Fender’s “song hits” app

Famed guitar brand Fender got the attention of music lovers over the weekend for rolling out an app that hosts a massive library of song chord charts.

Dubbed “Fender Songs” and currently available for iOS-driven devices, the app links its users to chord charts of songs which can be played with a guitar, piano or ukulele, provides users with access to the lyrics of a song, and also comes with provisions to record videos of users playing a song which they are following through with the app.

More than a “song hits” type app, “Fender Songs” also comes with integrated features to Apple’s “Apple Music” music-on-demand service. It ‘plays’ songs with an auto generated baseline and drumline by default, but this can be muted or be configured to harmonize with the counts of a metronome.

When paired with an “Apple Music” subscription, users of the app can play a song’s chords with the song itself serving as their background track.

Its worth noting that the app works with an auto transcription system in transcribing the chords of songs, which means that it has chord charts of songs that don’t actually have a guitar track, like Billie Eilish’s hit “Bad Guy.”

As a guitar-chord app, “Fender Songs” is positioned for the perusal of beginners, which means that it doesn’t guide its users through popular guitar solos, nor does it link users to detailed tabs of songs. More information about the app is hosted on Fender’s official online channels.

HTC launches entry-level blockchain phone

The Taiwan-headquartered HTC brand had the launch of a new blockchain-enabled phone last week. Billed the “Exodus 1s,” the mobile takes after the “Exodus 1” smartphone which was unveiled in February this year.

The recently launched Exodus is positioned as an entry-level variant of the one released in February, and hosts an array of features like provisions to natively store cryptocurrency data with ample security protocols.

The device’s main feature is its function to act as a full Bitcoin node, Bitcoin being one of the world’s more well-known types of cryptocurrency. The “full Bitcoin node” function means that the device can be configured to be part of a distributed ledger network.

When fitted with a compatible external data storage device that stores pertinent data, the phone can relay and verify Bitcoin transactions without the need for centralized third-party networks.

Announced to be initially released in Taiwan, Europe, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the “Exodus 1s” is described by HTC as a phone that provides users with tools to “access universal basic finance: the tools to have a metaphorical Swiss bank in your pocket.” More information about the “Exodus 1s” is hosted on HTC’s official online channels.

Huawei’s foldable “Mate X” to roll out in China next month

Over the weekend, Huawei announced that the brand’s flagship foldable phone – the “Mate X” – will go on sale in China this November 15.

Powered by Kirin 980 chip that’s backed by 8 gigs of RAM, the device sports a foldable form that sets it as a smartphone that can fold out to be a tablet.

Initially unveiled early this year, the device was initially announced to be made available by mid-2019, but this had been rescheduled to later in the year owing to more fine-tuning and testing.

Identified as one of the most highly anticipated phone models of the year, Huawei didn’t reveal when the phone will be available outside of China, only that its release to certain markets will largely be dependent on how developments in the 5G standard are ongoing in a given locality.