Many smartphone gadgets in the market today take full advantage of all the mobile devices we carry. There are high tech gadgets for health junkies, hikers, pet lovers, or the kitchen and even wearable gadgets. And now we have a list of iOS-enabled gadgets for musicians.

With these portable music gadgets, you’ll be able to reduce the load of all your music gear, record music on the go, give an edge to your compositions and write full-fledge songs without a studio. Here, you will find gadgets for pianists, guitarists, drummers, singers, and electronic music composers that are ideal for the iPad or iPhone.

Recommended Reading: 20+ Websites To Download Creative Commons Music For Free

SynthStation49

The SynthStation 49 works with your iPad to allow you to control and create music with its SynthStation App. The app allows you to change the sound effects of each key and drum pad on the SynthStation. Additionally, it also works as a MIDI controller for your computer. [$199]

iDJ Pro

Store all your loops and tracks onto your iPad and just dock it into the iDJ Pro and you’re ready to DJ at your next gig. The iDJ Pro utilizes the large iPad display so you can easily and quickly navigate through the on screen buttons of the djay app it supports. [$299]

iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard

The iPad docked into this Pedalboard allows guitarists to use the sound effects of 87 different pedals, 54 amps and 26 cabinets available through the app. All you have to do is save a combination of effects and load it up during a gig or particular song. [$499]

Piano Apprentice

Here’s a gadget for people who want to learn how to play the piano. Piano Apprentice has 25 keys that can light up to teach you where to place your fingers. The video tutorials on the iPad (or iPhone) app will take you through each step of the learning process. [$59.99]

Alesis iO Dock

This device works with most audio and MIDI iPad apps on the AppStore where you can then connect microphones, guitars, studio monitors, PA systems, headphones and MIDI controllers to make it all work together to perform or produce music. [$169.99]

MPC Fly 30

Instead of tapping your fingers to create a beat, you can now produce head banging beats wherever you go. Just start a supported MIDI app and you’ll have all the sound effects you need to create a unique beat. The MPC Fly 30 also acts as a protective cover for your iPad. [$199]

PocketLoops

If you don’t have an iPad or just think it’s still too bulky, PocketLoops is a MIDI controller that lets you record loops, create beats or play piano keys. The iPhone controls what sound effects each key plays while you listen to your creation through the built-in speakers. [£49.99]

MIDI Mobilizer 2

The MIDI Mobilizer 2 is great for artists on the go who just need to get their burst of inspiration down on recording. The device is a connection between a MIDI gear with an iOS device that allows you to quickly record, save and send a MIDI file via email for editing on a computer later. [$69.95]

Griffin GuitarConnect Pro

Plug in your guitar to the iPad for some sweet tunes. Apart from lending your iPad’s speakers to the guitar, the app also gives you different sound effects and lets you to record your jams. You can also multi-track to create a full-fledge song. [$49.99]

iRig Pro

The iRig Pro lets you connect your guitar, bass, keyboard, MIDI controller and even microphone to your iPhone. This allows you to record all those instruments one at a time to produce an entire song without a studio. The device also works on your computer, connected via USB. [€199]

AmpKit LiNK HD

If you need guitar effects on the go but have no room for all your pedals, then the AmpKit LiNK HD will give you a ton of effects provided by an iPhone app. It also features a headphone jack so you can practice without disturbing people around you. [$99.99]

Sonoma GuitarJack

Here’s another device that lets you record on the go. You can connect a guitar, bass, keyboard, microphone or other musical instruments and record them with apps like Fourtrack and StudioTrack. The secondary line-in allows simultaneous recording of an instrument and singing. [$129]

iStomp

The iStomp is a programmable guitar pedal that supports 47+ e-pedals available on the Stomp Shop app. iStomp doesn’t require the iOS device to be plugged in all the time. It will store an effect once you’ve set it up and then work like any regular guitar pedal. [$149.95]

iRiffPort

This simple device turns your iPhone into a portable amp for your musical instruments for practicing on the go. It also features a headphone-in for even more discreet practices and a line-out to make it work like a standard music cable. [£69]

Mikey Digital

This tiny device allows for studio quality sound recording on the go. It’ll work in the loudest concerts or the softest interview sessions, giving you clear and crisp results. The device can also rotate 230-degrees allowing you to capture video at the same time. [$89.95]

The stable version of Apple’s latest iOS revision, iOS 7 is (finally) available for download, and there are a few things that you should know if you haven’t had a taste of it yet.

For one thing, it is available for over-the-air update via Settings > General > Software Update, but you should know that it is more than 1 GB in size. Depending on your Internet speed, this update is going to take a while.

Alternatively, you can try to do the update and installation manually, which is where this post comes in. Remember to run a backup first before proceeding.

Note that iOS7 is available for the iPod (5th gen and above), iPhone 4 and above, iPad 2 and above and the iPad Mini. And if you are wondering, the iPhone 5S and 5C will be running on the 7.0.1 version. Here’s how to to get iOS7 on your idevice.

Recommended Reading: iOS 7: 31 tips, tricks and new features.

GSM vs. CDMA

But first, if you are not sure if you have a GSM or CDMA model, here’s how to find out. At the back of your iPhone or iPad is a model number written in fine print. In this shot, you can see the model number is A1387 which is for the iPhone 4S.

Note: For more help identifying models, check out Apple’s support pages for iPhone and iPad. Here’s another source for a more complete list of model numbers.

Download Links

For your easy reference, we have grouped the model numbers with the download links in the table below. Download the file you need and skip ahead to the next section for the manual update.

iPad (4th Gen)

iPad 4 (CDMA)	A1460	Download	1.38 GB
iPad 4 (GSM)	A1459	Download	1.38 GB
iPad 4 (WiFi)	A1458	Download	1.32 GB

iPad Mini

iPad Mini (CDMA)	A1455	Download	1.15 GB
iPad Mini (GSM)	A1454	Download	1.15 GB
iPad Mini (WiFi)	A1432	Download	1.11 GB

iPad (3rd Gen)

iPad 3 Wi-Fi	A1416	Download	1.31 GB
iPad 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular (ATT)	A1430	Download	1.34 GB
iPad 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular (Verizon)	A1403	Download	1.34 GB

iPad (2nd Gen)

iPad 2 Wi-Fi (Rev A)		Download	1.04 GB
iPad 2 Wi-Fi	A1395	Download	1.04 GB
iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G (GSM)	A1396	Download	1.06 GB
iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G (CDMA)	A1397	Download	1.06 GB

iPhone 5

iPhone 5 (CDMA)	A1442/A1429	Download	1.23 GB
iPhone 5 (GSM)	A1428/A1429	Download	1.23 GB

iPhone 4 / 4s

iPhone 4s	A1387	Download	1.18 GB
iPhone 4 (GSM Rev A)		Download	1.12 GB
iPhone 4 (GSM)	A1332	Download	1.12 GB
iPhone 4 (CDMA)	A1349	Download	1.12 GB

iPod Touch

iPod touch (5th generation)

Download

1.16 GB

How to Update to iOS 7 Manually

So now that you have downloaded the required file, here’s what to do next.

(1) Launch iTunes (you will need the latest version) and look for the iPhone (or iPad) button on the top right.

(2) Hold Options (or Alt) key, and click Update.

(3) Look for the downloaded .ipsw and click Open.

That’s all. Your installation will now start. By the way, we have a list of new features you can check out on iOS7. If you come across any interesting features, sound off in the comments.

No matter how great your website design may look, one important thing to remember is that communication with your readers is important. Getting to know them will give you a better direction to your articles and posts, in turn increase the traffic and pageviews of your site.

One-way to communicate with readers, and perhaps get into their heads, is to ask. Well, you don’t just ask them an off-beat question. Instead, you can try creating polls asking questions about particular topics.

If you’re not sure on how to create a poll for use on your website, we have for you, Opinion Stage. Opinion Stage makes polls easy to setup, embed on a site and share on popular social networks, and if you have a need for it, you can even track the demographics of your voters to get more insight into the opinions you have collected.

Recommended Reading: 7 Steps To Better Website Feedback

Begin Creating Polls

You must first create an account on Opinion Stage with a Facebook, Twitter or Google+ account. An account gives you a dashboard that allows you to easily see all the polls you have created.

To create your first poll, click on Create Poll. You’ll be able to see a few options for your custom poll.

For Template, you choose between multiple-choice or head-to-head (only 2 answers), while for Type of poll, you get three choices. One requires voting with a social profile (this gives you the demographics of your voters), the second makes registration optional, and the third allows anonymous voting.

You can then add your poll question and support it with a text description, image or video. This adds a little more life to your polls and a visual explanation (particularly with video).

Other options allow you to change the look of your poll by choosing a few preset themes and setting the poll box size or having it at a fixed width for a perfect fit on your website.

You can also enable or disable social sharing of your poll on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and set visibility for your poll results (displayed all the time, displayed after a received vote or totally hidden from users).

Adding Polls To Your Website

Once you have done creating your poll, you can share the provided link to gain voters.

If you want it displayed on your WordPress site, install and use the Opinion Stage Social Poll plugin to embed this on the site via the unique poll ID.

If your website is not based on WordPress, you can also copy and paste the provided Javascript code to embed it on your website.

Deeper Tracking Of Your Polls For A Price

If you enabled the poll option where voters are required to register with a social account, Opinion Stage can filter their social information to give you the demographic statistics of your voters. It can filter what social account voters used, their gender and if they’re in your friend list.

However, these features are only available with a premium account that’ll cost you $19 a month for a year. The premium account also allows you to add your own logo to the poll, customize its theme, add the poll to Facebook and optimize it for social sharing.

Conclusion

Opinion Stage lets you create beautiful polls for your website. We like the fact that the polls can be supported with images and a YouTube video to make it more interesting. The free option is also more than enough if you’re looking to collect data for a simple question without the need of any detailed social demographics.