Billed as "the world’s smallest true 3-way supreme audio earphones," the K3003s’ housings are each handmade from a solid piece of stainless steel. The cord’s Y connector is also made of steel, as is the 3.5 mm jack plug, and the exterior of the cord-mounted volume control/microphone unit. Both earphone cords are rubber-coated, while the single stereo plug cord is reinforced with cloth.

The AKGs are said to utilize "a new hybrid technology for great sound," and like many higher-end earphones, are reportedly able to seal out most ambient sounds using passive noise reduction. Their frequency range is 10Hz to 30kHz.

Although they won’t be officially launched until the IFA electronics show in September, the K3003‘s are available online as a "sneak peek" from June through August, via the website of Parisian electronics retailer Colette.

Play the guitar without having to learn the guitar

Researchers at Tokyo University, along with some help from Sony, created a device that straps onto your arm, sort of like a blood pressure cuff, and sends electrical signals to your fingers that can move them in precise ways. It’s called, of course, the PossessedHand.

The PossessedHand uses an Arduino microcontroller, the low-cost tool of choice for DIYers, and 28 electrode pads that are applied externally. There have been other devices that do this sort of thing, but they’ve often been pretty clumsy, needing electrodes to be inserted into the skin (ouch!). The PossessedHand is entirely external and painless, and, according to PhysOrg, "is said to feel more like a gentle hand massage." The signals are also not unpleasantly strong, apparently feeling more like a nudge to move rather than a forceful automatic movement of the fingers and wrist.

The uses for such a device are pretty clear, especially as you can preprogram strings of signals. It could be used in music education, to teach the proper finger movements and placings, or it could translate spoken language into sign language, which your hand performs automatically. There are potential medical uses as well; teaching stroke victims how to use their hands again, that kind of thing. It’s not a prosthesis, really, but it could prove useful to a totally new set of people. And it’s definitely more useful than Daito Manabe’s face-electroshocking hobby. Here’s a video of it in action from New Scientist:

A set of speakers from Logitech are given a new lease on life in the Glass Speakers from Whamodyne

If, like me, you’ve often wondered what would happen if you took a diamond drill to a glass vase and then fed in some audio – the answer we’ve been looking for takes the shape of the Glass Speakers from Whamodyne. A set of Logitech S120 computer speakers have been stripped apart, the components forced into a pair of glass vases, each of which have then been mounted at a slight tilt on a hand-made birch plywood base. They’re not as powerful or as slick as the precious-looking GLA-55 touch-sensitive speakers from Harman Kardon, but they are about a tenth of the price.

Inspired by the creations of designer Joey Roth, the Glass Speaker system has been constructed by making a circular hole in the bottom of two 7.5-inch long, 3.5-inch diameter glass vases with a diamond saw to accommodate a speaker each. To allow it to lie flush against the bottom of the upturned vase, the speaker is first mounted on a clear plastic disc and then fixed into position.

The system’s amplifier board and a 120V AC power transformer are placed ship-in-bottle style inside the right Glass Speaker housing, with a volume pot and on/off switch on the outside. An LED on the amp board lets you know when the unit in on. The total RMS output of the speakers is 2.3W, with a frequency response of 50Hz – 20kHz. Connection to a computer, MP3 player or mobile device is via a 3.5 mm stereo jack.

Amazing glass speakers are a wonder to watch and own

Fitness Technologies has introduced what is claimed to be the world’s smallest fully waterproof MP3player, the UWaterG2

There are several options out there when it comes to taking a portable music player in the pool or to the beach. You could opt for a waterproofed iPod or a dedicated player like Speedo’s Aquabeat, but if you really want to downsize then Fitness Technologies diminutive UWaterG2 might be worth a look – it’s billed as the smallest fully waterproof MP3 player around.

With dimensions of just 0.4 x 1.25 x 1.75-inch (9 x 30 x 45mm) and weighing in at under an ounce, you might be forgiven for completely forgetting that you’re wearing a UWaterG2 MP3 player as you listen to an audio book of Moby Dick while doing laps, or to the theme music from Jaws while paddling on the shoreline. The tiny device features a twist and lock earphone jack seal, comes with a set of four soft silicon ear tips and is waterproof to 10 feet (3m).

The Windows and Mac compatible micro-MP3 player has 2GB of onboard memory and its Li-ion battery is said to give 6 to 8 hours of continuous use before needing some attention. There’s USB connectivity for charging and uploading and updating tunes, a color LED mode control and a built-in headband/armband/belt clip.

The UWaterG2 is available in five color variations from Fitness Technologies and is priced at US$79.95, but at the time of writing is on sale for US$20 less.

The tiny UWaterG2 waterproof MP3 player is available in five color combinations

The UWaterG2 features a twist and lock earphone jack seal to keep water out

It’s claimed to be the world’s smallest waterproof MP3 player with dimensions of just just 0.4 x 1.25 x 1.75-inch

The device is shipped with a set of four silicon earphone tips

The device’s charger is available in single or double USB port varieties

The Mediano TV cabinet is the epitome of taste

Got a piano sitting in your house gathering dust because no one will come around and join you in a good old-fashioned sing-along? Why not give it a new lease on life by converting it into something that’s sure to get some use, like a TV cabinet? That’s just what German company Craft Line has done with its Mediano, a white upright piano that has had all its musical innards removed to make way for an LCD TV that slides out of the top of the piano at a push of a button on a remote control.

Removing the piano’s insides means you’ll no longer be able to entertain guests with your rendition of chopsticks, but you’ll still be able to bring a tear to their eye when you reveal your new piece of furniture. Doing away with the piano’s steel strings and felt-covered hammers also leaves plenty of room in the lower part of the piano for other multimedia components, such as DVD recorders or games consoles.

It looks like Craft Line will make furniture to individual specifications, so anyone after some musically themed furniture might want to get the company to finish the job by replacing the piano keys with an electronic keyboard so you can at least pretend to have some taste.

Each of the eight Infrared proximity sensors across the surface of the Airpiano can register and play three notes depending on the user’s vertical hand position

Seeing the Airpiano being played, one can’t help but be reminded of a graceful martial artist, musical conductor or mysterious magician. The innovative interface is activated and controlled by moving a hand in mid-air above the flat display surface and within range of a sensor array matrix. Driven by custom software, the device can put a huge library of tones and sounds at a player’s disposal.

Each of the eight Infrared proximity sensors spread horizontally across the surface of the Airpiano can play three notes depending on the user’s vertical hand position. The sensors can also be programmed to provide up to eight control faders for altering volume, pitch, filters and so on. Custom software facilitates MIDI mapping and Open Sound Control message assignment which puts a vast soundscape at the spatial command of the player. Confirmation of user action is provided by LED lights at the surface of the instrument.

Of course, the interface has been likened to a Theremin but it has so much more to offer players. Creator Omer Yosha told: "What makes it so different from a Theremin, besides the technology, is the concept of interaction. Playing a Theremin is hard to learn since every slight movement of the hand changes the pitch/volume of the generated sound. It also lacks visual feedback. The idea of the Airpiano is to keep things as simple as possible in order to achieve full control over the instrument."

Yosha has been working on the polyphonic Airpiano for a couple of years now and it is currently in its third prototype. It’s connected to a computer or laptop via USB and also has an expression pedal connector and a programmable button that can, for example, be used to toggle between different setups. Award-winning musician Jo Hamilton is currently using a prototype in her live performances (as shown in the following video) and is helping with development by providing feedback, suggestions and details of her experiences.

A limited run of production devices will be available around September/October and interested readers are encouraged to register for updates on the Airpiano website. I don’t know why but for some reason I imagine Jean-Michel Jarre being one of those signing up.

The last time most of us heard of Roger Linn, it was when he put his name to the revolutionary Linn LM1 drum machine that became such an integral part of the sound of 1980s pop music – it was used on so many #1 hits that you’ll recognize its signature sound straight away. Now, Linn has come up with a new and equally novel tool for musicians – a digital music interface that uses a pressure-sensitive multitouch pad and a layout that combines a piano keyboard with a guitar fretboard. The LinnStrument is one of the most expressive, evocative and enticing new musical instruments we’ve seen, and its potential is enormous – but it seems this innovative device might be prevented from coming to the market due to unfortunate IP squabbling in the multitouch sector.

Back in the 1980s, the Linn drum machine reigned supreme – the first drum sequencing machine to use real, digitally sampled drum sounds not analogue synthesis. You’d recognize its unique sound instantly – remember the frenetic drum groove behind Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, or Prince’s 1999, or WHAM!’s Wake Me Up, Before You Go, Go? In fact, for a time there, it seemed like every second #1 hit song on the charts was using Roger Linn’s clever sequencing machine – this one invention is inextricably linked with the music of that era.

Compared to the sterile-sounding analogue drum machines of the time, the Linn LM-1 was light years ahead. Certainly, it never felt like a real drummer, but it had a far more natural and human feel to it than anything that had come before it.

And it’s this concept of "humanizing" a sound produced by machines that makes Roger Linn’s most recent project, the LinnStrument, so fascinating.

The Linnstrument digital music interface

The LinnStrument is more or less just a digital music interface to replace the keyboard – but it makes use of some pretty advanced multitouch technology to make it one of the most interesting and expressive devices we’ve seen.

Linn’s prototype touchpad is divided into squares, with each vertical row featuring a stack of 4th intervals, and each vertical stack separated by a semitone, similar to the layout of frets on a guitar. Once one or more notes are pressed, the benefits of the TouchCo multitouch surface come into play to make the LinnStrument one of the most expressive and easy to use digital instrument interfaces going around.

The TouchCo control surface is pressure sensitive, which lets you vary the volume of each note, both as it’s initially played and afterwards for some very nice dynamic control.

Moving notes horizontally allows you to vary the pitch between semitones, for a natural sounding slide or vibrato effect.

And Linn has used the vertical access to control the tone of whatever sound you’re playing with, a kind of frequency sweep effect.

The resulting music interface allows an amazing amount of expression and feeling – you can see a hint of what might be possible in Linn’s demo video below – but be careful, the example bit of music he plays at the end is the first few bars of the notorious Hungarian suicide song, so if you’re feeling a bit depressed afterwards, call a hotline.

Not shown in the video are a couple of extra control strips that you can use either like a sustain pedal, or to effect a strumming, blowing, picking or re-striking of the notes – dependent on the instrument sound you’re using.

Naturally, being a digital interface, the sky’s the limit when it comes to what you use the pressure and slide parameters for, and indeed what kinds of instrument sounds you’re controlling. You can configure the keyboard in an instant to re-wire where each note is placed or effect different tunings. For a digital instrument, you have to admit this sounds amazingly organic, expressive and evocative -so you can bet that musicians will be very keen to get their hands on one.

But don’t hold your breath

Sadly, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon – because the TouchCo multitouch pad that Linn used in the production of his prototype has been withdrawn from production. Apparently Amazon bought up the technology earlier this year with a view to using it in the Kindle eBook reader, but has completely shelved it and shut down the TouchCo operation, presumably due to the ongoing Intellectual Property chest-beating, suing and counter-suing going on in the multitouch arena right now.

So the TouchCo website has nothing but a sad placeholder to offer, and Linn has nothing but his pre-production prototype to work with, ruling out the possibility of a LinnStrument hitting the market in the immediate future.

While there are potential alternatives, there’s nothing out there that’s commercially available that offers the right mix of multitouch, pressure sensitivity and high input resolution that combine to give the LinnStrument prototype its sensitive and beautiful sound. It’s a great pity when legal and commercial posturing block the way forward for a creative tool with such amazing potential. Here’s hoping Mr. Linn finds a solution and gets this thing into the hands of the right musicians as soon as possible!