vocal

SAN DIEGO--MyVocal is launching here at DemoFall 09 what looks like a useful service for anyone who ever gets bored while commuting in a car. The service lets you combine into a single stream your audio podcasts, as well as your text RSS feeds, which it will read to you. You get a local phone number to call to listen to the stream, and if you hang up and then reconnect later, it'll just pick up where you left off.

The company also has services for publishers. It can help them make their RSS feeds accessible to users … Read more

Palringo's multiprotocol chat client gives users much of what they expect, as well as something that its competitors lack. It supports MSN, AOL, Yahoo, Google, ICQ, Jabber, iChat and MobileMe, QQ, Gadu-Gadu, and Facebook Chat, although the can be buggy at times. It tends to consume a fair amount of resources, so it won't be as nimble as some open-source options.

What makes Palringo special is that it's synchronizable and available on multiple mobile platforms, including Android, iPhone and iPod Touch, Blackberry, Java, Symbian and S60, and Windows Mobile. Across all those platforms, you can IM from … Read more

SEATTLE--For many Iraq war veterans who have returned home with debilitating injuries that, for example, make it impossible to use their hands, doing anything on a computer is a hopeless task.

But a research project under way in the University of Washington's electrical engineering, linguistics and computer science departments could be the latest tool at such veterans' disposal, as well as for anyone who lacks the full use of their hands.

The project, known as the Vocal Joystick, is designed to allow someone to control a computer cursor using nothing more than their voice.

University of Washington graduate student Jon Malkin, who spoke at the Gnomedex conference here Saturday, described it is an extension of speech recognition technology.

… Read more

The next generation in voice technology may bypass the mouth altogether. A couple of weeks ago we saw a consumer product called the "Roadrunner" headset with microphones strategically placed next to the voicebox--which readers say was based on military versions--but a new technology takes the concept to a level worthy of a sci-fi novel.

Ambient's "Audeo," which colleague Rafe Needleman saw demonstrated at a conference in September, is described as a "voiceless phone" that uses sensors worn around the neck. A trained individual "can send nerve signals to their vocal cords … Read more

Pro-audio manufacturer M-Audio has unveiled a new $99 vocal recording package called Session Music Producer. Unlike their previous podcaster-targeted product, Podcast Factory, the Session Music Producer bundle consolidates the microphone and computer audio card into a single, idiot-proof USB microphone appropriately named the Producer USB. If nothing else, the sheer magnitude of M-Audio's 16mm cardioid capsule Producer microphone (see photo) will intimidate rival podcasters into submission.

Beyond its monolithic size and inexpensive price, there are two factors to the Session Music Producer bundle that are worth noting. First off, it comes bundled with M-Audio's capable Session multitrack recording … Read more