Pioneer DDJ-T1 £899 (Video)

Despite the CDJ-2000s offering full Traktor control over HID, and Traktor Scratch allowing you to get your hands on Native’s pride-and-joy using the industry standard DJ booth regular, it was almost inevitable that Pioneer would join the dedicated controller party.

Over the past year we’ve been graced with a shift in the approach to DJ controllers and more and more companies are opting for the large, bespoke software specific units, either mimicking what you see on screen or sticking to a traditional layout.

“The T1 tames some of Traktor’s complex functions and takes away the learning curve in the process.”

The excellent Glanzmann Digital DJ Solutions 4midiloop has its feet planted firmly in the former category while NI’s flagship Kontrol S4 gives you clear control of a specially made software version. Pioneer’s DDJ-T1 falls somewhere in between with a classic layout and familiar components joining forces with Traktor-specific features.

Denon DN-MC6000 £695

When it comes to DJ gear, Denon is a brand that’s been a staple in clubs and bars for years, plus they were one of the first companies to get CDs in the DJ scene as they became the default tray-loading CDJ stalwarts.

As the rise of digital DJing continues, never the slouch, Denon has embraced the market and delivers its new Traktor-ready controller, the DN-MC6000.

With Native Instruments now building its very own hardware front-end for Traktor with the Kontrol S4, it seems Denon, like other companies, will have to work a bit harder to find a niche for its own Traktor devices.

“The familiarity of the faders, buttons and rotaries will be a pleasure to anyone that has used Denon DJ kit.”

So what does Denon have to offer? Well. The first thing that you notice when comparing this to the rest of the market is just how well built it is, with a really weighty metal construction and top quality faders, knobs and buttons. It’s probably one of the most robust DJ controllers we’ve ever seen.

The other significant thing about the MC6000 is the sheer amount of features Denon has crammed into this unit, which has a 6U rack-mountable footprint.

There are a huge amount of audio I/O including impressive balanced XLR master outs and balanced TRS booth outs. There are inputs too – with four Phono RCA inputs meaning you can add a pair of CDJs and vinyl decks and route them through the mixer of the unit.

The balanced booth output also acts as an audio send with assignable sources. So, if you wanted to send and return an external effects unit using this, you could. Plus, this booth / send output also benefits from its own high and low EQ.

Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 £249

The Komplete Audio 6 is a new fist-sized, heavy-duty metal interface from Native Instruments.

As an ideal partner to a laptop (and an ideal introduction to their software) it’s portable enough to sling in a bag and flexible enough to make both producers and DJs happy.

Its main forte is its six ins and outs without the need for external power. There’s four balanced quarter-inch outs on the back and four ins via combo jacks and quarter-inchers. Inputs and outputs ’5/6′ remain exclusively S/PDIF however.

“There’s something reassuringly ‘right about the Komplete Audio 6′s big, top-mounted ‘Main Volume’ dial.”

There’s quick and easy line/ instrument level selection buttons on one and two, with gain knobs supplying enough power to bring quiet mics up to strength. There’s noise at the top end but if you need to push your gear this far then it’s time to go shopping.

Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 £243

Focusrite’s newest addition to the well-established Saffire audio interface range is the PRO 24, which arrives in half-rack form. Despite its modest size, a quick glance at the front and back panels reveals there’s plenty to admire, so let’s dive in.

Round the back, you’ll find most of the Saffire’s I/O options. These include two line inputs and six outputs (meaning that, like the original Saffire, this unit will support surround applications), as well as the all-important FireWire connection, MIDI In/Out and a 12V DC input (though the interface is also buss-powered via its FireWire connector).

Digital connectivity is supplied by S/PDIF In/Out ports, and there’s an optical port which provides an additional eight inputs.

At the front you’ll find the PRO 24′s twin combi XLR/line inputs, plus a switch to enable 48V of phantom power (the single switch enables this for both channels). Otherwise, the front panel concerns itself with Gain knobs, the main output Monitor dial and a separate headphone output control, with assorted LEDs providing status updates for levels, phantom power presence and the like.

Set of 36 Gradient Color For Photoshop Designers

Gradient colors are used everywhere in graphic designs, web designs as a backgrounds, buttons and in other elements. Today I found good collection Phoroshop gradients on various websites when i was making a tutorial on New Year wallpaper. I decided to share this collection with all designer community they can get help for their designs. There are big variety of many color generators, color palettes and things like that, but not many really focus on Photoshop gradients.

I really love gradients, many beautiful websites and logos are created just by using color variations in subtle, very creative way. Now I am listing here downloadable gradients for designer community hopefully they will like and use this.

1000 Grunge Photoshop Brushes (40 Sets)

Typically, the timeless and always popular grunge design style is characterized by its aged and fading visual graphics, with either broken or misshapen design elements and is entirely inspired by industrial architecture, urban decay, or in its simplest form, graffiti.

To effectively recreate the grunge style you could of course design all of the elements yourself, which would be time-consuming and certainly repetitive when you consider the high quality and volume of freely available grunge brush sets.

So, if you are looking to give a grunge look to your design then you are come to a right place. In this roundup we have collected more then 1000 grunge Photoshop brushes in 40 sets to spice up your designs. Whether you are a web designer wanting to give your site a dirty background, or a graphic designer wanting to give a decayed feel to your designs, or even if you are a photographer looking to give your shots a grungy or aged feel, then you have came to right place.

50 Social Service and Bookmarking Icon Sets for Bloggers

There are many elements of blogging that are essential, the most important is the ability to share your posts and information with a wider audience, and we accomplish this via the many social bookmarking services (digg, delicious, twitter…) that are available. Finding a bookmarking iconset that fits into your theme can be difficult or maybe you don’t want the boring or the bland, but you want an iconset that has been designed by a high quality designer and has something distinctive and original. Below you will find such iconsets.

 

Microsoft to malware: your AutoRunning days on Windows are numbered

Beware, malware. The Windows AutoRun updates for Vista and XP SP3 that Microsoft released in February have so far proven successful in thwarting your file corrupting ways. Although Windows 7 was updated to disable AutoPlay within AutoRun for USB drives — freezing the ability for a virus to exploit it — the aforementioned versions had remained vulnerable up until right after January. Fast-forward to the period between February and May of this year, and the updates have reduced the number of incidents by 1.3 million compared to the three months prior for the supported Vista and XP builds. Amazingly, when stacked against May of last year, there was also a 68 percent decline in the amount of incidents reported across all builds of Windows using Microsoft’s Malicious Software Remove Tool. There’s another fancy graph after the break to help illustrate, and you’ll find two more along with a full breakdown by hitting the source link down under.

CNET

Microsoft

ASUS quietly releases G74 gaming laptop, promptly puts it up for pre-order

We’re pretty sure someone out there is snapping up gaming laptops with spray-painted red dragons and speaker grilles that look like belt buckles, but we suspect plenty of you just crave something that isn’t going to embarrass you at your next LAN party. Grown-ups, meet the ASUS G74, that buttoned-up fellow you see there. So far, we’ve found two configurations, both of which include a quad-core Core i7-2630QM CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M graphics with 3GB of video memory, 12GB DDR3 RAM (out of 16GB), dual 750GB 7200RPM drives, 1080p display, a Blu-ray player, backlit keyboard, and a USB 3.0. socket (along with three of the 2.0 variety). That’s what the G74SX-A1 ($1,745) looks like, and there’s also a $1,979 version with a 3D display, dubbed the G74SX-3DE. That generally matches what the new $1,899 Qosmio X770 has to offer, though the G74 is the clear winner in the memory department and, well, you can’t put a price on taste, right? Hit the source links to pre-order, and find some fancy press shots below that promise not to incinerate your eyeballs with tackiness.

 

Firefox 5 slips out ahead of schedule, gets official June 21st

Mozilla promised a faster refresh cycle for its wily web browser, following the release of Firefox 4, and it’s made good on that promise. We got word this morning that the final version of Firefox 5 is now available for download on Mozilla’s ftp server, just 12 weeks after the last re-up. The latest incarnation brings with it support for CSS animation and a more easily accessible do-not-track setting — now available at the top of the privacy pane — but won’t see much in the way of GUI enhancements. Of course, if you want to play it safe, and avoid any last-minute tweaks, you can always hold off until version 5 gets official, but what’s the fun in that? If you’ve already got your hands on the sly fox, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

TechnoBolt

Mozilla (Linux), (Mac), (Windows)

 

ChevronWP7 Labs will jailbreak your Windows Phone with Microsoft's approval

Microsoft just earned itself a boatload of geek-cred and made Apple and Sony look pretty bad in the process. We knew the Windows Phone team was playing nice with the jailbreakers from ChevronWP7, but we didn’t realize just how cozy the two were going to get. Today the devs announced that ChevronWP7 Labs would open up soon, with the approval of Redmond, allowing users to load homebrew apps on their handsets. Unlike tools from the iPhone Dev Team, this service won’t be free. Instead, customers will have to cough up a small fee via PayPal — but we’re sure many of you are more than willing to pay a reasonable price to avoid the sort of cat and mouse game Apple has been playing with hackers since 2007.

ChevronWP7

Insert Coin: Air Guitar Move for iPhone (video)

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

We’re not sure proper air guitarists would ever consider adding a bonafide pick to their cherished imaginary pastime, but what if a petite plastic plectrum could turn those strokes into stringed acoustics that more than just you can hear? That’s the idea behind Air Guitar Move, a $50 motion-sensing guitar pick that pairs with a dedicated iPhone app using a single dock-connected string. The minds behind Move aren’t new to product design — Colin Karpfinger created Thumbies, a suction cup-based gaming control accessory for iPhone, and Ronald Mannak has launched other freestyle electronic toys, including the V-Beat AirDrums and AirGuitar — so if they meet their $25,000 funding goal, we imagine that we’ll have a very solid iPhone accessory on our hands.

A $39 pledge gets you a single Move with a 20 percent discount, and a pledge of $49 will net you a pick from the first shipment, so you’ll be strumming away a month before folks in the first group. The creators have yet to commit to a ship date, but head over to Kickstarter if you’d like to make a pledge, or jump past the break for the intro video and an update on our last featured product, ZionEyez.

Sun's coronal ejections caused by magnetic ropes, galactic weathermen to predict solar storms?

Space weather gets nasty when the sun starts shooting plasma into the cosmos, and these solar storms wreak havoc on both satellites and gadgets here on earth. Scientists want to predict the sun’s eruptions so we can protect our gear (and know the best time to go tanning), and George Mason University researchers have made a discovery that may help us do so. By examining images from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft, Professor Jie Zhang and grad student Xin Cheng determined that magnetic ropes are causing coronal ejections. The ropes are formed by several magnetic fields wrapped around each other, and scientists believe they can carry electrical currents strong enough to cause the plasma bursts. Prior to an eruption, Zhang observed a low-lying channel with unique electromagnetic properties (believed to be a magnetic rope) heat a portion of the sun’s surface up to 10 million degrees. Once hot enough, the spot spewed forth copious amounts of the plasma and magnetic energy that gives GPS units and phones fits. Now that we know what gets Helios all riled up, we just need to find a way to calm him down. Close-ups of the sun in its tizzy are after the break.

New Scientist

George Mason University