Zivix, known mostly for its Jamstik MIDI guitar, recently introduced AirJamz ($50), a Bluetooth “guitar pick.” Using a free app, the pick lets users play air guitar like never before, as their strumming motions in the air are turned into music and sounds within the app. The app comes with 25 free downloadable tracks, and a few extra tracks can be purchased, too. You can switch through available instruments for each song within the app, and your Bluetooth pick will change sounds on the fly. Up to four players can play at once, and AirJamz gets 18 hours battery life from a replaceable CR2032 battery.
AirJamz is surprisingly easy to use, as everything is done through the app. Once the pick is turned on, the app will recognize the pick and connect with one push of an onscreen button. Once there, you can pick from any of the available backing tracks, pick any available instrument and strum away. And it works. It’s a neat thing, and it’s sort of fun — for a bit. After five to ten minutes though, it definitely starts to feel like a novelty. There’s no game involved, and nothing you actually have to accomplish — you’re just flicking your wrist around and making sounds. It’s a cool effect, to be sure, but the replay value is limited.