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Google acquires speech synthesis outfit Phonetic Arts, plans to use Jack Donaghy's voice for everything
Don't ever knock Google for not reinvesting a little of that cheddar it's stacking in Mountain View. Barely two months after pulling the trigger on BlindType, El Goog has now sunk an undisclosed amount of money into Phonetic Arts, described as a speech synthesis company based in Cambridge, England. Naturally, Google's been toiling around the clock in an effort to better its speech technologies, and it looks as if it could be cutting out quite a few months (or years) of work with this one purchase. Phonetic Arts was known for being on the "cutting edge of speech synthesis, delivering technology that generates natural computer speech from small samples of recorded voice," and we get the impression that the team will be given clearance badges to enter Google's London-based engineering facility shortly. The company's own Mike Cohen is hoping that this will help us "move a little faster towards that Star Trek future" -- frankly, we're hoping to have Jack Donaghy's voice become the de facto standard in under a year. We hear some dudes at 30 Rock are already toying with a prototype...
The Daily Grind: What behaviors get your goat?
There are people who you don't like in any MMO, and that's more or less a given. But sometimes even the people you like can drive you into a paroxysm of rage. You could have known someone in the game for years, rely on them implicitly, and yet always feel that tickle of rage when they start slowing down in order to loot things in the middle of combat. (Or if you're playing City of Heroes and they stop mid-fight to tinker with their Enhancements, which is even worse.) The problem is that these sorts of behaviors aren't bad things by themselves -- none of them have a major impact on gameplay, and they're not large enough to force an argument or discussion. But they irritate you, even though they're not a big deal, and you can't help but notice them. What sort of stupid human tricks bother you when you're playing? People looting in combat? Not mentioning when they need a quick break to recharge? Talking too much or too little? Let us know!
TUAW Talkcast live tonight at 10pm Eastern
Our weekly talkcast returns to the virtual airwaves this evening over on Talkshoe, so if you're around on a Sunday night, and want to tune in and talk Apple with a crew of TUAW bloggers and readers, you're in luck. We'll start up at around 10pm Eastern this evening, and we'll be talking about the biggest stories in the province of Applevania, including the "new" features of Gmail push and MMS on the iPhone (and how neither one really works as it probably should), as well as the ongoing rumors of new iMacs and the tough topic of how to actually install apps on Mac OS X. Should be a lot of fun -- definitely tune in if you can make it. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then! Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.
Bluetooth headset use plummets in the US, humanity celebrates a small victory
Join us as we rejoice together: "Finally!" Look, we can't straight up say that Bluetooth headsets don't have their place in this world, but seriously, we've yet to not be freaked out when walking up to someone who's apparently speaking to the ghost we can't see. In a recent survey conducted by the quizzical minds over at Strategy Analytics, they found that only 26 percent of US-based Bluetooth headset owners use their device each and every day. That figure is down from 43 percent in 2008, proving that style may have just notched a minor victory over utility. Of course, the study also found that daily BT headset use was up slightly in Europe, but hey, it takes awhile for these so-called "trends" to float across the pond.[Image courtesy of eHow, via HotHardware]
Engadget's recession antidote: win a FREETALK headset and Skype voucher!
This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we've got a FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset along with a Skype voucher that'll net you free calls for three whole months. The World Plan voucher will link you up anywhere in the world that Skype supports, and coming off of a trip to Central America, we can certainly say it comes in handy (and works well, to boot). Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting!Major thanks to Skype for the goods!The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset along with a Skype voucher that'll net you free calls for three whole months. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Tuesday, July 28th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Breakfast Topic: To talk or not to talk on Ventrilo
I like Ambrosyne's Vent chart, even if it is a little harsh. It's true, when you're not part of the raid leadership (and especially when you're a talker like me), it's sometimes a little hard to tell whether it's ok to try and crack a joke in the middle of the raid on Vent or not. Usually: no. I've learned the same thing by my own experience -- no matter how easy the fights are or how your guild is doing, the raidleader probably won't appreciate you trying to play some "Safety Dance" over Vent during Heigan's dance-off.However, in my experience, there usually is a place for joking during raids, and it's the guild chat channel. Actually, that's where I do most of my communicating -- I leave the Vent chat open for raidleaders to address the whole raid with the actually important stuff, and the rest of us hang around in the peanut gallery of raid chat, grats'ing each other on good loot and slipping in some commentary for the raid. You've got to have fun, right?Raidleaders, are there any good times to open up Vent and let everybody talk? And everybody else: have there been problems in your raids thanks to an unwanted Vent outburst, or does your guild pretty much understand that silence is golden?
Declaration of Independence reading gets perfect vocal score in Rock Band 2
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Declaration_of_Independence_gets_100_vocals_in_Rock_Band_2'; Back in July, a GameSpy preview for Rock Band 2 claimed "the phoneme detection system used for the 'talkie' parts [in Rock Band] has been completely stripped and a new one has been put in place [for Rock Band 2]." Well, Harmonix definitely stripped out the old system, but it seems to have forgotten to put a new one in its place, as the new game seems to award perfect vocal points if it detects any noise during the "talkie" parts.We first became aware of this problem when we saw this video of a singer using a bunch of gibberish to pass the Beastie Boys' "So Whatcha Want" with a 100% rating on Expert difficulty. It's an impressive illustration of the faulty phoneme detection, but it's not wholly satisfying -- the singer is occasionally on rhythm and his voice occasionally does kind of match with the on-screen words. We wondered: how bad would a vocal performance have to be to fail this song?The answer, apparently, is "worse than a monotone recitation of the U.S. Declaration of Independence." As shown in the above video we've put together, even a dry reading of a 200+-year-old political treatise can be victorious in a Rock Band 2 vocal battle. Rest assured, there's no computer trickery going on here -- this video was taken as a direct feed from the Xbox 360 and has not been edited in any way. Now we only have one more question: when will Harmonix put in that improved phoneme detection system it's long been promising.
Slydial sends your call straight to voicemail, makes apologizing too easy
Really now, who hasn't had a moment where they celebrated mightily after no one picked up on the fourth / fifth ring? Rather that trusting Lady Luck to lead your phone calls to voicemail, Slydial's giving you a main line in. Said company enables any US post-paid wireless customer on any major carrier to dial someone in a similar situation and drop a message in their voicemail box without having to actually speak to them. Folks interested in taking advantage simply dial (267)-SLY-DIAL from either a landline or mobile telephone, enter in another mobile number and either listen to a short advertisement or pay up in the form of a subscription fee or $0.15 per call. Give it a go and see how it turns out.[Via DownloadSquad]
Chew some fat
I mean this in the 'talking' sense rather than the 'eating whale blubber' sense. One of the things I really enjoy about playing WoW, even all these years later, is the game underneath the game. While I'm awful at math, the old D&D geek in me still enjoys considering my stats, mixing and matching gear to see how it best combines for what I'm going for (in this case, high defense and avoidance.... with the right set I can push 40% block, for instance, but it's a gimmick set, not something I'd actually tank real content in). Last night, due to my raging insomnia, which has in the past rewarded me greatly, I had a very interesting conversation with another warrior in my guild about weapon speeds, co-efficients and why I should keep tanking with my Sun Eater instead of the new dagger I just got.Obviously I'm comfortable with my knowledge of the warrior class and the game (or I'd probably not be able to write here without crying and hiding under my desk) but there's a lot to keep track of, and it was good to have another person to bounce the relative benefits of the weapons off of. One of the benefits of this being a social game is the people: when you have good people around you, make use of them. Ask them for help for quests and instances. Go help them do the same. Heck, just talk to them. Talking about the game, heck, even just talking about why my character's name sounds vaguely like a kaiju has livened up wiping on Malacrass because the mage gone one-shotted by an add before he could sheep it again.There are unpleasant aspects to interpersonal contact in the game... barrens chat, bad PuG's, people who clog Trade chat with their egomaniacal rantings, that one enchanter who spams with his various enchants but when you actually ask him to do one is always afk, constant 'duel me outside Ironforge, if I win you pay 10g, if I lose you get 100g' posts from people who won't actually pay up... but man, a good group of people can really override all that junk with useful sounding boards and fun times. Make sure to keep good people once you find them, because they'll make the game ten thousand times better.
Cross-faction trash talking on carebear alts
blueskydei on WoW LJ learned the best reason for doing PvP on a PvE server: cross-faction trash talking. Yep, there's nothing more classy than getting ganked (or ganking), and then logging on to a different toon just to start something up. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been a part of it before-- I can't remember if it was me that logged to chat with a gnome Rogue that I started fighting with, or if he logged in to chat with me, but either way it, as usual, didn't end well: threats of level 70 alts ensued, and I even had one of his guildies sending trash talk tells to me. Ah, carebear PvP.Is there a way to avoid this? And even if there is, do we want to? As frustrating as random ganking can be, cross-faction trash talking is a weird but strangely effective way of getting back-- you may not be able to actually take on that high level Mage that took out your accidentally flagged lowbie alt, but at least you can give him a good talking to, right?As you can probably tell, I'm not proud that I did it, and 90% of the time, I just give up and move on. Logging out to temporarily break Blizzard's language barrier is more trouble than it is anything else, so these days even if I am unfairly ganked, I just shrug and move on. But every once in a while, you can't help but log an alt and give that guy a piece of your mind.
Talking CD case spruces up those mundane disc gifts
As if singing cards weren't zany enough, along comes a product that takes the idea one step further. Pre-vu's talking CD case enables customers to cram burnt home videos or any other optical disc into an enclosure that actually plays back up to sixty seconds of pre-recorded chatter. 'Course, this would probably be most effective when mailing out gifts to those you won't actually be meeting face-to-face, but for £2.50 ($5) apiece, it's not a half bad way to save time avoid writing out paragraphs of stereotypical well-wishes.[Via Coolest-Gadgets]
Paper Four initiative developing talking paper
Interactive billboards and advertisements have been (trying) to catch our eyes for some time now, but a team of Swedes are apparently hoping that adding speech abilities might convince you to take an even closer look. The Paper Four project has reportedly developed a prototype digital paper that uses embedded sensors to detect touch, and when you graze over a certain spot, it actually talks back to you via "printed speakers." Now in the fourth generation of development, the device combines paper with "printed graphic codes and electronically conductive ink that is sensitive to pressure," and it is already being showcased as a way to invite tourists or other customers to get up close and personal with ads in order to hear auditory information. Best of all, the team has hosted up a video showing exactly how this stuff works, so do yourself a favor and hit the read link to catch a peek.[Via BBC]
Goal!
Sometimes I find myself just standing around somewhere while lost in a deep conversation with a friend, perhaps wandering my character around in some pattern while I talk. It feels good to just let go of time, and immerse myself in that conversation.Some of my friends, however, would never do this, because they have solid goals that they always want to work towards achieving. Whether it's getting keyed for a high-level instance, attaining some new gear for fighting in PvP, or even just leveling up a new alt they like, many players seem to be in motion all the time. Sitting down to talk just doesn't feel productive, especially if they've reached the level cap and there's no such thing as rested experience anymore.Once, a friend of mine told me about his brother's 3 level 70 characters and several other characters getting close to 70. He said his brother is always doing something related to leveling or gear whenever he logs into the game. Sometimes I inspect someone I know, and as I mouse over their various epic items, I feel like I'm getting left behind, like maybe I should get busy like my friend's brother, doing something --anything -- to get farther along in the game. Something inside me says, "What do I need to do to get that item or level up that kind of alt? ... but wait a minute... How much do I really want that? Am I playing this game for the loot, or am I playing it for something else?"
Taylannas' Menus That Talk vocalize what's for dinner
Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.[Thanks, Joe B.]
Bruce Willis: iChat user, forum troll
What do you when you've got millions of dollars, no steady day job, and plenty of vocal critics that do their best to berate you knowing full well that they could never do your job if given the chance? We might just ask Bruce Willis that very question, but thankfully for all us, he's already responded. Apparently, Mr. Willis not only finds his way around internet message boards that focus on his films, but he doesn't hesitate to join in on the oftentimes testy conversations and give users his platinum-laced two cents. In a recent go 'round in regard to Die Hard 4, Bruce was caught mouthing off to disbelievers and carpers alike, and while a select few were adamant that this so-called Walter B. was little more than an overzealous fanboy, Bruce did the honorary thing and offered to prove it. The actor actually requested that a fellow iChat / Mac user hit him up for a momentary video chat in order to show his face, and sure enough, the most vocal doubter was indeed put in place rather quickly. Big fan of the ego, Bruce.[Via Switched]
"go as sd d a p" Means I Love You
Isbah from Thunderlord asks over on the Priest forums if it's possible to communicate with the opposing side. The answer? It is, but it's not easy. By now, everyone knows that if Alliance hears a Horde player saying "kek," they're really saying "lol." But it's also possible to go the other way-- if you do it carefully, you can say what sounds like nonsense to you, and the opposing faction will hear words in English.Most of the solutions players present to Isbah come from the great Project Azeroth (we've covered it here before), a "Language Annex" that's compiling a list of what works crosslanguage and what doesn't. But a few of the players in the thread offer combinations that even Project Azeroth hasn't documented yet.Robble says that if you're Horde, you can say "qq" and it will come out as "ha" (which is really funny). "ok" appears as "no" to Alliance when Horde says it (very useful), and "ok ivx" comes out as "no kil" (if you're trying to avoid a murder, I guess).And Relic from Balnazzar has even better combinations, built from Project Azeroth phrases:What Alliance Says = What Horde Hears "go as sd d a p" = "me love you""d a p yu vb" = "you lose""d a p go a zz fff bb a zz" = "you me one verse one""p bb go ee fff" = "use me lover""you lose" and "you me one verse one" might come in pretty handy on the battlefield, but "me love you"? Too much of this cross-faction talking, and the war in Azeroth might come to an end!*By the way, I'm the gnome in the picture above. Anyone want to figure out what the big cow was saying to me? It's "kek maza kaz" if the picture is too small.
Talking urinals invade privacy
Apparently these talking urinals have been circulating in select areas for some time, but rather than the idea just going down the drain, it seems to have gained attention. The Wizmark Urinal Communicator sits at the bottom of men's urinals and sports a miniature LCD screen and a speaker to broadcast all kinds of messages, alerts, and advertisements to the, um, current user. The waterproof drain cover also acts as a deodorizer, and presumably continues to play even when purposely blasted by those who feel their privacy has been breached. Similar to automatic flushers, the device senses an approaching patron from about 30cm away and queues up a programmed message to play upon his (or her) arrival. The most common uses thus far are to warn patrons not to drive while intoxicated, but we assume this will eventually become another bizarre advertising medium. The mastermind of the Wizmark, Dr. Richard Deutsch, asserts that the uses are limitless, as everything from public service announcements to beer commercials could find their way in your stall. So on your next visit to the gentleman's room, we'd strongly recommend keeping your eyes aimed directly ahead, no matter what interesting things your neighbor's Wizmark might be saying.