Line 6 Planetwaves Variax iPhone Application: It's A Toss Up Between This One And The "Virtual Zippo"
Directed to us via Engaget.net and former Crosstalker Henry Bianco is this little news tidbit. Man, the word tidbit kinda makes me sick to the stomach. . . as does this this tidbit of news: Line 6 and Planet Waves have apparently collaborated on a new iPhone application that makes it possible to control your Variax from your iPhone or iPod Touch.
For whatever reason, iPhone applications make me irrationally angry, and none so much as guitar-hobbyist targeted apps (it's not just because I desperately want and cannot afford an iPhone, I swear). This one, however, takes the cake. If I see some dude wielding a Variax at my local open mic, and plugging it through his iPhone into the house PA, I'm gonna throw an Iraqi man's shoe at him.
Oh, wait, my bad. You don't plug into this thing. Apparently it controls your Variax (which digitally models different electric and acoustic guitars) wirelessly. The Variax already communicates wirelessly with the Line 6 Vetta amps, but now you can haul that same powerful rig around in your pocket. . . maybe. Pricing and availability are TBA. Heck, the things doesn't even have an official name yet (though I've got a few suggestions, if Line 6 wants 'em).
We'll let you know when we know more. Also, if you can think of any good reason why anyone should own this, let us know.
Line 6 / Planet Waves Presentation at WWDC; Photo by Darren Murph at Engadget
Close, but not quite
Not really interested in the Variax portion, but if Line6 wanted to turn my iPhone into a portable Pod for $10, I would shake their hand.
you still need to cart around the Variax and Vetta II
Apparently Line6 want to make this work with a lot of their products. The iPhone won't store the amp/guitar models. It will just store presets. So you can't carry your rig in your pocket. The question is - how do variax and vetta users control their gear now? What problem does the iPhone app solve for those people?
I agree with Greg - an inexpensive Pocket Pod app for the iPhone and iPod Touch would be cool - is there any way to plug a guitar into one of those things?
Why this is useful:
It's useful because the Variax has no screen, and their other products have monochrome lo-res screens from ye olden days. If you've ever used Line 6's Mac/PC software to control their gear, instead of twiddling with the devices themselves, you'd understand. It's all about visual feedback and efficient interfacing. The iPhone/iPod's screen isn't as big as any laptop's, but it's more portable, and cheaper (which is important in case of theft), both of which are great for gigs. Also, if Line 6 does this right, it could allow for faster tweaking, as the platform accepts up to 5 touch inputs, unlike the single parameter control you get from a mouse/stylus.
Now, all this said, Line 6's guitar products have been eclipsed (read obsolete) for years, so unless they come out with a new Variax for summer NAMM, then yes, it will indeed be useless.
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