Toast is the granddaddy of CD burning apps nowadays, an act that itself has become relatively obsolete (between iPods, internet radios, FM tuners, and streaming services, do we even really need to put media on a physical format anymore?). Roxio isn't sitting back with their software, though: they've released Toast 10 at MacWorld this week, and they are doing their best to stay on your Mac, whether you use your CD burner or not. They added streaming back in Toast 9, but 10 brings with it the ability to extract and control almost any sound or video that comes through your computer, from DVD footage to web video, exported out to TiVo, your Mac, your iPod, or anywhere else that plays it.

The app is available right now on the website for $79.99 (after a $20 mail-in rebate), or they're offering a "Pro" version that comes with SonicFire Pro (that you can use to piece soundtracks together), Bias SoundSoap SE (which will wipe hums and static from recordings), FotoMagico (slideshows from pictures), and LightZone (photo editor and enhancer), as well as a plug-in for Toast that will let you author Blu Ray and HD DVD discs. All that comes together for $130 (after a $20 mail-in rebate).

Whew. Despite the fact that almost no one is routinely burning CDs or DVDs these days, Roxio seems to be going all out to make sure there's still a need for Toast.

[via Ars]

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What! Another internet radio player for the iPhone? Yes, Pocket Tunes [App store link] does play internet radio in a pretty crowded field of similar iPhone/touch apps, but this little player has some unique attributes.

Pocket Tunes, which is also available for Windows Mobile and Palm phones, has excellent audio quality, and a nice, but not overwhelmingly large, selection of stations. You can add your own stations of course, and Pocket Tunes plays more audio formats than most of the other players out there, including aacPlus v1, aacPlus v2, Shoutcast, RTSP, and the usual suspects like MP3, AAC and WMA.

There are a few things that set Pocket Tunes apart from the competition. The GUI is pretty, not just a jumble of text, and the app contains a web browser so you can surf while listening to streaming music, something you simply can't do with other radio streamers. The browser can't see your Safari bookmarks, and you can't make your own, but listening to music and surfing the web is certainly better than listening to music and not surfing. The browser does have a link for the Google search engine, so getting to a website is not too painful.

You can also connect to the iTunes Store to buy any music you've listened to, and Pocket Tunes remembers stations that you have heard and caches them without your having to save them.

The audio quality of this app is quite good, and I got reasonably fast load and buffering times even using the EDGE network. I even tried to listen to music while driving, but when I plug in my car iPod adapter cord to the iPhone, I just get my regular playlists. I could have used the headphone out on the phone into the mini plug input on the car, but I didn't have the proper cable. Note to self: always bring the proper cables.

Pocket Tunes is $9.99, and competes against some fine free apps like AOL Radio and Flycast, and some apps that aren't free like Tuner [App Store link] and Wunder Radio [App Store link] which are both loaded with features for $5.99. Still, Pocket Tunes works very well, and unlike all the other entrants (except Flycast), it will let you read this review while listening to your favorite stations.

I've built a recording studio on my iPhone ... kind of. It doesn't output production-quality mixes -- or anything close -- but it makes a great scratchpad for recording and developing musical ideas. It didn't take any special effort, just a few apps which I've found really handy, especially when working with acoustic instruments.

Tuning up

First, I've been using GuitarToolkit ($9.99US in the App Store) for tuning, general metronome needs and finding chord phrasings. There are dozens of apps available with similar features, and I haven't tried enough of them to fairly judge merits (if you know of an outstanding app, let's hear about it in the comments!). I grabbed GuitarToolkit when it was a little narrower of a field, and it's been a sturdy, steadily-improving app which has never given me reason to look around.

Read on for the rest of the "mobile studio" ...

I recently offered a little introduction to integrating TouchOSC with Logic. In response, TUAW reader Tom Phillipson sent us a link to a video of his own integration of TouchOSC into his live setup. He modded a Novation ReMOTE 25SL Compact, extending its functionality via TouchOSC on his iPod touch. Check out the video to see (and hear) it controlling Ableton Live and an Access TI Snow.

Thanks for sharing, Tom!

The App Store is somewhat deluged with music-related applications. While I find many of the instruments to be novelties, the iPhone-based remote controls available for various Digital Audio Workstations have really caught my attention.

I've been playing around with the various musical remote controllers available for a while now. When the various iTouchMidi controllers were released, I got pretty excited. Problematically, I'm a fan of Logic Pro, and these intriguing but mostly Logic-incompatible controllers weren't up to snuff for my personal needs. It was a few weeks before I discovered the available OpenSound Control (OSC) apps in the App Store.

I've played with the lineup of controllers such as OSCemote and Mrmr (iTunes link), and both of those are a lot of fun with a good amount of potential. One stood out for me, though, and TouchOSC has officially become part of my home studio setup.

TouchOSC provides an array of control screens consisting of faders, rotary controls, buttons, toggles, XY pads, multi-faders/toggles and LEDs in various configurations. It communicates wirelessly with software and hardware which can receive and send the OSC protocol. I thought I'd offer a quick rundown of the steps I used to get from TouchOSC to Logic. I'm sure the same methods can be applied to other software, with a little variation.

An overview of the controller configurations in TouchOSC can be found in the gallery below. Read on for the lowdown.

Gallery: TouchOSC

As our old friend Nik tipped us yesterday and Macworld's Jason Snell reported in his two-hour rundown of the MacBook Pro and MacBook updates, there's a stealth feature with these machines that is sure to please iPhone owners: the $29 US Apple Stereo Headset, included with the iPhone, works as a microphone on the MB/MBP unibody models.

While this might not be a top-line selling point for the laptops, it's actually a very nice added feature for users of VoIP software (Skype, Gizmo) or iChat audio conferencing. Trimming your laptop bag by skipping the USB headset (or the Bluetooth headset, for that matter) will save wear and tear on your back; not having to buy another device to do sound input for your laptop will save wear and tear on your wallet.

Update: One commenter notes that these headphones also work for sound input on the previous MacBook Pro ("MacBookPro4,1"); if anyone else can confirm, please chime in. Another asks if the clicker button works to control iTunes playback; per the Macworld article, it does indeed.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.