We got to sit down for a quick chat with Smule's own Dr. Ge Wang at CES in Las Vegas last week, and the result is the video below. Not only is the co-founder overseeing Smule's musical experiences for mobile devices (and its recent merger with Khush, another musical developer), but he's also an assistant professor at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. And, as you can see, he's a mean Magic Guitar player as well. Those gloves he's wearing are Altec Lansing speakers sewn onto some gloves (with the fingertips cut off) for the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra. Wang was actually in Vegas to accept the Kids at Play Interactive's Emerging Pioneer award, which is an impressive achievement as well. Always good to see Smule's co-founder out and about. He says Magic Guitar is selling well, the merger is moving along smoothly, and Smule continues to aim Read More

Smule, as we've said before, is an interesting company. Its goal is to bring new musical experiences to people through technology like the iPhone. The company's latest release, Magic Guitar, definitely follows that philosophy. Like the very popular Magic Piano for the iPad, the app enables you to "play" guitar music, even if you don't have any experience with the real thing. The most interesting thing about Magic Guitar is you hold it. The idea is that you're fingering chords on a guitar neck, so you're supposed to hold the iPhone in the palm of your hand, with your fingers wrapped around the far side. As "notes" fall down towards a line on the screen, you're supposed to put your fingers down where they drop, and as you do, various notes in the song will be played. It's tough to explain, but once you see it in action, it makes sense. Read More

iPhone App FREE! Our Review By Michael Halloran on December 28th, 2011 Rating: :: PRICEY MAGIC Magic Guitar turns any iPhone into a simulated guitar that gives users a chance to play along with some of their favorite songs. However, playing those songs can come at a hefty price through in-app purchases. Developer: Price: FREE Version Reviewed: 1.0.2 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S iPhone Integration Rating: User Interface Rating: Playtime: Rating: Re-use Value Rating: Rating: There is a lot of good that can be said about music apps from Smule. The developers have created several “magic” apps that turn an iPhone into a musical instrument. Magic Guitar is a great addition to the family and incorporates a lot of the same unique aspects from other Smule apps. Much like Magic Piano, the objective in Magic Guitar is to tap the screen at the correct time with the beat of the song Read More

During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for nominations in the TUAW Best of 2011 awards is iPhone music apps. This is a huge area in the App Store, with apps that not only play music, but let you create music as well. This is also the last category for iPhone nominations. Apple's GarageBand (US$4.99) made it to the iPhone this year, turning your favorite phone (or iPod touch) into a music-making maniac. Smule's Magic Guitar (free) and Magic Piano (free) can make you a pocket musician in no time. Listening to music on Pandora (free) or Spotify Read More

Looking for a new app this weekend?  Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! Available as a free version, or as a full version through an in-app purchase, this Microsoft product allows users to take extensive notes, edit them and sync them with SkyDrive.  The free version has a 500 note limit.  Free. The mobile version of the Xbox virtual pet game.  By playing on your iPhone, there’s the chance to unlock five additional pets on the console version.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $2.99/£1.99. Sega’s classic Sonic game has had a loving conversion over to iOS, complete with both US and Japanese soundtracks and the chance to unlock Tails as a playable character.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $1.99/£1.49. Create amazing stop motion films using your iPad, plus the free iStopMotion Remote Camera Read More

Smule, the makers of the popular I Am T-Pain and Ocarina apps, has just released Magic Guitar. This free universal app will be sure to bring out the inner rock star in you. To use Magic Guitar, you just hold your phone like a guitar neck and tap the screen as beams of light pass a certain point. You can control the notes, speed, guitar type, pitch, and vibrato. Each time you play a song, it’s a whole new experience. Some of Magic Guitar’s features include: PLAY LEGENDARY GUITAR SONGS YOUR WAY Jam on your favorite rock, classical, folk and pop songs with your new guitar – no practice necessary. • Simply touch the lights to play all styles of music, from soulful jams to scorching shred. • Express your creativity and shake your phone to create vibrato, or drag your fingers to bend the pitch. • Choose from different guitar Read More

Just when I was beginning to think that MadPad would be the only brand new product we saw come out of mobile musical masterminds Smule in 2011, they’ve just squeaked one out in the final round. Not that only launching one product in a year would be a bad thing, mind you — especially since they’ve been busying themselves raising 12 million dollar rounds and snatching up others in their space. Following up on the success of Magic Piano and Magic Fiddle , Smule’s bumping their Magic duet up to a trio with Magic Guitar. If you’ve played either of the aforementioned predecessors, you’ll be in familiar territory here. You hold the iPhone like the neck of a guitar (at least, as much like the neck of a guitar as you could ever possibly hold an iPhone), and the notes (in the form of little balls of light) stream down toward Read More