CES is a pretty big deal. The electronics show sees more than 150,000 journalists, bloggers and other tech-industry people swarm to a huge Convention Centre in Las Vegas to see the coolest new gadgets, innovations and downright strange ideas.

This year was no different, and now that the week of madness is over, we’re taking a short look back over the highlights of the show, focusing on some of the coolest gadgets and accessories that will be available for your Mac and iOS device in the next few months and years.

Before we start, we also think it’s worth mentioning that while Apple didn’t have a stand of any kind at the show, and officially weren’t present, it was revealed during the week that they actually had around 250 employees circulating the show floor, scouting out everything on show. One keen-eyed journalist managed to spot Greg Joswiak, Head of iOS Product Marketing at Apple, and chat with him briefly about why he was there.

Apple are, of course, very interested in keeping an eye on developments in the tech industry, but Joswiak was specifically observing how companies were representing themselves, from things like booth layout to which products were highlighted. The reporter noted that he didn’t seem all that impressed by Sony’s stand, but didn’t get much more from the Apple man.

Anyway, onto the products that we’ll hopefully be reviewing in the next few months…

LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt RAID array
After jumping into the Thunderbolt market late last year with its high-end Little Big Disk (which features SSD storage alongside the super-fast transfer technology), LaCie are back with more Thunderbolt-powered brilliance. This time they coming in with a RAID array, most likely in an attempt to combat Promise‘s line of Thunderbolt enabled drives that are currently on sale on the Apple Online Store.
Because it’s a RAID system, speeds won’t be quite as high as the norm for Thunderbolt (which is around 700 MB/s), but LaCie have said we can expect around 311 MB/s, which is still three times faster than we are used to with FireWire 800. It will come in flavours up to 8TB, and allow for daisychaining, so you can add more storage if necessary. LaCie also announced a Thunderbolt Hub that includes support for eSATA drives, which will surely please users who have a range of drives that they’d love to connect up to their Mac. We saw a lot of Thunderbolt accessories on display at CES, but LaCie’s are some of the most exciting, closely followed by this…

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock
Until now, pretty much the only way to use the full potential of your Thunderbolt port was to buy an Apple Thunderbolt display for nigh on £900/$1000. Thankfully, that is set to no longer be the case when Belkin release their Thunderbolt Dock in September of this year. The small dock houses one FireWire 800, one HDMI, one Gigabit Ethernet, one 3.5mm audio, one Thunderbolt and three USB ports. This is set to really change the way people work with Thunderbolt, and when the dock, which will reportedly cost around $299 (around £200), is released in a few months we will finally see people using the full power of their new Macs.

Mobee Magic Feet and Power Bar
We’ve been big fans of Mobee‘s products for a while now, after they released solutions for one of the most consistent annoyances with our Macs – the wireless Magic Mouse and Keyboard using hundreds of batteries. Their solution involved inductive charging technology that allows you to simply place your accessory onto a powered charging station and watch as they filled with extra juice. Not only did this save money in the long-run, it was also an incredibly slick procedure. Now the company have a new way to power up your Magic Trackpad (called the Power Bar), plus an all-in-one solution for your Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse – the Magic Feet. The latter does look a little on the large side, but the Power Bar looks both incredibly slick and exceedingly simple to use, without losing the wireless nature of the accessory. We’re really looking forward to trying these out when they’re released in late March; you may find a huge pile of dead batteries outside iCreate Towers if you happen to be passing on the day, too.

Oregon Scientific Time and Wireless Charging Station+
Another one to jump on the brilliant bandwagon that is inductive charging, Oregon Scientific announced the first charging mat that actually functions as something useful when your iPhone isn’t sitting on it. The iPhone case included with the charging-clock also doesn’t look bad at all, meaning it’s something you might, potentially, consider having on your phone at all times. The mat/clock itself is a little on the large side, so you might have to reorganise your bedside table a little to get it on, but it looks great in action and will be available with cases for the 4 (and 4S), the 3G (and 3GS), as well as a few Android and Blackberry handsets, if you fancy mixing things up. This isn’t their first charging mat and clock combo, so we have high hopes for the new design.

Padintosh iPad case
This stunningly simple iPad case from thumbsUp! is not only guaranteed to evoke true feelings of nostalgia in all Apple’s fans, it will also function perfectly with the iPad 2′s Smart Cover. The case will be available in Q2 and clips on to the back of the iPad to perfectly mimic the very first Macintosh computer that debuted in 1984. It looks great, and we can’t wait to see it on the back of our iPad 2s at iCreate Towers in the next few months – we’re suckers for nostalgia.

Blue Spark Digital
Blue have long been known for producing fantastic microphones for all kinds of recordings, and now they are back with the Spark Digital, a microphone that will not only play nice with your iOS device, but will sound great at the same time. The new microphone uses the same technology inside as the (much more analogue) Stark did when it launched last year. The difference here is a MicroUSB port on the bottom that allows you to connect up to an iPad or iPhone using the Camera Connection Kit, or a Mac via a USB cable. As with all Blue’s mics, the Spark Digital has an amazing build-quality, and a few features that make it really stand out, including a condenser capsule that physically contracts to catch a more specific area of sound. It should be available in the Spring for around £130 from what we’re hearing, and we’ll try to record a podcast with it when we get one to review so you guys can also compare the sound quality (we currently use Blue’s brilliant Yeti mics).

iCade Mobile
The iCADE Arcade Cabinet garnered a fair bit of attention last year when it launched for the iPad and added an old-skool arcade stick and buttons to go along with an app that let you play loads of retro games. Now, iCade is back, and this time it’s going portable. The iCade Mobile add-on allows you to slot in an iPhone 4/4S, or an iPod Touch, connecting via Bluetooth to your device. The pad adds buttons, a directional pad, and shoulder triggers to your iOS device, and allows you to rotate your screen into both portrait and landscape modes. It doesn’t look like it’s going to win any design awards, but it’s worth noting that it’s still in the development stage and may look quite different by the time it launches in May for $79.99. It will also only work with around 100 games at launch, which is a bit of a shame, but if you’re one of the many people who don’t like gaming on the iPhone or iPod simply because of the way the touch screen works you may enjoy using this little peripheral.

Parrot AR Drone 2.0
Probably the most exciting announement of CES for the big kids in us all came from Parrot, who announced the second generation of their unbelievably awesome Parrot AR Drone. The inventively named AR Drone 2.0 boasts a new 720p HD camera that sends a live feed back to your device, as well as a pressure sensor for better altitude control and an autopilot mode that lets you set a distance and altitude and watch as the Drone goes there and snaps a photo. We expect fantastic things from this, as the original Drone was so much fun it should probably have had a warning on the box.

Now, onto AirPlay, which really dominated the Apple-based announcements this year…

Band & Olufsen Play: BeoLit12 Speaker
If you miss the old-style speakers of yore, you may also be very excited about the newly announced BeoLit12 speaker, the first product in the B&O Play range. This new product line aims to bring high-quality audio into your home without the need to take out a second mortgage and with a distinctly retro design. The little box of joy boasts a 120-watt amp, an aluminium shell, two 5cm tweeters and a 10cm woofer, which come together to produce one heck of a sound. The BeoLit12 also comes with AirPlay functionality, allowing to play your music through your Wi-Fi connection, as well as USB and 3.5mm stereo-out jacks. And if this is starting to sound just a little unlike the old wireless you used to have in your front room, you’ll be pleased to hear that the battery should provide around four hours of playback while streaming, or eight hours if you connect directly. It will be on sale at the end of January, but beware that this thing still won’t come cheap – it’s expected start at around £520.

Griffin Twenty
If you own a pair of high-quality speakers, but they aren’t enabled with AirPlay, you might feel like you’re missing out on the very best wireless music experience. If so, Griffin’s new Twenty might be just what you’ve been looking for. The small box allows you to clip in an AirPort Express and connect up to your speaker set-up with a single cable, giving you access to all your tunes wirelessly. The box itself looks great in a sleek white that fits perfectly with the AirPort Express, although this design could change before release. The most exciting thing is the giant silver dial on the top, however, as it not only looks and feels great, it simplifies the controls to just one interface, and is ultimately all you really need. No release date or pricing information on this one, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Klipsch Stadium Speaker
We’re big fans of Klipsch‘s products, after we tired a few of their headphones in a recent issue of iCreate, so we are naturally very excited about the prospect of their new AirPlay speaker – especially because it looks like it might be seriously powerful. With two 1-inch tweeters, two 3-inch mid-range woofers and two 5.25-inch subwoofers this isn’t going to be one for the faint hearted. Plus, as they’re all uncovered, you’re likely to feel these at the same time as you hear them. The AirPlay functionality means there is no ugly dock sticking out anywhere, but there is a USB port for when you’re not in range of your computer, offering a tethered connection that will also charge iPhones and iPods (but probably not the power-hungry iPads). It should be out around September, and there are no announcements on pricing just yet so expect something around £300 (our estimate, based on no facts at all).

ZIK Parrot Headphones by Starck
We recently tried out Parrot’s ZIKMU AirPlay speakers and while they might look a bit like trombones, they also provide some absolutely astounding performance when it comes to sound quality. So naturally we are rather excited about this pair of AirPlay headphones from the same company. We are sure that they are going to be incredibly expensive, and there are still no announcements about their release date, but these Bluetooth-enabled speakers feature four(!) microphones for some serious noise-cancelling action, as well as Parrot’s ‘Digital Music Hall’ effect, which is supposed to give the impression that you’re listening to your music in a much larger room. You’ll be able to connect them to your iPhone etc using a quarter inch cable if you prefer an analogue sound to the digital one they provide wirelessly, and most importantly they look really rather sexy.

Keep an eye out for future issues of iCreate Magazine, as we’re already excited about getting out hands on all these products for review.

With summer already  just a few months away again, many of us will already have our holidays planned out for next year. Whether you travel abroad or holiday at home, the majority of us will also be spending sleepless nights worrying about the accumulative cost of taking a break, from the cost of food and transport to the cost of day trips, activities and the temptation of local markets. Numbers is the perfect application to keep track of things that you need to budget for and for items that may already have been included, such as airport transfers or day trips. We’ve used simple tables and a pie chart to make a holiday hassle free.

Getting your family to help out with the household chores, and getting them to do them right, is a chore in itself. Inspire your whole family to get involved with housework and make sure that the jobs that need to be done get done correctly by creating a bright, fun presentation in Keynote. You can make it as simple, fun and light-hearted or as in-depth as you like with added effects and transitions to keep their attention focused, plus you can add extra comments whenever you need to. When you’re happy with your finished work, you can email it to your family or upload it onto iWork.com so there is no excuse for not doing the jobs properly. Alternatively, print it out and keep it pinned to a board in your kitchen for everyone to see and as a constant reminder.

The iPad, and previously the iPhone, have fast become the biggest mobile gaming platform in the world, with millions of people downloading simple apps like Angry Birds to their devices to play on the move. Now, though, there is a new kid on the block, and it’s going to blow Angry Birds out of the metaphorical water.

The OnLive service launched in both the US and UK for Macs and PCs a few months ago, and it has changed the way a lot of people play games completely. The system allows you to play a high-definition game on any machine, whether it’s a £200 netbook running Windows Vista or a high-end gaming PC designed specifically for producing the best the graphics. What computer you use won’t actually make any difference to how the game looks, because the entire game is streamed to you from the OnLive servers.

When you input controls, they are beamed to the server farm, which works out what you want to do and instantly beams back the visual reaction to what you have done, with every part of the computing taking place in the server. All your computer needs is an internet connection and you can play any kind of game you want at the highest quality available. And it works. Exciting, eh?

Now, though, things are getting even more interesting. While you can already play OnLive on your Mac, and buy a wireless controller for the device if you want a more traditional gaming experience, you could previously only observe games if you use the free OnLive app for iPad. Flicking between the games that other users are play and watching their progress live was increidbly impressive, but what we really wanted was to be able to play these games on the iPad, right?

Right – and the OnLive people have finally managed to do it. Check out this video, taken at E3 this year, shows an early demo of Batman: Arkham Asylum being played on an iPad, using a wireless controller. The app will be launching as soon as Apple approve it to the app store, and will include a whole selection of games that are playable with taps and swipes on the screen. At launch, there are three titles with Native Touch controls (one of which is the recent Rockstar title, LA Noire), which have been specifically designed to work with the iPad as if the game was built for Apple’s tablet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There will be a controller launching for the service very soon (£39.99 and $49.99 in the UK and US respectively) that will allow you to connect not only to your iPad  but also to your Mac through bluetooth. You can play around 25 titles using touch controls on your iPad, but connecting a controller will unlock the full library of over 200 games currently available through OnLive. What’s really exciting is the potential here – with a MicroConsole and an iPad, you could display two different views of the same game, which could add a whole new dimension to gaming in the same way that AirPlay mirroring has with Apple TV and some iOS titles.

There’s also some great news for those in the US – OnLive have also been working on the service over 4G LTE networks with AT&T and Verizon, so you can play anywhere. Those who download the free OnLive Player app from the app store when it goes live will get a free copy of Lego Batman to test out the controls, and can test out other games for 30 minutes at no cost. So what are you waiting for – go get it now!

If you’re in the UK, you might also be interested to hear that BT is offering its home broadband customers an exclusive opportunity to get the OnLive PlayPack free for three months when they register online at bt.com/onlive before January 31 2012.

PingChat! is one of those rare beasts in the app world – something that is available across multiple hardware platforms, from iPhone to Blackberry and Android. It unifies the world of chat under one app, without the overhead or screen space required to run some chat programs.

All each user needs is a PingChat! username. You don’t have to send friend requests out; you simply need to know someone’s username and then you can message them, whatever platform they are using and in whatever country they happen to be in. With push notifications and an always-on system, there’s no logging in required in order to get notifications. The app lets you know there’s a message and you can quickly reply and get chatting. PingChat! also supports free photo and video attachments – which is what we will cover in this tutorial.

The first thing to do is download the app and make sure your friends have a copy (send an email from within the app to invite them to download it). Any messages that you send to a friend who is offline are stored until they log in, and then they are delivered immediately.

Step 1: Getting started
Pick a PingChat! ID username, type it in and tap Register, then Confirm. If it isn’t available, you’ll be informed and have to pick again.

Step 2: Add your avatar
The initial interface is fairly empty so tap on the Buddies/Profile icon, tap on your own profile and then on Choose Photo for your avatar.

Step 3: Fill in details
Tap on Display Name if you want something different from your PingChat! ID and tap on Status to let people know what you are up to. Tap on Save.

Step 4: Add a friend
On the same screen tap on the + sign to the left of Buddies. Enter the PingChat! ID of your friend then tap on Done. Repeat for all the people you know.

Step 5: Write a message
Tap on the green chat icon. In the New Message screen tap + and then on the contact you want. Tap the paperclip and then Choose Existing Medium.

Step 6: Add a photo
Select a photo from your album, then tap Confirm. The image is uploaded and sent. You are now in a chat session with your contact.

Click on the image below to zoom in on the annotations.

nocs formed in 2008 through a shared apppreciation of Apple products and the want to create headphones that match Cupertino’s stellar design aesthetic. As far as their NS400 earphones go, they’ve definitely succeeded. Everything about the NS400s has Apple’s design language stamped all over it, from the minimalist remote design right down to the box they’re sold in. If you didn’t know any different you’d assume that Apple designed these themselves. What gives these earphones away as a product of somewhere outside of Infinite Loop, however, is the sound quality. These aren’t the tinny earbuds that are bundled with every iPod and iPhone, oh no, these earphones pack a punch in terms of sound quality that more than equals their incredible design.

According to nocs themselves, the NS400s are designed to provide, “a clear and powerful sound throughout the sonic spectrum, backed by natural bass.” and that’s not a million miles off. We found the low-end frequency to be pleasently boosted but by no means to an unnatural level, if anything it just meant we we heard the bass guitars in rock songs and cellos in orchestral pieces that little bit better. Despite this boost in the low range, we found the NS400s to deliver a beautifully crisp top-end and plenty of that ever-elusive mid-range that every audiophile strives for. In short, we’ve only been testing these earphones for the last week or so, and we’re already hugely impressed.

Sound aside, the NS400′s featherweight design means that they’re by no means uncomfortable in the ear, and after a while it’s easy to to forget they’re there, aside from the good level of noise isolation from the outside world that they provide. At times, they almost seem too light and easily breakable, but a quick glance at the materials reveals titanium housing and kevlar cables, so there’s no chance of these snapping any time soon.

For bonus points, nocs have included a remote and Mic that’s compatible with almost every iPod and iPhone that supports the functions, three different sized sets of earbuds for a perfect sound isolating fit, and a one-year warranty all for a snip over the price that Apple charge for their in-ears. What’s not to love? We’ll be putting the NS400s through their paces over the next few weeks and giving them a true testing, so watch out for a full review in the magazine at a later date.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to writing a song. Some people start off with a melody or lyric idea, others come up with a chord progression on piano or guitar, while many use a drum beat for their initial inspiration. Each and every time though, however you start, the essential building blocks of chords, melody and rhythm remain constant, so just that little extra push to get started is often all that’s required.

GarageBand ships with a library of over 1,000 Apple Loops that can be great catalysts to get those creative juices flowing. We’re going to examine how to use these to help your musical ideas take shape, with the aim of having a finished song at the end of the process. Obviously, everybody writes songs in their own way, so the order of the steps below is subject to some individual interpretation!

Step 1: Create new project
From the intro screen, select a new Songwriting project by clicking the icon and then Choose. Set a save location, tempo & key and click Create.

Step 2: Prepare project
The project contains some preloaded tracks and a drum loop to start you off. You can delete this by clicking it and choosing Delete from the Edit menu.

Step 3: Browse loops
Click the eye icon in the lower-right corner to reveal the Loop browser. Click the filter buttons to narrow your search to the type of loops you want.

Step 4: Drag and drop
Click on the name of a loop to listen to it. When you find one you like, drag it into the arrange window, then drag the upper-right corner out to the required length.

Step 5: Add bass and keyboards
Click the bass or piano track and record a part with a MIDI keyboard. Click the + button to add new tracks and keep adding until you’ve built a complete section.

Step 6: Record melody
If you have a melody idea, select the voice track and click the Record button. Record your melody over your tracks, then hit the space bar to stop.

Step 7: Show Arrangement Track
Choose Show Arrangement Track from the Track menu. Click on the + button to create a new arrange region. If it’s too long, drag the right-hand edge back.

Step 8: Rename and copy
Double-click where it says Untitled and name your section Verse or Chorus. Then click-hold the name, hold down the Alt key and drag to the right to make a copy.

Step 9: Change parts
You can replace regions in your copied section by selecting them and choosing a new take or hitting the Backspace key and recording new parts in as before.

Click on the image below to zoom in on the annotations.

If you’ve ever been out and about with your iPhone and laptop and wanted to get online, your only choice was to use the (albeit very capable) mobile browser on the iOS device to get to your favourite sites. Other smartphones could use their 3G connections to create a small Wi-Fi hotspot which would let them browse the web in full size through their laptop, and now (well, since the introduction of iOS 4.3) the iPhone can do it too.

One of the most exciting things about this update is that it almost entirely removes the need to buy an iPad with both Wi-Fi and 3G data if you have an iPhone. You can create a Personal Hotspot with a password of your choice and use the data from your iPhone to browse the internet using your iPad.

Step 1: Setting up
Fire up your iPhone’s settings app, you’ll see the Personal Hotspot tab right near the top of all of the different available options.

Step 2: Keep it secret
By default, the Personal Hotspot is turned off, and you will have been given a randomly generated password other devices need in order to connect.

Step 3: Choices, choices
If Wi-Fi is turned off you can still use Bluetooth or a USB connection to share data. You will be asked which to use when you turn the hotspot on.

Step 4: Randomised?
You can leave your password if you wish, as there will be a mix of numbers and letters to make the connection as secure as possible.

Step 5: Keep it safe
Changing your password will help you to keep things a little more private, and remember to make it something memorable to save time later.

Step 6: The thin blue line
Once you’re set up and another device has connected to your Personal Hotspot, a bar at the top of the screen will show the data being used.

Click on the image below to zoom in on the annotations.