot on location in NYC mid -July. The film was written by Nathan Scott, co-directed by Philip Bloom (“Red Tails”, “People of” series) and Reece Brothers (“Fifty People, One Question”)About the Production
Since the iPhone 4 launch, our team has devised a way to mount the iPhone 4 to rails, allowing us to take steadicam, dolly, and glider shots. It also allows us a level of control of exposure and white balance with the use of ND filters and gels. To see some of the test shots we have taken, see the trailer above. For more information, see Philip Bloom’s blog post.
