Cjed Audio News 2008-11


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11-30-08 / 05:51 PM : LEGO Indiana Jones, Prince of Persia Two Thrones (cjed)

Apple provides an article about LEGO Indiana Jones in its Games section. Some ideas from Lego Starwars have been brought back, with some enhancements :We’ve also assigned the abilities previously associated with characters — [such as Jedi Knights’ ability to use the Force on objects in LEGO Star Wars I and II] — to the tools they carry. For example, if Indy finds an excavation site, he knows he needs to find a shovel, or use Sallah, who comes with the appropriate tool. Characters also no longer need to be in close proximity with each other for you to swap between them, which allowed us to design traps and encounters with greater flexibility.
We can also read at MacLife a new review of Prince of Persia : The Two Thrones (see also the previous review from MacWorld).

11-30-08 / 04:03 PM : Ferrari GT Evolution trailer/Armageddon Squadron (cjed)

Among new games at the AppStore we can find Armageddon Squadron, an air combat game (priced 5,99$ however).
Finally Gameloft provides a trailer (cinematic, not in-game views) of Ferrari GT Evolution, expected December.

11-30-08 / 03:52 PM : iPhone Zombie Invasion & Mansion (cjed)

A new 3D action game (third person view type), Zombie Invasion, is available at the AppStore at 0,99$. We can watch a video here.
In the same theme (but in an first person view) we can find Zombie Mansion, that provides an interesting ambiance (reminds some monsters from Dungeon Master) and a far more better framerate than Cube.

11-30-08 / 03:44 PM : iphone games special prices/free TapDefense (cjed)

We van find on the AppStore Nanosaur 2 priced 0,79 euros, and also Virtual Pool (full version, there is also a free Lite version) at the same price (until December, 1).
The first free Tower Defense game is also available, TapDefense .

11-30-08 / 02:53 PM : iPhone 1112 : new adventure game concept (cjed)

We can now find at the AppStore the first episode of 1112, an adventure game that uses at best the iphone controls capabilities : touch zooming in scenes (or maps) to look for details, advanced interaction with scenes objects, and with inventory items (zoom, rotate, etc.) as with Microsoft Surface prototpye !

We can watch a trailer at the game's site and a video at Youtube. First reviews confirm the great realisation, that paves way for new adventure games concept on the iPhone. However the game's life seems limited (from 2 to 5 hours), for a 5,99 euros price. It is said the price will go up to 7,99 euros later, but considering the previous statement about gameplay duration, it might stay the same. There is to know if following episodes will be available for free (or at reduced price) for previous owners, as an extension to the application.
Some clues can be found at iphoniacs and also at the official site's forums.

11-27-08 / 11:33 PM : Roland Fantom G software update 1.20 (cjed)

Roland provides a 1.20 update to Fantom G system. That is here for the download. Among new features we note a higher ram size limit (now 1Gb from 512Mb), export to SMF format, and a realtime input quantizing.

11-27-08 / 12:16 AM : Overgrowth : weekly alphas (cjed)

Wolfire announces weekly alphas versions of Lugaru 2 Overgrowth. That is here for the first one.

11-25-08 / 11:58 PM : Sandworms of Dune (cjed)

The second After-Dune volume has been available in France since late May, 2008 (was out in Summer 2007 in US). However it seems less good than Hunters of Dune when reading first review at scifi-universe.com.

11-23-08 / 08:38 PM : Wolfire Overgrowth / 3D modeling tools (cjed)

At the Wolfire blog we can read details about landscape texturing and useful tools used for the upcoming Lugaru 2 (renamed Overgrowth) : World Machine 2 (WM2) is used to add erosion details and other small scale features (the program is free for non-commercial use), high resolution terrain texturing uses huge texture size (4096×4096), Autodesk Mudbox is used to directly paint grainy or cracked surfaces (easier and faster than trying to do half in a sculpting app, and half in Photoshop or CrazyBump), and optimizing rendering is achieved by automatically baking all of the sky and sun lighting into a single texture, so the real-time shader can be drastically simplified. Some great rendered pictures are provided.
Moreover a contest is open : the rule is to send a video showcasing Lugaru 1 (the winner will get a copy of Overgrowth). A video of Lugaru 2 Overgrowth is expected soon.

11-23-08 / 01:23 PM : iPhone Cube FPS 1.2 update (cjed)

A 1.2 update to free Cube FPS for iPhone is available at the AppStore. The enhancements of this version are : fixed accelerometer failure bug, fixed keyboard so reliably displays and in landscape mode, faster image loading with less memory used, minor performance tweaks and smaller overall download size (half the 1.0 version). We can find first encouraging comments here.
To remember, the multiplayer game through Wifi is provided, as well as single player mode (the later allows to choose a map and then bots are controled by the software). We can look at Fernlightning blog, that made this iPhone port. s

11-22-08 / 06:31 PM : My experience with Google Adsense ads (cjed)

As pricing of iPhone games is very attractive (only 79 cents for some great games), incoming gains from Google Adsense ads on the site (33$ since March 2006, for 2600 news and 80 free songs since January, 2005, and 5000 visits / 50 000 hits per month) allow at best to get one game a month (the monthly gains are 80 cents on average) :-)

Hopefully this isn't the purpose of the site (was initially intended to be a comprehensive news database, with indexation and advanced search, better than bookmarks). Is that Google bots fault, that only indexes the site once per ten days, while news written on the new Wordpress cjedaudio site are indexed in just about 3 hours (and considering the older main site uses a sitemap and indexing settings setted to More often) ? Some think that problem is common for most of the site hosted on a Free.fr domain. In comparison, the cjedaudio.wordpress.com blog, despite providing less content, succeeded reaching 4000 visits/months in just a two months and a half timeframe. However this new blog pagerank is logically lower (1/10 against 3/10 for the main original site, that in fact reached a 4/10 peak about two years ago).

11-22-08 / 05:52 PM : New books : Exploring the iPhone SDK... (cjed)

Two new books about programming for iPhone are available : Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK (536 pages, 32 euros) and Beginning iPhone 2 Application Development: From Novice to Professional (350 pages).
We can also find Core Animation for Mac OS X and the iPhone: Creating Compelling Dynamic User Interfaces (35$ or 22$ for PDF version). We can download source ode of the examples and access to a corresponding support forum.

11-22-08 / 05:02 PM : Core Animation culling problems / 3D layers (cjed)

On the Parmanoir blog (creator of JSCocoa), we can find a rework of the Core Animation NanoLife example originally developed by Theocacao's Scott Stevenson (particles dispatched on animated layers, 80 total), as with goal to describe these particles in 3D. The encountered problem (layers ordering with the new z dimension, that is ignored by Core Animation) seems to have been resolved by Scott Stevenson (provided the fix), and Core Animation behaviour finally seems right.

The orginal article provides interesting informations on these subjects : Core Animation and Core Image filters, conversion between NSImage, CIImage, and CGImageRef, full screen mode for NSView.

11-22-08 / 04:32 PM : iPhone upcoming games in December (cjed)

Among new iPhone games expected for December are two FPS/action games from Gameloft (Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heros and God of War), Rolando (in the Jelly Car and Dizzy Bee mood), a port of the famous Platypus (was available on desktop computers. We can discover the complicated history of the game development and ownership/evolution through the original author's site), and finally SimCity (equivalent to SimCity 3000).

11-22-08 / 03:49 PM : iphone Powerboat Challenge/Armado & Meteor Lite (cjed)

Among new games for iPhone at the AppStore we can find 3 interesting Lite (demo) versions : Powerboat Challenge Lite, a 3D boat racing game (that is an enhanced version of the mobile game, that brings 4 times more texture resolution and 3 times as many polygons. One race is available - 4 environments in the full game), a Lite version of Armado (that weights 36,6 Mb and includes 3 levels), and finally Meteor Lite, that brings 10 levels (90 levels in the full version).

11-21-08 / 11:51 PM : iPhone 2.2 OS and SDK updates (cjed)

A 2.2 update to iPhone OS is available. Among new features we note Google Street View, display of walking directions, share of location by email, access to podcast, a new search interface for Safari (as well as better performance and stability).
Apple also provides a new (2.2) corresponding iPhone SDK version (whose size - a bit more than 1,5 Gb - is larger than the previous).

11-20-08 / 12:01 AM : SampleLogic The Elements EXP update (cjed)

SampleLogic presents The Elements EXP, an extended version of The Elements : new interface and 350 new instruments. It is priced 359$ (40$ for the update), and new great audio demos are available (Beyond The Grave EXP reminds some effects from Tron 2 game musics, and Igniting Peace EXP reminds in someway Unreal and Deus Ex musics, or Riven. Other demos, older, are also stunning).

11-19-08 / 11:43 PM : iPhone : Toy Bot Diaries 2/Bike or Die 2/Cube (cjed)

Among new games released for iPhone we can find : Toy Bot Diaries 2, the sequel to the great platform game (whose demo is available on the AppStore), and that is priced 3,99$. ToySpring Bike or Die 2 (3,99$) uses a physics engine that reminds JellyCar.
Finally a free version of Cube is available (42,9 Mb). This FPS is uses an open source 3D engine (see also the mac version, and the recent Sauerbraten - Cube 2). Videos are provided.

11-19-08 / 11:19 PM : Snow Leopard earlier / desktop quad core imacs (cjed)

Apple announced that Snow Leopard will finally ship earlier, in the first quarter of 2009 (was expected not sooner than the second half of 2009). Then this Intel optimized OS (and that uses OpenCL and GrandCentral) should be more efficient than Windows, for at least one year.

Meanwhile new imacs fitted with quad core Nehalem (Corei7) processors are expected for the January MacWorld. For the first time they will use desktop processors - in fact special low-power versions -, instead of mobile architecture. Then we shouldn't expect new mid desktop models using the MacPro enclosure (these will keep the Xeon processors, and then remain expensive).

11-19-08 / 12:09 AM : Core Animation : custom properties and beyond (cjed)

At The Omni Group blog we can find an interesting article that provides an approach for adding custom properties to Core Animation (that is properties whose changes trigger the animation - ie intermediate images calculation). The goal here is to consider changes in the layer content, what isn't possible with the provided CA properties (are closely tied with OpenGL operations) : either the content changes aren't notified, or the animation calculation will be triggered too often (unnecessarily, because forced), leading to poor performance. A link to the source code is provided.

We could also find at Theocacao an article that explains why Core Animation principle (implicit programming using KVO) isn't restricted to animating. That is exactly what I thought two years ago, and I've planned since that time to use this approach in web frameworks.

11-18-08 / 12:19 AM : Armado for iPhone (cjed)

An iPhone version of the game Armado is available at the AppStore, priced 3,99 euros (we can watch a video here). This game was out late 2006 (see a review of the mac version at Macobserver - also another at Macworld) and was inspired from Pangea Software games universe, however the gameplay ended up being too much repetitive.

11-17-08 / 11:50 PM : iPhone Discover/DiskAid/Briefcase : share&view (cjed)

A new utility for iPhone, Discover, is available for free at the AppStore. It allows to exchange (through Wifi) files between an iPhone and a mac (or PC), or between two iPhones. It uses the WebDAV protocole (based on HTTP). Once the application (WebDAV server) is installed and started on the iPhone (and connected to a Wifi network), some of the iPhone files directories can be accessed from a client (mac, PC, or another iPhone) : Public, Private, Photos folders (the iPhone server application allows to create new folders). Connecting from a mac is easy, by just launching Safari and clicking on the Bonjour discovering link in the bookmarks (so no IP to provide- the same for discovering from another iPhone using Discover). From a PC we have to download a specific application, as Windows doesn't manage natively the Bonjour discovering system.
Moreover the iPhone Discover application allows opening of the browsed files. It manages many formats (problems are reported with very large PDF files) : PDF, HTML/WebArchives, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, text files, video and audio files managed by QuickTime. We can finally set a login and password to protect the published directories.

We can also find DiskAid, a free application that has to be installed on the client side only (mac or PC). It is a files browser that allows to transfer files from/to an iPhone using USB connection. However it doesn't allow then to browse and open files on the iPhone side, and is intended for files carrying only.

When lacking Wifi connection at home, it should be possible to combine the two softwares : transfer the files from the computer to the iPhone through USB using DiskAid, and then use Discover on the iPhone to browse and open files.

UPDATE : Briefcase Lite by Hey Mac Software (free - 4,99$ for the full version) provides the same features as with Discover (files transfer through wifi, display), but with a more polished and powerful interface (that includes downloads and uploads management, with resume option), and brings a new optimized reader : full screen view, quick navigating in PDF documents files as with Preview (scrollbar, scroll and zoom using touch). The connection uses SSH and devices discovering (iPhones, macs) is also based on Bonjour. Briefcase Lite allows connection between an iPhone and a mac (browsing of the mac filesystem, and then Download or Upload), but it doesn't manage connection with a PC (a partial support is provided in the full version of Briefcase, however as it doesn't include a Windows client application for the Bonjour discovering system - contrary to Discover -, the SSH connection has to be setted manually). Between two iPhones the Lite version only allows Download (no Upload), so actions triggering can't take place (only available with upload, that is to a mac with the Lite version and/or to another iPhone with the full version), like disk image mounting or installer package launch after files have been copied/transfered.

By default the access point on the remote mac filesystem is at the user home directory (the same user as the one specified for the connection), but we can go up to the root /Volumes directory if needed. Once a computer has been bookmarked in the remote devices list (initial Bonjour discovering through wifi) on the iPhone side, it can be accessed through 3G network if wifi isn't longer available.
We can see a demonstration video here.

11-17-08 / 11:06 PM : Google : SketchUp 7 (cjed)

Google presents a new version of its free 3D modeling/architecture software, SketchUp 7 : the tools are more intuitive and easier to use, and a search feature has been added for models (can also be shared).
A Pro version is also available, however it is priced 331 euros.

11-17-08 / 10:44 PM : Accelerated Flash 10 and AIR for iPhone ? (cjed)

Adobe is preparing for the second half of 2009 optimized versions of Flash 10 and AIR for mobile phones using ARM11 (and Cortex) families processors and OpenGL ES 2.0 (in the context of the Open Screen Project). As the iPhone still uses an ARM chip and manages OpenGL ES 2.0, a full (and accelerated) version of Flash could be presented soon for iPhone (Apple initially rejected Flash Lite for iPhone, stating it isn't satisfying features and performances wise). Then Adobe won't be able to justify the performance gap between desktop MacOSX and Windows Flash versions.
We can however expect Apple to slow the deployment of AIR for iPhone, as this technology competes with Apple's own RDA (QuickTimeX/WebKit/HTML5).

11-15-08 / 12:24 AM : Ambrosia Software : Aquaria out / demo (cjed)

The OSX port of Aquaria game (conversion by Ambrosia Software), that has been expected from months, is finally available (30$). A demo version is provided (63Mb, see also these faster mirror sites) and the game minimum requirement is a G4 (1,42 Ghz listed).

11-15-08 / 12:07 AM : ATARI 2600 Classic USB Joystick Controller (cjed)

The site 8bitrocket reported a month ago the avaibility of an USB version of the ATARI 2600 joystick, by Legacy Engineering Group. It is priced 14,99$ and doesn't require any driver.

Following the FlatOut2 test, the site Macobserver provides a review of ToCA Race Driver 3.

A video of Torque Engine Advanced is available here (this enhanced version is now compatible with OSX, and a demo version can be downloaded).

11-14-08 / 11:51 PM : MacPro : delayed to early 2009 (cjed)

Intel is expected to launch new Xeon (Nehalem architecture based) during the first quarter of 2009. That is the new MacPro won't be unveiled before the January Macworld at best.

11-14-08 / 11:43 PM : Safari 3.2 available (cjed)

Apple provides Safari 3.2, that brings anti-phishing features, a better security and better stability.

11-13-08 / 11:51 PM : Apple / Google : end of relationship (cjed)

Apple may be willing to develop/enhance search web engines, at least results presentation (alla Time Machine). Now the iPhone includes requested Google applications (Google Maps, Google Earth) and Google enters the competition with Android after having probably got some support or information from Apple in return, it seems time for the two companies to stop their relationship, and Google's CEO is said to be leaving Apple's directors board.

11-12-08 / 11:15 PM : NI : True Strike Tension soundpack (cjed)

Native Instruments presents TRUE STRIKE TENSION , a new Kore Sound Pack that includes 30 percussions kits (750Mb) : West African djembe & kenkeni, Japanese okedo-daiko, Middle Eastern darabuka, North African bendir, etc. Audio demos are available. It is priced 79$.

11-12-08 / 11:02 PM : Parallels Desktop 4 : DX9, shaders 2 & OpenGL2 (cjed)

A new major version of Parallels Desktop is available, the 4.0. The new virtualization engine is said to be 50% faster, and it now fully supports DirectX 9, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0. It is priced 80$ (40$ for the update).

11-10-08 / 03:47 PM : Wings : zen flight simulator (cjed)

Wings is an iPhone application that allows to fly among four 3D environments (seasons). It isn't a true realistic flight simulation like X-Plane, and is only intended to provide zen experience (musics are provided). It is priced 1,99$ and the landscapes seem well done and various. The control (direction) uses the accelerometer, like X-Plane.

11-10-08 / 03:24 PM : Virtual Ocarina for iPhone : breath controller (cjed)

Smule presents Ocarina, a virtual instrument for iPhone that takes back the breath controller principle, this time using the included devices's mic. The virtual instrument openings are easily covered by fingers (but be aware not to drop the iPhone), and vibrato (intensity and frequency) is managed by tilting the device. We can also modify the scale (diatonic, minor and harmonic). Finally a globe allows to discover and listen to other iPhone Ocarina players, and rate their performance. Some listed sites provides quick tutorials.
We can watch videos, and the software is priced 0,99$ at the AppStore.

11-10-08 / 12:25 AM : Who doesn't care about music ? (cjed)

Through a volontary alarming (and wrong) title, Piratage - Apple se fout de la musique, TF1/LCI deals in fact with many subject, by interviewing the president of french SACEM : new anti-pirating law, interoperability and DRMs, iTunes Music Store, use of music by phone carriers and internet providers as an appealing product, and finally Deezer. The SACEM admitted some facts : the ITMS is the only music vendor site that works and generates money back to companies and artists, whereas Deezer provides thousands of time less incomes than classical radios, and tends to lower the value of music and artistic work (there is however to note that in the meantime the SACEM made agreements with Deezer).
[iTunes], c'est le seul support qui fonctionne, qui rapporte un peu d'argent.
Avec Deezer, on est à sept millièmes d'euros au titre écouté par un internaute. Il faudrait donc qu'un titre ait été écouté des dizaines de milliers de fois pour rapporter quelques euros qui se partagent entre l'éditeur, les compositeurs et les auteurs. A force de vouloir concurrencer la gratuité, le piratage, on arrive à une dévalorisation de la musique.
And what about the radio economic model used by Deezer : La comparaison avec la radio est limitée. Pour gagner avec Deezer l'équivalent sur de ce que rapporte un passage sur RTL, il faudrait q'une chanson soit écoutée des centaines de milliers de fois...

11-08-08 / 02:33 PM : VLC 0.9.6 / Freebox TV channels menu (cjed)

A new version of VLC, 0.9.6, is available for Intel and PPC macs. Since recent versions, a new submenu (Files-->Discover services) provides a direct link to Freebox TV channels.

11-08-08 / 02:28 PM : Apple / iPhone : Mobile Gaming Force (cjed)

An article from BusinessWeek demonstrates again Apple's influence on videogames market with the iPhone, reflected by the AppStore strong success.

11-08-08 / 12:38 PM : The Katie Melua Collection : waiting for next album (cjed)

While Katie Melua is starting a new concerts tour, a CD/DVD best of has been available since October, 27, The Katie Melua Collection. The CD includes 14 previously released songs, plus 3 new songs : Toy Collection (written by Katie Melua for the film Fainheart at Myspace), Somewhere In The Same Hotel (ballade, written by Katie Melua and his previous producer Mike) and Two Bare Feet (also from Katie Melua and her old manager). The DVD features videos from her The Arena Tour 2008, recorded in Rotterdam, and some behind the scenes ones.
On her official site, Katie Melua explains why after the first 3 albums she had to work with new people (composers, etc.) to make something new and refreshing, for her next album, and how it is difficult. In fact the latest (third) album was globally deveiving, and the best of featuring 3 news songs (which the old producer finally worked on) is a common way to make fans wait for the next complete album.
We can listen to some samples at Myspace and see some photos of the Paris Zénith concert (October, 20, 2008).

11-06-08 / 11:41 PM : VSL : Vienna Suite (cjed)

VSL presents Vienna Suite, a mastering plugins suite (395$) : Equalizer, Master Equalizer, Limiter, Compressor, Multiband Limiter, PowerPan, Exciter and Analyzer.

11-06-08 / 11:31 PM : Sonoma Four Track : recorder for iPhone (cjed)

Sonoma Wire Works provides a 4 tracks audio recorder for iPhone, Four Track, priced 9,99$. The recording uses the iPhone headphone mic. The user interface is great and provides a realistic feeling. A compressor/limiter is included. The mix (16 bits/44,1Khz) can be saved on a computer through Wifi.
We can read a first review at Wired.

11-06-08 / 11:14 PM : Intel Core i7 prices (cjed)

Intel a presented prices of the new Core i7 (Nehalem). The first model (quad 2,66 Ghz) at 284$ seems the most interesting (the cores frequency isn't a limitation here as the added hyperthreading to the 4 cores allows 8 threads), the quad 2,94Ghz is two times more expensive (for a not so high frequency and same QuickPath bus speed). Moreover the power consumption of the first model is still 130W.

11-04-08 / 11:49 PM : Chris Hein Horns Vol. 2 - Section Horns (cjed)

Best Services presents Chris Hein Horns Vol. 2 (Section Horns). This version includes 17 solo instruments, but also many combinations (sections), what makes it complementary to the Vol. 1 edition version 1.5 (dedicated to solo). This library for Kontakt is compatible with G4s.

11-04-08 / 11:45 PM : Adrenaline Pool Lite (cjed)

A new free pool game is available for iPhone, Adrenaline Pool Lite. This one allows multiplayer game, through wifi connection (however the playing against the computer is only provided in the full version).

11-03-08 / 11:25 PM : Prince of Persia : The Two Thrones on mac (cjed)

MacWorld prpovides a review of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones for mac, a port of the original PC game from 2005. However it seems the best of the recent Prince of Persia series.

11-03-08 / 11:18 PM : Fastest laptop for games ? (cjed)

Alienware presents the M17, the fastest laptop PC (Quad Core, two ATI Radeon Mobility HD3870 graphic cards connected through ATI CrossFireX, HD 17' display), but also the thickest (probably three times the thickness of a MacBook Pro) and the most expensive : 3500$ for a quad core with the twin video cards, 4Gb of ram and 500Gb hard drive. The entry model at 1400$ (dual core at 2,26 Ghz only, a single video card, 2Gb of ram and only 160 Gb of hard disk) is probably just slightly faster than the new MacBook at 1200 euros, and should be noticeably slower than the MacBook Pro with GeForce 9600M at 1800 euros.

11-03-08 / 11:00 PM : X-Orcism : free effect plugin / Halloween (cjed)

Solid State Logic provides a free VST and AU plugin, X-Orcism, that includes pitch shifter, echo, reverb and other effects to produce Halloween style voice.

11-02-08 / 11:59 PM : Vaux-le-Vicomte photos (cjed)

A selection of photos taken at Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte is available in the Gallery2 section.

11-02-08 / 10:53 PM : Tomb Raider Underworld : videos (cjed)

Tomb Raider Underworld, the 8th episode of the game series, is due on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, November, 21. We can still watch some great videos at Jeuxvideo.com. The new 3D engine provides a realism close to recent FPS (Crysis, Far Cry 2).

11-02-08 / 09:58 PM : Far Cry 2 available : videos (cjed)

Far Cry 2 was released on PC (also PS3 and Xbox 360) just a week ago, and we can watch stunning videos here and there (it also seems to run very well on Intel macs, as we can see on a previous generation MacBook Pro).
We can also get for 30$ Half Life 2 : The Orange Box. That games pack includes the original Half Life 2 games, plus the twos add-ons (HL2 : Episode One and HL2 : Episode Two), Portal and Team Fortress 2.

11-01-08 / 01:01 AM : iPhone Colors! & MiniPiano (cjed)

Colors! is a painting software for iPhone that uses touch. We can see examples here. A free (Lite) version is available at the AppSore (lacking the the save feature, but a screenshot of the iPhone screen could be tried).
MiniPiano is a free version (but limited to one octave) of a virtual instrument for iPhone. We can watch a video here. A full version, FingerPiano (priced 2,99$), provides 3 octaves.

11-01-08 / 12:58 AM : Microsoft Office Web / Mobile 7 delayed (cjed)

Microsoft unveiled Office Web, a lite (simplified) version of its Office suite, using RIA (rich internet application) technology (Ajax, as with Google suite). It works with Safari and Firefox on mac.
The Microsoft MacBU is working on the next mac desktop Office version, that may add support for Visual Basic back (was removed from the latest version).
Finally Windows Mobile 7 is delayed to 2010.