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Justin Kahn

justinkahnmusic

Justin is the Editor-in-Chief at 9to5Toys. For well-over a decade he has covered everything from video games and smart home devices to iPhone and MagSafe accessories, EDC gear, and just about everything in between. A professional audio engineer/producer, he also specializes in home recording, microphones, digital audio, and streaming gear. See something cool out there? Developing the next viral Apple gear accessory? Or just want to talk deals? Contact him directly at justin@9to5mac.com for tips, pitches, and more.

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TE’s new iOS-compatible music & image sequencer/synth coming in May

Ever since the OP-1 portable synthesizer hit the scene way back in 2010, Teenage Engineering has made a name for itself in the music production world as a development team to watch out for. The company’s quirky design philosophies and stringent focus on forcing musicians to be creative in new ways has made its way into all of TE’s unique products from OP-1 to the Pocket Operators, and now the upcoming OP-Z.

The miniature portable instrument is much more than your average battery-powered synthesizer. With a vast selection of synth engines, an extremely powerful 16-step sequencer, remote display iOS functionality and, what sounds like, incredibly compelling video/image/lightning integration, this is an entirely new beast all together.
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The ‘world’s smallest playable emulator’ runs all the Sega/Game Boy titles you could ever want

We see loads of interesting hacks, home brews and custom-made gaming hardware around here. The Arduino platform, along with a host of emulators specific to classic gaming, means there really is no shortage of options out there. While many of the most iconic publishers, including Square Enix and Capcom (to a much lesser degree), have brought some of their more notable titles to iOS and Android, there are still thousands of titles you’ll only find via emulation.

We recently spotted an interesting little device to help you out with that described as the world’s smallest playable emulation device.” PocketSprite can play just about all of your favorites and is small enough to hang from your keychain.
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Alto’s Odyssey for iOS/Apple TV gets a brand new trailer & official release date

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Alto’s Adventure is among some of the best and most interesting games on mobile. While it might employ the somewhat tired endless runner format, its incredible art-style and addictive gameplay take the experience to new heights. It follows Alto and his friends as they discover gorgeous alpine hills, villages, ancient forests and mysterious ruins. Around this time last year, the folks at Snowman studios released the first teasers for the sequel to Alto’s Adventure and today we have a brand new trailer with an official release date…
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Today’s Best Game Deals: Mario + Rabbids $32, L.A. Noire Switch $32, more

In today’s best console game deals,  Best Buy is offering Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on Nintendo Switch for $39.99 shipped. Meaning GCU members can grab it for just $31.99. That’s well under the best prices on Amazon and the best we can find.

More game/console deals:

ICYMI: Here is the Best Console Game Releases for February and Action-adventure game Monster Boy Cursed Kingdom gets physical release on Switch/PS4.

Down below you’ll find more console game deals and new products. Your daily iOS/Mac app sales are on the way!
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Action-adventure game Monster Boy Cursed Kingdom gets physical release on Switch/PS4

While Nintendo has thus far done a great job supporting Switch with excellent first party titles, we are always on the hunt for new and interesting experiences to fill out our libraries. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey have propelled the latest hybrid Nintendo console to new heights. However, it’s the smaller, sometimes indie titles that keep us occupied in between releases of Nintendo’s juggernaut franchises. So we were certainly excited when new details on the upcoming new Monster Boy game hit Twitter this morning.
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DODOcase intros book-bound Executive Leather iPad covers, now available at 20% off

Much like the folks at WaterField and Pad & Quill, DODOcase creates some fantastic Apple device accessories. With a series of premium materials like full-grain leather and canvas, the company’s handcrafted cases and covers are among the best in the price range. After launching a new lineup of cases for Apple’s latest handsets late last year, DODOcase is now introducing the limited run Executive Leather iPad case.
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Here’s the first gameplay trailer for Injustice 2’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The folks at NeatherRealm Studios really know how to make fighting games. The most recent entry in the Mortal Kombat series received solid review scores back in 2015, much the way Injustice 2 did in May of last year when it hit store shelves. And NeatherRealm is continuing to support the sequel to its expanded DC Universe fighter. While we may have caught a very quick glimpse of Leo, Mikey, Raph and Donatello in the previous teaser trailer, today we are getting our first look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 2017 Fighting Game of the Year
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Use your tap-to-pay cards w/o taking them out of WaterField’s new Leather VIA Wallet

No matter how convenient it might be to use an iPhone case that can carry your bank cards and the like, I personally still prefer to carry a super slim case and a separate wallet. The folks at WaterField have been creating wonderful hand-made accessories for Apple gear for years now, but today it is unveiling the new VIA Leather Billfold Wallet.
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Here’s a look at Sony’s new PlayStation 4/PSVR Gold Wireless Headset

(Update 3/6 8:35am): You can now grab the new Gold headset for $15 off today at Rakuten using code SAVE15.

Last week, Sony debuted its brand new DualShock 4 controller designs. Along with the previously released retro-style translucent variants, the new Midnight Blue and Black Steel options are already among some of my personal favorites in the collection. But Sony is continuing the new hardware announcements this week with a brand new Gold Wireless Headset for PlayStation 4 and PSVR…
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Zelda Breath of the Wild player immortalizes Hero’s Path with in-game map wall art

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild released in March of 2017 as a launch game for Nintendo Switch. It quickly became one of the highest rated games of all time and is widely considered to be one the best games Nintendo (or anyone for that matter) has ever made.

Players are still searching every corner of the map to find new secrets, max-out their character builds and more. While it can be hard to say goodbye to these experiences once we have completely exhausted the content within, one Zelda player has thought of a very interesting way to immortalize their time in Hyrule…
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Red Dead Redemption 2 gets official release date, more info & new screens

Nintendo has clearly had a strong foothold on the gaming market over the last year or so. Switch has now crushed Wii U sales as the fastest selling gaming console in U.S history over its first 10 months on store shelves. So it’s clearly going to take some serious heavyweights to sway the balance of power at this point, and if anyone is going to do it, it’s going to be Rockstar.

The Grand Theft Auto developer’s releases are just about always the biggest of the year and Rockstar has had its sights set on 2018 for a while now. We all know the company will be taking us back to the wild west in its next installment of the Red Dead series and Rockstar (might) have just given us an actual official release date along with some brand new screen shots of RDR2
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Sony unveils brand new Midnight Blue and Black Steel DualShock 4 controllers

$65

After debuting new retro-style translucent DualShock 4 controllers ahead of the Black Friday season last year, Sony is now ready to out its latest designs. We got a look at the amazing new controller for the New Monster Hunter World PS4 Pro bundle earlier this month, and now it’s time to look at the new Midnight Blue and Black Steel options.
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Massive Mac App Store sale from $5: LEGO, Marvel, Tomb Raider, Hitman, many more

from $5

While it has been somewhat slow for iOS and Mac app deals this month, it looks like we are heading in to February with a good batch of discounts. This time around we are seeing around 15 very notable Mac App Store deals on everything from LEGO games to Batman, Deus Ex and XCOM. Each of the apps listed below is at the lowest prices we can find.
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The Room: Old Sins – the latest entry in the fantastic puzzler series is out now on iOS

Out Now!

Fireproof Games has made a name for itself among gamers with The Room series over last few years. The game is highly touted as one of the best of its kind on mobile, and it just kept getting better every time another sequel dropped. The original game in the franchise launched way back in 2012 followed by a pair of sequels in 2013 and 2015. Fireproof has kept us waiting for a while on the next entry in the critically acclaimed series, but wait no longer.
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Nintendo Switch bundled with Pro Controller & Mario Odyssey for $400 ($425+ value)

Reg. $425+/$400

Well we don’t see very many Nintendo Switch console deals, and we aren’t expecting to start any time soon. However, we do have a rare bundle discount today courtesy of trusted game dealer AntOnline via eBay Daily Deals. You can grab the Nintendo Switch with Super Mario Odyssey and a Switch Pro Controller for $399.99 shipped.
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It looks like Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition for iOS is releasing next month

$20

Square Enix released the latest main installment of its flagship RPG franchise in late 2016 to solid reviews. While Final Fantasy XV may not be a perfect experience, long time fans of the series were certainly appeased and steady DLC add-ons have helped the game’s post-release life span. More recently, Square introduced the Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition with the full season’s pass worth of DLC content, a brand new dungeon/environment, first-person mode, new gear and additional boss battles. Needless to say it is most definitely the version of the game to get if you haven’t invested in the standard version and its DLC just yet.

While the Royal Edition is offering those jumping in on this long after release a great chance to catch up on the entire package, Square also has a mobile version of the game set for release on iOS and Android…
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Pad & Quill offers 20% off its leather/wood iPhone X/8/7/Plus cases

20% off

One of our favorite Apple accessory makers, Pad & Quill, is now offering up to 15% off on all of its iPhone cases for Valentine’s Day. And it gets even better. Using code PQ5 on any of the discounted cases will drop it down an additional 5%. That’s 20% off all of Pad & Quill’s high-quality and rarely discounted iPhone X/8/7/Plus cases.
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Best of NAMM 2018: Thunderbolt/USB-C interfaces, iOS controllers, synths, more

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NAMM 2018 is in full swing this week highlighting the best of what the audio/music production industry will have to offer over the coming year. All of the biggest music gadget companies flock to Anaheim, California to show off their newest products and this year is no exception. We have been bringing you some of the major announcements from the show over the past week (or more) and now it’s time to round-up the best of NAMM 2018…
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Elektron’s new hardware Digitone Synth doubles as a plug-in for Mac [Video]

NAMM is fully underway now with loads of new products hitting the show floor from Korg’s new polyphonic synth Prologue to new Universal Audio interfaces and the latest Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operators. After introducing the Digitakt 8-track Drum Machine/Sampler and easily making our list for Best of NAMM 2017, Elektron is back in 2018 with its latest musical gadget.

Known for its quirky and yet extremely powerful sequencer design along with a growing line-up of incredible hardware instruments, Elektron is now unveiling the new Digitone polyphonic digital synthesizer.
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IK intros new iOS & Mac iRig Stomp I/O controller w/ built-in interface, more

After the massive new Logic Pro X update hit today and with all of the new products coming out of NAMM 2018, it is certainly going to be a busy weekend for producers and musicians. And we have already seen new instruments from Arturia and Korg as well as Focusrite’s USB-C interfaces for Mac and the brand new metal-series Pocket Operators from Teenage Engineering.

It was only a matter of time before IK Multimedia started to unleash its 2018 lineup on us. On top of some exciting new software products/enhancements, it is now introducing the new iRig Stomp I/O…
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TE unveils new pocket-sized synths w/ built-in sampling at NAMM 2018

NAMM 2018 is now in full force down in Anaheim, California. The yearly trade show attracts the best and brightest in the world of music production from the major players like Moog, Korg and Roland, to smaller more boutique companies like Teenage Engineering. We have already seen some big time product announcements and now it’s time to look at TE’s brand new pocket operator synths…
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Ubisoft now has its own Alexa-like virtual assistant for gamers

Virtual assistants are quickly making their way into just about every product category with the word ‘smart’ attached to it at this point. CES 2018 was dominated by new Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant laden devices from smart home gear to helper robots, sound bars and much more. Clearly, virtual assistants aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, despite what Cortana has to say about it. And now it looks like Alexa and Siri might be getting a new friend courtesy of the folks at Ubisoft…
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Review: Apogee’s next generation Lightning & USB MiC+ for iOS/Mac

Apogee has been one of the top names in digital audio in the music production world for years. It successfully jumped into the mobile game with its iOS friendly interfaces among other things a few years back, and recently launched the second generation MiC+ USB/Lightning Microphone. Apogee rarely opts for affordability over quality, but we had to give it a run for its money anyway.

We have now had a chance to go hands-on with the company’s latest portable mic over the last little while. Apogee has certainly stepped its game up here, but is it still worth the world-class price tag? Head below for our full review…
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Best Console Game Releases for January: Monster Hunter, Street Fighter Arcade, more

January is typically a slow month for game releases, and 2018 is no different, but it won’t be much longer before the highly anticipated Monster Hunter: World releases for consoles. We are also seeing what appears to be the version of Street Fighter V fans have been waiting for as well as some notable Nintendo Switch and 3DS releases.

Last month’s lineup was headlined by the launch of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for Switch along with Okami HD and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. But for everything you should be keeping an eye on this month, head down below…
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Today’s Best Game Deals: Destiny 2 $25, DOOM VFR $20, more

In today’s best game deals, Amazon is offering the Destiny 2 on Xbox One for $24.94 with free shipping for Prime members or in orders over $25. It also available on PS4 for a few bucks more. Still $60 at Best Buy, this is the current best price around.

More game/console deals:

ICYMI: We still have the Playstation 4 Pro + Destiny 2 & Overwatch GOTY for $400 shipped ($470+ value) or without the games for $339. Here’s the new Monster Hunter World and Glacier White PS4 Pro consoles are releasing this month.

Down below you’ll find more console game deals and new products. Your daily iOS/Mac app sales are on the way!
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Korg unveils 2018 line-up: new Prologue poly synth, Volca Mixer, drum machine, more

Well, it’s that time of year. NAMM 2018 is just around the corner now and we are already seeing many of the big time music production company’s showing off their 2018 lineups. Arturia has certainly been busy the last few days with the second generation MiniBrute, Mini Brute 2S and RackBrute, not to mention the new interfaces from Focusrite and Universal Audio.

We suspected Korg wouldn’t be far behind Arturia here, and we were right. The company has now unveiled a brand new poly synth, a drum machine and the latest addition to its popular (and extremely affordable) Volca line…
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