PhoneTag – and various other companies – have this new thing now, in the ever widening world of telephone technology. Voice recognition software in cell phones isn’t all that new, but this looks awesome. They have services that can convert your voicemail messages into text messages; they will transcribe your voicemail, and then send to – well, anywhere, really. You can get it sent to your email and/or your phone, plus you can sign into your account on the company’s web site and retrieve your messages. Different companies offer different services, like the ability to have people send you silent messages, so your phone doesn’t even make a sound or anything, plus there are some features that will let you play an MP3 as sort of a soundtrack to your message. Most of them will let you put these services on home and business phones as well as cell phones. I had occasion to read about a lot of the companies offering things like this, and from what I saw, people were digging places like SpinVox, PhoneTag, and VoiceBox, more than companies like CallWave, mostly because the latter makes you change your voicemail number. Anyhow, people seem to like them because you don’t have to take down messages before and you can read through them even in places where you’re not supposed to have your cell phone switched on, like the movie theatre and malls and things.
Showing posts with label voice technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voice technology. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2008
Text messages are officially taking over the world.
PhoneTag – and various other companies – have this new thing now, in the ever widening world of telephone technology. Voice recognition software in cell phones isn’t all that new, but this looks awesome. They have services that can convert your voicemail messages into text messages; they will transcribe your voicemail, and then send to – well, anywhere, really. You can get it sent to your email and/or your phone, plus you can sign into your account on the company’s web site and retrieve your messages. Different companies offer different services, like the ability to have people send you silent messages, so your phone doesn’t even make a sound or anything, plus there are some features that will let you play an MP3 as sort of a soundtrack to your message. Most of them will let you put these services on home and business phones as well as cell phones. I had occasion to read about a lot of the companies offering things like this, and from what I saw, people were digging places like SpinVox, PhoneTag, and VoiceBox, more than companies like CallWave, mostly because the latter makes you change your voicemail number. Anyhow, people seem to like them because you don’t have to take down messages before and you can read through them even in places where you’re not supposed to have your cell phone switched on, like the movie theatre and malls and things.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Pitch-Perfect Technology
So. Good news and bad news, all in one package. Celemony Software, a Munich based company, has come out with some new recording technology. Direct Note Access is a computer program which can create digital recordings in which each note is perfect. It can change the individual notes of a specific instrument, for example, without it being necessary to touch any of the other notes. Everything can be entirely pitch perfect with little to no effort – because, yes, it is possible to perfect a singer’s pitch as well. So why is this bad news, too? Because I imagine that it means there will be tons more singers of the Ashlee Simpson/Brooke Hogan/et cetera variety, who can’t really carry a tune but get a record deal anyway, because they look good and computers can make them sound good, so hey, why not? I’m a music snob, ergo it’s bad news to me. Of course, that’s likely Ashlee’s problem already: her real problem on that SNL debacle was probably due to the fact that her studio made her sound so perfect that lip-synching was her only option for a live performance.
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