We’ve all known that it was coming – The transition of the DJ from vinyl to digital, and now to mobile devices, has been long foretold. But facing facts, there haven’t been any good pieces of hardware to accompany our touch-based options. It appears, however, that this might soon change as Native Instruments announces the Traktor Kontrol Z1 . It’s a hardware controller for Traktor DJ, which should turn your iPad into a full-fledged mixing powerhouse.
The Kontrol Z1 works with both Traktor DJ for iOS and Traktor Pro for your desktop. It’s a 2-channel mixer with 24-bit sound card, dedicated faders, filter and effects controls, as well as a 3-band equalizer for each channel. Now, instead of having to use a specific sound card or headphone splitter cable, you’ll be able to cue up tracks just as you would with a traditional mixer.
The Kontrol Z1 will ship with a 30-pin connector for hooking up to your iOS device. Native Instruments tells us that the 30 pin to Lightning adapter works fine with the system, but it appears that they didn’t want to leave out those people who have an older iPad or iPhone. We’ll have a review unit soon, but for now check out the demo video and full details on the Native Instruments site .
Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, a low-end 7-inch Android tablet
Samsung is throwing yet another Android tablet into the mix; a 7-inch slate called the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite .
The WSVGA display sports a 1024×600 pixel resolution (170 ppi), which falls far below high-end devices such as the refreshed Nexus 7 (323 ppi). It runs on a underwhelming 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable using its microSD card slot. If you haven’t surmised this already, the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite is a low-end device geared towards customers on a budget. That’s highlighted by the unremarkable 2-megapixel camera on the back, the outdated Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) firmware and a light 3600mAh battery under the hood.
The device will be available in white and black, but there’s no official word on pricing or availability just yet.
➤ Samsung Tomorrow
Featured Image: Getty Images
Pressy: The little button that wants to control your Android phone
Pressy is a gadget on Kickstarter whose name describes exactly what you do with it. Simply, it’s a little button that slots into the headphone socket of your Android smartphone and allows you to carry out a range of functions just by press(y)ing it, once you’ve downloaded the app, of course.
It can be used to take a photo, start a voice recording, toggle WiFi on and off, change phone settings, and basically anything else your phone can do. It also comes with a special keychain that you plug Pressy into when you want to use headphones with your handset. When you do, using the in-line headphone control button (providing you have one) then operates Pressy.
Currently existing largely as a Kickstarter project and a whole lot of hope, Pressy has a team of just five individuals behind it and celebrates the fact that it’s coming to Kickstarter as a true startup, rather than a fully fledged company. It’s looking to raise $40,000 and has so far attracted nearly $15,000, despite opening just yesterday.
Early adopters snapped up all the Pressy buttons available for $15, making $17 the lowest tier you can get in on the deal. Note that the expected delivery time is March 2014, though.
➤ Pressy on Kickstarter ( Pressy )
Featured Image Credit – AFP/Getty Images