A piano sized iPod

While on the surface this seems to be just another piano from Yamaha, it holds a rather interesting secret.

Inside, hidden amongst all the normal workings of a piano, is a hard drive. Here you can store files for the piano to actually play itself.

And that's not all.

New with this latest version is the ability to record your own performances (microphone not included). You can transfer these files via USB to your PC or Mac and from there to your favorite shiny portable device.

You can also subscribe to Yamaha's subscription based DisklavierRadio that has streaming PianoSoft files so you can have your Mark IV playing all the time with new music. While this service has been available before, you can now purchase and download songs that you hear directly to the piano's hard drive. "Piano's hard drive" is about the oddest thing we've typed in months.

And in true custom home fashion, the Disklavier Mark IV 3.0 has the Disklavier Network Application (Virtual PRC) to allow you to control it from a PC or Mac elsewhere in your home. There are even special video files available that allow the Disklavier to sync to the image and play along.

Pricing varies depending on size and features, though current owners can upgrade to 3.0 for $89.95 plus several minutes of their time with an online survey.

CONTACT: Yamaha.com (or here for the direct link)