Rumors have been going around for about 12 months of the subject. Through this time, there are applications available that are capable of modifying office files, such as documents or spreadsheets although nothing ‘Microsoft’. Quickoffice is one such application that will be available in April.

Elop discussed a few other matters as well as the comment regarding iPhones. He noted that of the 500 million people who use Office, only 250 million actually pay for it. Elop said that the main fear for Microsoft was of innovation slowing down explaining, “it’s not about having bolding or underlining in the browser… The real threat is if we’re not continuing to innovate.” This level of innovation being the development of online options for Office products as well as moving on to the iPhone.

[via TechCrunch]

AT&T today announced its complete three-screen coverage of the 2009 Masters Tournament, available on AT&T U-verseSM TV, the AT&T FanZone and exclusively on AT&T wireless devices, as well as special 2009 Masters interactive application for all U-verse TV customers. Dan York, executive vice president of content and programming, AT&T Converged Services said “When you’re a true fan, you need and expect access to the latest sports news and video across all your favorite devices, and AT&T is the only provider delivering that today. Through our agreement with the Masters, we’re able to deliver more content to more consumers in more places than ever before, and make it more interactive with a free app available on U-verse TV.”

Live content available on three screens exclusively from AT&T — AT&T Mobile TV, MobiTV, AT&T FanZone and AT&T U-verse TV in Standard Definition (SD) and spectacular High Definition (HD) — will include:

• Par 3 Contest, which features a live feed from this popular contest on Wednesday, April 8.
• Masters Extra, which gives AT&T viewers one hour of live play-by-play action before cable and network broadcast coverage begins.
• Amen Corner Live, which features live coverage of the 11th, 12th and 13th holes.
• 15th/16th Live, which features live coverage of the 15th and 16th holes.

CBS and ESPN will also be providing live coverage to AT&T U-verse TV and AT&T | DIRECTV customers in SD and HD.
On-demand footage — through AT&T U-verse TV, AT&T FanZone and CV — will be available during the Tournament and archived for 60 days after, and will include:

• Masters Moments, featuring a series of 24 vignettes which highlight the action from past Tournaments. Videos are currently available via the AT&T FanZone and CV, and will be available via the U-verse TV Video On Demand (VOD) library beginning April 8.
• Multiple Player Interviews, offered daily via U-verse TV VOD, the AT&T FanZone and CV, beginning Monday, April 6.
• Masters TV, including daily “Masters Today” Tournament previews and “Masters Tonight” recaps, will be available via att.net and CV beginning Sunday, April 5 through Sunday, April 12.

[via AT&T]

Fast-forward to today: digital recording is everywhere. No longer are we confined to the analog limitations and 4 tracks has been replaced by 16 tracks minimum and unlimited tracks if you desire. Many recording studios take the form of a Mac or PC and a I/O box that converts the analog audio signal to digital. Most of the time, these setups require a lot of time and effort to set up… no where near as easy as my old 4 track analog recorder. Even the portable recorders aren’t really all that portable. Most are the sizes of a small box and still require AC power.
Enter the iPhone! I’ve always dreamed of having a portable 4 track recorder in my pocket to jot down musical ideas when the mood hit. Now that dream is a reality! Sonoma Wire Works has released Four Track , the 4 track recorder for the iPhone.

I wanted to see how intuitive this app would be to use so I didn’t read through any of the guides and went straight to using it. The results: I made great sounding music on my first try! Four Track is very easy to use! Simply select the track you want to record on and click the slider to start recording.

What I liked: Four Track allows you to jot down ideas just like a real digital 4 track machine. Audio quality was very good and I could control the mix of each track and even pan each track to the desired location I wanted to. Getting the music you’ve recorded off of the iPhone couldn’t be easier since it allows you to connect your computer directly to the iPhone via a wifi IP address that will automatically allow you to grab your music in .wav format for download or import into some other multi-track environment.

Recording my first song with Four Tracks had me grinning from ear to ear. First I recorded “drums” with my mouth in a beat box style. I then took my acoustic guitar and recorded the main chords of the song. I then followed that up with some guitar doubling and embellishments. Finally I played a lead guitar line over the 3 recorded tracks and completed the song. Perfect for quick and simple musical idea notation. I could also see this being used for recording a one man comedy talk show of sorts to get all the parts correct.

There are some caveats though. Four Track allows you to record using the iPhone’s built in microphone or a headset microphone but you absolutely must use headphones during recording or you won’t be able to hear tracks that you’ve already recorded. That means you can’t just record one track into your phone using the built in microphone, then try to record the next track without using headphone because you wouldn’t be able to hear what was already recorded. I believe this limitation is due to the amount of feedback you would get while recording. The built-in microphone and speaker are so close to each other that it would cause too many problems but this is the same for most real studio situations as well. You don’t want feedback or bleed through when recording.

The audio playback is very, very soft when played through the iPhone’s built in speaker. I’m not sure why this is but using headphones solves this problem.

Lastly, I wish for a way to BOUNCE tracks! Bouncing tracks is a studio recording term for taking tracks that have already been recorded and recording them to another track to make room for more music to be recorded. Unfortunately Four Track is unable to do this at the moment, but it is on the drawing board for a future release.

Overall Four Track is well worth the $9.99 price tag especially since I get to carry my 4 track machine in my pocket. What will they think of next?

Personally, I’ve been waiting a long time for this and I knew it was just a matter of time before it appeared. As stated earlier, there are other VOIP clients for the iPhone its just that this is the “official” client.

You will need an iPhone with software 2.2.1 or higher and DirecTV subscription for the service. You will also need to review requirements for DirecTV Plus DVR (models R15, R16, R22) and DirecTV Plus HD DVR (models HR20, HR21, HR23). TiVo Series 2 receivers with 6.4a software registered to DirecTV.com can take advantage of the remote scheduling over WiFi, EDGE or 3G.

The application itself is free! Downloads can be made through the App store. What more do you really want in your phone…

[via EngadgetMobile]