This is a first: it almost looks like a company just ripped
off an imaginary mock-up made by a zealous Mac user. (Just coincidence?)
While Apple's been busy intimidating website writers over its non-shipping Asteroid audio interface, M-Audio's been developing its own hardware for GarageBand. And while the Asteroid was rumored to be an audio interface, the new M-Audio iControl is a control surface, sans audio. (Amusingly enough, it looks strangely like this imaginary mock-up
created of the Asteroid — so maybe Apple should be more worried about
leaks from its imaginative fan base than from inside Cupertino.
Remember, the rumored Asteroid was an audio interface — no knobs and
faders — so the image pictured here would have been entirely speculative.)
Okay, maybe not so uncanny: this mockup has faders as well as knobs and
what resembles a built-in iPod. In fact, can I just have this mockup
instead, please?