{"id":615176,"date":"2026-09-29T09:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/615176\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T09:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:18:10","slug":"iphone-duo-gets-a-virtual-walkman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/615176\/","title":{"rendered":"iPhone Duo gets a virtual Walkman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple\u2019s iPhone Duo has already inspired one of the more inventive uses of its foldable design: an app that turns the device into a virtual Walkman, complete with cassette tapes, mechanical button clicks and tape hiss.<\/p>\n

Called Duo-Man, the app was created by indie developer Vidit Bhargava<\/a> for the Bitrig hackathon, where it took second place. The idea makes the phone\u2019s hinge part of the interface rather than simply treating the unfolded screen as extra space.<\/p>\n

Open the Duo and users can choose music and \u201cinsert\u201d a cassette into the 7.6-inch inner display. Close the phone and playback begins on the 5.4-inch outer screen, with controls modelled on a classic Walkman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bhargava even recorded sounds from a real cassette player to give the digital version some physical texture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed how the Walkman\u2019s door needed to be opened to insert a cassette, and I thought it would be cool to replicate on the Duo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The idea taps into the same affection for analogue technology explored in Sony\u2019s Walkman anniversary exhibition<\/a> and more recently a prototype retro phone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After Bhargava\u2019s demo attracted millions of views online, the hackathon project is now being developed into a real app.<\/p>\n

Planned features include Apple Music and local-file support, cassette-style fast-forward and rewind, plus the ability to use Apple Pencil to physically \u201cwind\u201d the tape.<\/p>\n

For Apple, whose recent work includes its Safari online privacy campaign<\/a>, Duo-Man offers an early glimpse of what could make foldable phones interesting.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> to the famous newsletter and get the best campaigns in your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s iPhone Duo has already inspired one of the more inventive uses of its foldable design: an app…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-615176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}