After showing off the final version of its KDJ-ONE mobile audio workstation at NAMM 2012, CyberStep has opened it up for pre-orders.
Looking uncannily like a Nintendo Game Boy hopped up on growth hormone, the KDJ-ONE is a portable music powerhouse that includes a synthesiser, sequencer and other audio skills.
To look at, it's impossible not to compare it to Nintendo's first handheld console. The main offender is the four-way directional pad on the left hand side, across from a distinctly "gamey" button layout on the right.
There are also shades of the short and fat third generation iPod Nano with its landscape display and central jog wheel where the Nano's click wheel would have been. Meanwhile, not resembling anything in particular, there are 15 backlit rubber keys at the bottom of the unit.
It's what's inside that counts
Its spec sheet lands it somewhere in between netbook and tablet turf, with an Intel Atom 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM powering a 5-inch 800x480px multitouch display.
There's also 4GB of solid state storage on board, backed up by a MicroSD card slot and USB storage if required.
Designed for music creation on the go, and possibly for those with abnormally large back pockets, this six track sequencer only weighs 380g.
It's Linux-based and CyberStep plan to release an SDK to allow users to program new synthesisers and features for the KDJ-ONE.
For music makers with a passion for the portable and a nostalgia for the Game Boy, the KDJ-ONE is available in black or white for US$829 with Wi-Fi, or US$799 without from the KDJ-ONE site for delivery by July.
