At the Winter NAMM 2010 conference, Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) will be debuting its SoftStep foot pedal controller, in addition to demonstrating its K-Bow, Stringport, and Batt-O-Meter.

SoftStep is a portable, relatively lightweight foot pedal controller that's small enough to fit into a laptop case. We don't know what it looks like yet, but we do know that it has 10 square sensor keys that support multiple transducers, and each key can be used to manipulate effects, computer programs, and multimedia. SoftStep features a four-direction navigation pedal, an alphanumeric LED display, backlit keys, and computer connectivity via USB and Expansion and Expression ports. What's more, with the MIDI expansion module, you can use SoftStep without a computer.

Next in line at the NAMM showing is the Batt-O-Meter, a battery tester that shows the voltage and remaining hours of life in batteries in active instruments and pedals, without having to remove them. This useful tool lets you know whether or not your batteries will die onstage, and helps you remember to change batteries at the right time.

K-Bow, KMI's Bluetooth sensor bow, will be demonstrated by on-site violinists, as will Stringport, the polyphonic string-to-USB2 converter. Look for more details at keithmcmilleninstruments.com as we get closer to the show in January.