iOS 4.2 to support MIDI

It's come to light that the upcoming release of iOS 4.2 (due in November) will support all-out MIDI. According to Mike Keller, writing for PC World, Core MIDI on iOS 4.2 should work just as Core MIDI does on Mac OS X, meaning that your iDevice running iOS 4.2 will communicate with other MIDI compatible devices and hardware via USB (using the iPad's camera connection kit USB adapter) or WiFi, using Apple's own MIDI APIs.

What can we expect to see from MIDI in iOS? Well, until the official release of iOS 4.2, we won't have all the details. But the guys over at Create Digital Music have put an interesting guide together to demonstrate some of the capabilities of what a MIDI-equipped iDevice could look like, using a developers release of iOS 4.2.

Up until now, music creation on the iPhone and iPad has been more of a novelty affair rather than a serious contender and choice for pro musicians. Could MIDI support in iOS be the catalyst that changes that?

For me, one of the big attractions of MIDI support in iOS would be the ability to use an iPad / iPhone, loaded with high quality samples, as a replacement for the more traditional laptop + MIDI controller (keyboard) setup commonly used in live musical contexts. All we'd need is for some high quality sample manufacturers (Native Instruments, you interested?) to port a version of their software to the App Store.

For all the details, and a video preview of the iConnectMID as well as a look at the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer, click here.

[via Engadget]
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