DJ Rana Sobhany is changing the face of modern DJing using the new Apple iPad. She got her idea to use iPads instead of turntables while she was waiting outside of a New York City Apple store at two o’clock in the morning on the day the iPad was to be released.

Sobhany first thought of different ways to DJ while playing with her iPhone before the iPad was released. In an interview with Wired.com, Sobhany admits, “I just started playing with some of the music apps that were available for the iPhone, specifically the IK Multimedia GrooveMaker apps.” She went on to say, “I got really inspired by the basic functionality of these apps and I started thinking about ways to incorporate iPad into a live performance. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was entirely possible to build a set around solely iPad music software and applications.”

These thoughts moved Sobhany into action. Within five days of getting her iPad, she was ready to rock and roll. She wired up a DJ setup with her new iPads and began testing.
Sobhany says that one of the main reasons she thought to use the iPad was because of the basic functionality and simplicity of Apple’s GarageBand. Instead of music creation being some pie-in-the-sky, difficult task, Apple, through GarageBand, has enabled regular people to learn to create music with ease. “Lots of great bands and artists have come from the ‘GarageBand generation’ of production, as I like to call it,” she said. “With iPad, I think that a lot of people will start downloading music apps and learning to play instruments from them.”
Although million dollar studios will never be replaced by a $500 iPad setup, Sobhany does believe that the iPad will become a more utilized part of music creation in the near future. “The iPad will quickly evolve into the ideal device for music creation and DJing,” she said. “Loop libraries will get better. Hardware will get better. More hardware and software companies will build mobile apps and the users will become more savvy about what they want from the iPad. There will be peripherals that support inputs like USB and FireWire. Video remixing will be possible.”
Sobhany has found it quite simple to transition into iPad DJing. She simply connected dual iPads to a Numark M3 DJ Mixer and a sound system and she was ready to DJ. Unless she is recording what she is creating, there is no need for addition pieces of equipment such as instruments or computers.
Some Pro’s and Con’s of iPad DJing:
Pro’s:
• Cost – In her interview with tech blogger Robert Scoble, Sobhany explains that her iPad setup cost roughly $1,200 ($500 a piece for two iPads, $100 for a DJ Mixer, and $100 for a Sound System) compared to a traditional setup using a laptop and expensive hardware/software costing $3,500 and up.
• Haptic feedback on the multi-touch surface of the iPad – Sobhany says, “Even now, when I use some of the drum machine apps, you can actually feel the bass when you touch the pad on-screen, and I would love to see this extend to feedback from touching keys on a keyboard and the feeling of changing a setting on a knob.”
Con’s:
• Lack of app multitasking – Sobahany says, “The lack of multitasking in the OS makes it really hard to transition quickly between apps. There really is no room for error. There are so many things happening at once that it can be dizzying.”

Frankly, the idea of listening to tunes while we ride our bike terrifies us. How will we hear traffic noises or shouts of warning? What if our mp3 player falls, gets tangled in the spokes, and we somehow meet our end Isadora Duncan style? If you’re looking for pop while you pedal, consider the Tunebug Shake ($120). This little gizmo connects to your music player through a headphone jack or bluetooth, and then you strap it on your helmet. Through the magic of science, vibrations turn your helmet into a surround-sound speaker, allowing you to hear your Britney without blocking out road noise or having to deal with tangly cords.

Just Mobile UpStand is the high-style desktop stand for iPad. Precision engineered from aluminum, the UpStand’s supporting grips are finished in rubber to hold your iPad firmly in place and keep it pristine. It’s compatible with most iPad cases, too.

The UpStand will float your iPad at just the right height for desktop use – it’s perfect for working with a Bluetooth keyboard, watching movies or using the iPad as a digital picture frame. Add the right app, UpStand will even turn your iPad into a recipe book, alarm clock or TV. UpStand – standing up for the infinite possibilities of iPad. Get it for 50$ from here

Features

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A Restaurant in Sydney, Australia is changing the restaurant experience as we know it.

THE iPad is already a tasty product among gadget lovers, but a North Sydney restaurant has become the first in Australia to replace their printed menus with Apple’s new touch screen device.

Global Mundo Tapas in the North Sydney Rydges Hotel yesterday introduced a custom-made iPad application which allows customers to browse the virtual pages of the menu with a sweep of their finger.

Diners can peruse the dishes and see a picture of what the dish looks like along with tasting notes before compiling their order and sending it wirelessly to the kitchen.

The iPad menu can also suggest the best wines to go with certain dishes and suggest the best food pairings.

When ordering steak, users can even specify how they’d like the meat cooked and which sauce they’d prefer.

It will even ask them if they’d like fries with that.

Mundo’s iPad menu app can also help keep track of stock levels so if certain dishes and wines sell out they will automatically disappear off the on-screen menu.

Craig Simpson, Rydges area general manager, says the new iPad platform will enhance the dining experience.

“We have something that presents really well, sells our food really well and is absolutely dynamic,” he said.

Mr Simpson said the iPad menu would eventually make it possible to order food based on the weather or even match dishes to a person’s mood.

While the waiters and waitresses of the restaurant will still be required to take the food from the kitchen to the tables, the iPad will mean they will have to work a little harder for their tips.

You’ve got the grill, the tools, the meat, and the rubs, but a measly five bucks and your iPad might get you the best grill companion you’ll have all summer. Weber’s On the Grill for iPad ($5; iPhone version also available) is a virtual grill companion app, offering a searchable database of over 250 classic recipes, instructions on making 40 rubs, marinades, and sauces, a grocery list, how-to videos, an integrated grill timer, and the ability to note each recipe when you find that “secret ingredient” that makes your BBQ stand out from the rest. (Hint: most often it’s booze.) But just be sure not to throw meat on your iPad or iPad on the Grill or your sure to see an unforgettable time

Steve Jobs speaks at Stanford University and inspires the students to live there own life because they only get 1 chance.

Earlier this week, Google Voice opened to everyone in the U.S.. The phone management app is great, but even cooler hacks exist just under the hood. Here are our favorite tricks every Google Voice user should know about.

If you’re just signing up for Google Voice, and wondering, in general, what it’s good for, we’ve previously offered our take on whether Google Voice makes sense for you, and how to ease your transition to your new number and system. Google Voice also offers the option to just use it for voicemail and keep your number, but you won’t get use of much of the SMS features touted here. Now, onto Voice’s lesser-known perks and features:

10. Manage Voicemail and Text Messages Through Email

It’s not a “hidden” feature, per se, but it’s not made apparent that you can have Google Voice send you an email when you get a new voicemail message or a text message—and that you can reply, from your email client, to those text messages. Because they come from a standard txt.voice.google.com, they’re also easy to filter and set alerts for. If you’re a Gmail user, you can also play messages back right in Gmail, and they’ll be marked as listened to in your Voice account. (Original post)

9. Set as Your Skype Caller ID

Free internet calling service Skype is a really cheap way to make phone calls to a landline from your computer. One big downside, though, is those you’re calling probably don’t recognize the caller, and your number might change every time you call. Google Voice set up their servers, though, to allow setting your Google Voice number as a Skype caller ID. Commenter downdb explains the step-by-step process, which generally involves confirming a text message code and waiting for Skype to change your number.

8. Use Your Location to Determine Which Phones Ring

You can set up time-based rules for your phones in Google Voice—so, for example, your home phone doesn’t ring from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.—but not everybody works a regular schedule. Chad Smith, a Wichita-based geek who loves him some Google Voice, set up a clever means of syncing Google Voice with your GPS location, using some PHP scripting and the Locale geo-location app. When you’re away from home, you can have only your cellphone ring. When you’re at home, you can have a VoIP line and your home line ring. If you’re not rocking your own PHP-friendly server space, there’s a somewhat beta-level app in the Market, Google Voice Locations (scan-able QR link here) that accomplishes much the same kind of GPS-aware phone management.

7. Use “Do Not Disturb” to Get Work Done

If you’ve managed to make Google Voice your one number that rings all your phones, you can enact a cloak of silence when you really need to get things done by enabling “Do Not Disturb” for a certain amount of time. All your calls go straight to voicemail, and nothing buzzes or plays a ringtone. It would be even nicer if Google could delay your SMS for the same time—that’s often just as deadly a distraction. (Original post)

6. Send Yourself Advanced Voice Memos

True, you could use a digital recorder, or just call your own voicemail, to leave yourself a voice memo about something you need to remember later. But using Google Voice, you can have that voice memo transcribed to text, sent to your Outlook inbox at work, backed up forever in Gmail, and smartly delivered just where you need it. Drew Vogel’s setup sets up his system so that all his other phones don’t ring when he calls himself from one of them, and also gets his note-to-selfs into his Outlook box. Mark Stout’s method sets up a special greeting for when he calls (“Record note now”), then has that message sent first to Gmail, then forwarded to cloud-based memory service Evernote. Mix and match settings from the two, and you’ll feel like you’ve got your own personal assistant that lives in the cloud and only wants to help you remember things. (Original posts: Stout, Vogel).

5. Upgrade Your Cellphone Voice Plan to Unlimited

Every major U.S. cellular carrier offers some kind of “pick a few numbers, talk with them for free” plan. You know what happens when you make your Google Voice number one of your “friends”? Yep—unlimited free calls on your cellphone. Since everyone gets a unique Google Voice number, it would be hard for AT&SprintRizon-Mobile to start universally blocking Google Voice from your picks. So, for the time being, enjoy living beyond your cellular talk time means through the magic of whatever business plan Google has for Voice.

4. Send Text Messages Through Your IM Client

Google Voice’s web site is pretty fast and easy to grasp, and there are a few nifty desktop clients, like the Google Voice AIR app, that make it easy to send messages with a click or two. But you’ve already got an instant communication system set up—instant messaging, in fact—and you can receive, reply, and send SMS through it. GVXMPP hooks together your Google Voice text messaging, your email address, and your IM client, so that when a friend texts you, it shows up as a kind of IM, and when you reply, it goes back to their phone—no extra thought, web tab, or phone reach needed. (Original post)

3. Use Voice on an iPhone, Despite Apple’s Block

Apple generated a good bit of criticism when it blocked the Google Voice app from its iPhone app store, but doesn’t seem to be backing down any time soon. In the meantime, Google has created a pretty powerful webapp as a partial work-around (that also works on Palm WebOS phones). For even tighter iPhone integration with Google Voice, you can use GVMax. The free app can send Google Voice SMS messages to your IM client or email address, and then notify you through a push message that you’ve got a new message. (Original post)

2. Use Google Voice SMS and Call Shortcuts from Any Phone

Google Voice has crafted pretty neat mobile apps for Android and BlackBerry phones that integrate Google’s free SMS messaging. If you’re not on one of those platforms, or don’t have any kind of data plan, you can still hide your “real” number behind Voice and benefit from its inbox. Gina explained how to do it with a standard phone. It unfortunately involves saving a kind of “alternate” number for each contact, but most modern phones make that fairly easy. Luckily, you can also use that alternate number to call your contact through Google Voice.

1. Make and Receive Free VoIP Calls with Your Google Voice Number

Google Voice once integrated nicely with the free, Skype-like Gizmo5 service. Then Google bought Gizmo5 and closed down new registrations. They might come back—heck, Google might offer its own desktop client someday. In the meantime, we’ve detailed how to make free computer calls to any phone with Google Voice, using the free Sipgate service, which gives you your own actual phone number that you can feed to Google Voice as just another phone you can have ring whenever you want.

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We’re pretty enchanted with Voice, as you can tell, but there have to be other clever set-ups, third-party tools, and quirky uses we haven’t encountered or written about yet. Know of one? Tell us about it in the comments. [Thanks Kevin]

If your contract has you stuck with your iPhone 3GS for another year, don’t fret, some of the best features of the new iPhone 4 are purely software upgrades that are available today in Apple’s new iOS 4 update. Much requested features like multitasking and iBooks are available via the upgrade as well as a new and improved mail client, folders, 5x digital zoom, and much more. Best of all, its free for both iPhone and iPod Touch users. Link