Don’t toss that Windows Mobile gadget yet. In fact, you might want to keep glued to Craig’s List for a used unit, if you like the idea of road warrior music production on the cheap, sans laptop.
Amidst all the hype around the iPhone and iPod Touch, Windows Mobile devices could actually win on power apps for on-the-go music making. Maybe that’s because of the similarity to developing Windows desktop apps, maybe it’s because of fewer restrictions compared to Apple’s SDK, or maybe some combination of that and fortune. Nonetheless, during this Summer of iPhone, the makers of powerful Windows Mobile sequencer/sampler studio Griff note on their new blog that Windows Mobile just got a new music app.
Yes, you read that right: a new app for Windows Mobile.
Wildly enough, MeTeoR is basically a pocket-able miniature DAW, boasting:
- 12 tracks of audio with stereo mixdown
- Audio waveform editing with cut, copy, paste, and processing (fade, normalize, reverse, etc.)
- Various effects (delay, chorus, reverb, phaser, filters, pitch shift, noise gate, graphic EQ, and more), with routable aux sends
- Metronome with live recording
- A mixer with full automation envelopes for each tracks (for the mixer lanes and effects)
The whole thing is basically reminiscent of an old version of Cakewalk for Windows, only running in your pocket. I could see it as fairly useful for doing some quick processing or pre-processing on a big project – load those extra files on the subway and keep working on that project, even if you’re up against a deadline.
Not only that, but because the system requirements are fairly flexible and used Windows Mobile devices are fairly worthless, you could easily rescue someone’s unused PDA and press it into service as a music device. They’ll thank you. The environment will thank you.
US$29.95, but unlike Apple’s iTunes store, you can download a demo version. (Imagine that.)
All of this is on paper (erm, pixels); no promises, as I haven’t used it yet. I have to brush off my Dell PDA and give this a try. I know there’s a charger here somewhere…
MeTeoR @ 4pockets.com [Demo download and purchase links, detailed features]