Category: Technology

NAMM 2024 is right around the corner, but Korg isn’t waiting for the festivities to officially begin. It’s announced about a dozen new products over the last few days. Among them are updates to two of the company’s virtual analog synths, the roughly 10-year-old KingKorg and the 22-year-old MicroKorg.

The KingKorg Neo is built on the same 37-key form factor as the rest of Korg’s recent digital synths, like the Opsix, Modwave and Wavestate. But the core here is the company’s XMT (eXpanded Modelling Technology) virtual analog sound engine. It’s not the most convincing analog emulation in the world, but it does have some character. 

It’s a multi-timbral synth, with each patch having the ability to layer or split to different sounds, with three oscillators at its disposal. There are 138 different options to choose from on the oscillator front, ranging from basic wave shapes, to PCM samples. And there are 18 different filter emulations to choose from as well, including the classic MS-20. There’s also two LFOs, two envelopes, and a whole host of effects from your typical delays and reverbs, to amp simulators and sound mangling decimator. 

Perhaps most exciting though, is the 16-band vocoder and included gooseneck mic. But, the KingKorg Neo isn’t the only new synth from the storied manufacturer with a vocoder. It’s also updating its iconic MicroKorg with the MicroKorg 2. 

The original MicroKorg was launched in 2002 and went on to become one of the best selling synths of all time. In fact, in May of 2023 Korg was still pumping out iterations of the original, celebrating its multiple decades of success with a Crystal special edition. 

The new version has a very similar form factor, including its small size, gooseneck mic, the ability to be powered by batteries and a large dial for navigating patches that are still sorted by genre. But under the hood is a new sound engine, and there’s a 2.8-inch color display on the front which should simplify sound design. There’s also a built-in loop recorder which should make it a much more powerful instrument for solo performers.

The KingKorg Neo is expected to start shipping in February for $1,000. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for the MicroKorg 2 however, which should be hitting the market in June, though there’s no word on pricing. Hopefully it’ll fall somewhere in the $500 range like the original. Part of what made the MicroKorg so successful was that it was perfectly accessible to even the lowliest of synth hobbyists. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/korgs-microkorg-2-and-kingkorg-neo-are-overdue-updates-to-its-virtual-analog-synthesizers-110005853.html?src=rss

Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro isn’t for everyone, and indeed, the latest pre-order estimates reflect a slow start for this VR spatial computing device. According to analyst Min-Chi Kuo’s calculations based on pre-order inventory and shipping time, he reckons the company sold somewhere between 160,000 to 180,000 Vision Pro headsets during this past weekend. This already far exceeds Kuo’s earlier production figures of 60,000 to 80,000 units targeting the initial release on February 2, which is no wonder that the Vision Pro was sold out immediately after pre-orders opened.

While this sounds like positive news, Kuo pointed out that with shipping times remaining unchanged within the first 48 hours, this might indicate a quick drop in demand after the heavy users and hardcore fans were done pre-ordering. In contrast, iPhone orders would usually “see a steady increase in shipping times 24 to 48 hours after pre-orders open.” But of course, the Vision Pro isn’t meant for the average consumer in its current state, especially given the lack of some mainstream apps like YouTube, Spotify or Netflix. Not to mention the eye-watering $3,499 base price either, though Apple may later release a cheaper model in the ballpark of $1,500 to $2,500, according to an earlier report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Kuo added that even with the device being sold out based on the upper initial production figure of 80,000 units, that only accounts for about 0.007 percent of Apple’s 1.2 billion active users, which makes the Vision Pro “a very niche product” in the eyes of Cupertino. That is to say, the tech giant will need to somehow drum up and sustain demand for the headset before its global launch, which is rumored to take place some time before this year’s WWDC — likely in June. Meanwhile, Apple is also busy setting up demo areas at its US flagship stores, in the hopes of making a few more sales with their 25-minute sessions.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-might-have-sold-up-to-180000-vision-pro-headsets-over-pre-order-weekend-081727344.html?src=rss

Terraform Labs, the company that wiped out $40 billion from the crypto market with the collapse of its TerraUSD and Luna stablecoins, has finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday. Bloomberg reports that the crypto firm’s estimated assets and liabilities are both in the range of $100 million to $500 million, with the estimated number of creditors being somewhere between 100 and 199. Co-founder and former CEO Do Kwon is listed as the majority shareholder at 92 percent, with an address registered in Singapore — where the company is incorporated.

Following the arrest of Kwon and his associate in Montenegro for traveling with forged passports last March, Kwon is currently still in jail until his extradition to the US — likely by mid-March, according to Bloomberg — where he will face securities fraud charges. The entrepreneur is also wanted in his home country, South Korea, for similar charges, which reportedly led to him, his family and some key Terraform Labs personnel fleeing to Singapore between April and May 2022. Shortly before Interpol placed him on the “red notice” list in September that year, Kwon denied that he was “on the run,” but the eventual discovery of his fake passports would suggest otherwise.

Kwon will likely join the fate of other big names in the crypto downfall, namely Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX fame and former Celsius Network chief Alex Mashinsky. Meanwhile, Coinbase continues its battle against the SEC’s accusation of illegally running an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency. Bloomberg analyst Elliott Stein recently shared that Coinbase may likely win full dismissal as soon as this quarter, if not by the end of Q2.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doomed-crypto-firm-terraform-labs-files-for-bankruptcy-in-the-us-055731287.html?src=rss