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Save MP3s On Your Device with YouTubeToMp3 [Cydia]

YouTubeToMp3 is a new tweak available for free in Cydia that, as the name suggests, allows you to save MP3 audio files on your jailbroken iOS device through Youtube. It may happen sometimes, in fact, that you stumble upon a live performance of your favorite artist on YouTube and you can’t find the single audio files anywhere else; in the past, we reviewed Grappler for Mac, a utility for OS X that allows you to convert videos from the popular video service to audio files also compatible with iTunes.

YouTubeToMp3 only needs the URL of the video you’d like to save and a tap on “Convert”. The UI isn’t exactly great, but the tweak gets its job done by saving .mp3 files into /var/mobile/Media/Downloads. You can manage files from the utility itself, too.

YouTubeToMp3 is available under BigBoss repo and it’s compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.

OMGuitar for iPad Was Meant for Auditions [Video]

We don’t know whether Steve Jobs knew the iPad would turn out to be a popular music instrument or not, but it’s undeniable that more and more artists every week are coming out with videos showing their live performances entirely based on the tablet. Even the Gorillaz created an album using only iPad apps. In the video embedded after the break, you can take a look at the functionalities offered by a new music app for the iPad called “OMGuitar” that, according to the Amidio developers, is the most innovative and realistic “guitar synth” for iOS.

The app lets strum away on your iPad’s screen and captures the speed and “emotion” of your strumming. You can choose between 6 different guitar models (from the most classic one to the electric Les Paul) and play through an interface that’s divided in two parts: one for the notes and chords, one for the actual strumming. The developers write:

The strings themselves respond to the speed of strumming and the distance between themselves and the initial screen tap. The player is supposed to strum with one finger and place the second finger on the guitar at any time for muting all the strings. With such approach, many common guitar playing techniques can be easily accomplished.

OMGuitar employs an absolutely new way of choosing chords called CH#RD. More than 300 chords are basically at the fingertips. Only one finger is needed to play all the common chords, such as Minor, 7th, Major 7th, power chords, 6th chords, diminished or suspended. For more special chords, one more finger is needed. In total, there is access to 23 chord variations per every root note, which is more than enough for any song.

OMGuitar is available at $14.99 in the App Store. While we think you shouldn’t really try to go to an audition with an iPad as your main instrument, we’re still hoping in the future that won’t look weird. Perhaps in a few years. [Youtube via TUAW]
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The AppSumo Supercharge OS X Bundle Giveaway

It might be a brand new year, but that doesn’t mean your brand new Mac has to be left app empty. So we want to supercharge your OS X experience with four applications for a powerful Finder experience, smarter windows, and only the fastest downloader on your side of the MacStories Internet. We’re going to supercharge your Snow Leopard, and all you have to do is enter our giveaway for a chance at one of five bundles.

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iPad 2 with SD Slot, Higher Res Screen? iPhone 5 To Feature Apple A5 CPU?

A report posted tonight by Engadget reveals several details of future Apple products scheduled for a 2011 launch, such as the iPad 2, the iPhone 5 and the successor to the second-generation Apple TV. Engadget’s track record with Apple scoops has been very solid, and the details are very interesting.

According to sources close to the website, the iPad 2 will feature a higher resolution screen similar to the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, but won’t be have the same DPI. In the past, we’ve heard rumors about the next-generation iPad featuring a display with higher pixel density, and we actually spotted higher resolution images in the iBooks app for iPad months ago. Those images suggested a 2x increase in resolution. Engadget also claims the device will have a SD card slot – that bigger hole we’ve seen in cases and mockups recently wasn’t a speaker, apparently. The iPad 2 is set to come out in April, won’t feature a USB port and will be “lighter”. Read more

The Beatles On iTunes: 5 Million Songs Sold In 2 Months

On November 16, 2010 The Beatles came to iTunes. The ever-popular Liverpool band was one of the big holes in Apple’s digital music offering, and an option long pursued by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who also happens to be a huge fan of the Fab Four. In two months, 5 million songs and 1 million albums of The Beatles have been sold through iTunes, Apple told The Loop.

Two weeks after the initial release, Apple announced 2 million songs had been sold. Clearly sales have slowed down a bit, but it’s an impressive figure nonetheless. And just like when 2 million songs were already out of iTunes, the most popular album is “Abbey Road”. Most popular song in the U.S. is “Here Comes The Sun”.

November 16 might not be a day we’ll never forget, but it sure marked the beginning of a lucrative relationship between Apple and The Beatles.

Discovr for iPad: An Interactive Map of Music

Months after its original release, I’m still using Aweditorium as my primary “music discovery tool” on the iPad. The app is nothing but a grid containing interesting independent artists and bands the Aweditorium developers think you should check out. You can listen to songs directly from the app, send them to an external speaker with AirPlay, run the app in the background or stay in there and check out bios, interviews and lyrics while you’re listening. It makes for a great way to discover new music when you have some free time to dedicate to music. But in Aweditorium, you won’t see your favorite artists coming up every once in a while, as the app is entirely based on music you’ve likely never heard of before. That’s where (I think) Australian music start-up Jammbox got inspired to develop Discovr for iPad. Read more

Sociable Updates Your Status On Multiple Social Networks At Once

A few weeks ago I reviewed Update, a simple $0.99 iPhone app that can update your status on Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, LinkedIn and Hyves with a single screen, all at once. In what seems to be a renewed trend in the App Store, here comes Sociable, another take on the “share on multiple websites at the same time” idea. Sociable can share messages on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. Every time you want to share a new status update, all you have to do is choose the services you want to send it to.

So why would anyone prefer this over Update, which we already covered and liked? Well, Sociable comes with a beautiful interface and a great icon on your home screen. I couldn’t help but notice the pixels that went into this app. The sharing screen, for instance, kind of reminds me of the compose window in Twitter for iPad. The wooden background and icon are elegant.

Sociable is a $0.99 purchase in the App Store.

Handoff Pushes Web Pages From Your Computer to Any iOS Device

One of the features many users wish Apple implemented by default on OS X is the possibility to easily and quickly send any kind of content to iOS over the air. Through the Internet, in seconds, from a computer to the iPhone or iPad. We’re not talking “sync” here: I’m talking about web links, images, maps, phone numbers, Youtube videos “pushed” instantly to an iOS device. The other way around, from iOS to the Mac, would be welcome as well: instead of relying on third-party apps, one could save content and information to consume later on a Mac. Like a video you don’t want to watch while you’re out because, honestly, Instapaper wasn’t meant for video.

Luckily for us, a number of apps that enable OS X to iOS communication over the air have surfaced in the past years, and today we’re taking a look at a new one. The app / service is called Handoff, and it’s probably the simplest I’ve stumbled upon so far. It allows you send web links from your browser to the iPhone or iPad (the iOS app is universal) through a bookmarklet or extension. Read more