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Amazon built a customized Alexa assistant that’s coming to cars
Amazon is opening up its AI tech to automakers and other third-companies with a new product called Alexa Custom Assistant.
Google Assistant gets new voice options in nine more languages
Google Assistant users outside the US haven't had much choice when it comes to voice options -- until now, as Google launches a second voice for Assistant in French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Norwegian, Korean, Italian and English for India and the UK.
Stephen Colbert is the latest celebrity to guide you on Waze
Stephen Colbert is going from talking about tech to getting involved with it. He's joining the ranks of comedian Kevin Hart and former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger as a celebrity voice for Waze, the crowd-sourced mobile GPS app. Based on the video below, his audible suggestions don't go quite the distance we'd hoped in terms of hilarity but that's probably for the best. I mean, explaining to a cop that the reason you totaled your car was because The Late Show's new helmsman said there was a bear in the road and you needed to punch its face with your bumper probably wouldn't go over well -- for you or CBS's legal department. Sadly the former Colbert Report host's' voice will only be available through September 22nd. [Image credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP]
Mists of Pandaria beta: Aysa Cloudsinger and Master Shang Xi speak
Tipster Sylier emailed us a clip we had to share. If you're wondering what pandaren sound like, here we go. I think these may be very specific character voices for Master Shang Xi and Aysa Cloudsinger, rather than generic pandaren, but you still get a sense of how the voices will be accented and words pronounced. I like Aysa quite a bit, and Master Shang Xi sounds exactly how I suspected he might. I'm glad they didn't go with a heavily accented and somewhat cartoonish voice for the pandaren, especially these highly representative figures we're all going to meet when we level on the Wandering Isle. [Thanks, Sylier!] It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Why is Siri female (in the US at least)?
Have you ever wondered why most of the default voices for computers are female? Although Siri is male in the UK and France, it's female in the U.S., Australia, and Germany. CNN's Brandon Griggs pondered this question in a post last month, and found that -- among other things -- people find women's voices more pleasing than men's. Griggs quoted Stanford University Professor Clifford Nass, author of a book about human-machine relationships, as saying "It's much easier to find a female voice that everyone likes than a male voice that everyone likes. It's a well-established phenomenon that the human brain is developed to like female voices." According to Nass, this preference starts in the womb, as fetuses react to the sound of their mother's voice but not to other female voices or their father's voices. Another reason could be that telephone operators have traditionally been female, so people are used to getting assistance from a woman's voice -- realizing that certain age iPhone users and younger may have never heard a real, live telephone operator. There are other theories. Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies Inc. believes that tech companies try to stay away from the sound of male computer voices due to the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL's soothing male voice didn't cover the fact that he was insane and intent on killing his human crew mates. The post goes on to state that many experts expect that Siri will come with a choice of voices, accents and genders someday, so that if you're a little peeved with "her" voice right now, you can replace it with a voice more to your liking. Speech technology firm Nuance's director of advanced speech design thinks that in the future there's a "huge opportunity for personalization. I could have an approximation of my wife's voice read me a text message in my car."
Breakfast Topic: How about those voices in your head?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Your friends will abandon you. The first time I heard that ringing in my ears, it freaked me out. Wandering into Ahn'Qiraj-40 and having C'Thun whispering sweet evil nothings in my ear about my heart exploding and being already dead is hardly someone wants to hear on the best of days, much less while raiding. Warcraft has had a history of strange and dreadful whispers, sometimes from places in the game and sometimes from actual items (Chained Essence of Eranikus, anyone?). And they always seem to be strange and terrifying. But what if they weren't? What if they were comforting or gave you courage? The idea that a familiar, friendly or helpful character from WoW guiding you either by being in your head or being a part of an item you carry seems a little alien, but to me, like a warm blanket for your character. Maybe it's a certain dragon aspect watching over you, or the familiar voice of your Orc mentor telling you try again. It would inspire confidence rather than fear, congeniality rather than hostility. Would you go along with the voice or not? Who would it be? Or do you find the idea of anyone whispering in your head (quest mechanics aside) a little weird or violating?
Homer Simpson comes to the Tom Tom app
The voice of cartoon character Homer Simpson, as performed by actor Dan Castellaneta, is now available as an in-app purchase in Tom Tom's US-based GPS apps for the iPhone. For US$5.99, you too can have Homer say "[Annoyed Grunt]" when you make a wrong turn, or "Woo hoo!" when you reach your destination. Pricey? Maybe so, but considering the apps already cost about $50 (not to mention a subscription charge for other services), you're all-in anyway, right? This isn't that big a deal -- celebrities (and impersonators) have been doing GPS voices for a while now. But Tom Tom says that this is the first time a celebrity's voice has been released for a GPS system via an in-app purchase. And considering that even Tom Tom admits that smartphones are a huge part of the navigation market, this could make for a big change in the way people download and use add-ons like this. Previously, you had to update the GPS unit's firmware, maybe take it out of your car and sync it up with a computer to get a voice like this working. But now, you only have to click a button on an iPhone app, and use your Apple account to pick up the voice for a few bucks. That's much easier, and depending on how Homer does here, navigation companies may have a whole new market for these add-ons.
Mac OS X Lion offers high-quality, multilingual voices
Since the developer preview release of Mac OS X Lion, we've been able to see in action some of the exciting new features to expect from Apple's new, forthcoming operating system. Today, we've got even more exciting news to share. AppleInsider is reporting that Mac OS X Lion will feature 53 new high-quality voices with over 40 different dialects to boot. From about a third to over half a gigabyte each in size, the voices sound more human than ever (things have come along way since the early Mac voice from the late 1980s or even Victoria from the 90s), even old Alex from Mac OS X Leopard is put to shame by the new crowd: including American English speaking Jill, Samantha and Tom, Australian English Karen and Lee and the rather British English speaking Daniel, Emily and Serena. There's even a South African English speaking Tessa. But it's not only English that Mac OS X Lion will be speaking, the new OS will be able to speak Chinese, Saudi Arabian Arabic, French, Italian, Polish and Turkish to name a few, too. It's reported that the voices will be available for download directly from Apple, so your Mac only speaks the languages you want and need it to. Click here to listen to some samples provied by AppleInsider
Enter to run away with a free copy of Runmeter from TUAW
I just wrote about Runmeter after meeting creator Steve Kusmer at Macworld 2011 a little while back, and as a runner myself, I've used it a couple of times to track and monitor my performance during and after runs. It's very feature-rich, even compared to other running apps on the App Store, with plenty of connections to social media and great UI features. The recent 5.0 update brought in a ton of new features, and the latest update, 5.0.1, smoothed those over with some extra options, performance updates and bug fixes. Runmeter is US$4.99 on the App Store, but if you're a runner who hasn't picked it up yet, it's your lucky day. We're giving 10 copies away to lucky readers. Just enter a comment below telling us your favorite time of day to go running, and we'll choose 10 comments at random to get a promo code for the app. One note: The app sells special voices for in-app purchase, and this code doesn't include those. But you don't need them -- they're just extra add-ons that provide a little more text-to-speech functionality. Here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite time of day to run. The comment must be left before Tuesday, February 29, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: App Store promo code for Runmeter (US$4.99 value). Click Here for complete Official Rules. Good luck and good running to everyone who enters!
Cataclysm Beta: Goblin /flirt and /silly sounds
NSFW Warning: Some work environments may not like these jokes. The Cataclysm floodgates have been opened, and the torrent of information coming is awesome! Here come the goblin sound files for goblin male and female /flirt and /silly jokes and flirts. A lot of it is what you would expect from goblins -- money, wheeling and dealing, bondage jokes and... wait, what? Some of this stuff is pretty racey, and I doubt it will stay in game like the infamous "kill two dwarves" troll emote. Nonetheless, here are your goblin sound emotes. More clips are after the break.
Cataclysm Beta: Worgen /silly and /flirt sounds
Cataclysm beta is active, as you might have guessed, and we just keep getting more great info thanks to diligent dataminers. Case in point: someone dug up the voice clips for male and female worgen doing /flirt and /silly emotes. If you were hoping for jokes about bacon, hairballs, butt-sniffing, and multiple nipples, you basically won the emote lottery on this one. If some of the flirts seem a little risqué, you're probably not alone; sadly, all of the best (read: most suggestive) draenei and blood elf flirts never made it past beta, either. More clips after the break.
Sam Jackson and Don Cheadle rock the voiceover for Iron Man 2
Putting Sam Jackson in the same room as a bunch of video game developers is just unfair -- the guy's awesome when he's fighting reptiles on aircraft, but when he's surrounded by engineers and programmers, he turns into a legend. Don Cheadle, too -- you get the feeling that his Academy Award-nominated dedication to the acting craft might be somewhat wasted on lines like, "Hey, you're Tony Stark, right?" and "War Machine out," but he's so talented that he throws himself into it anyway. Also, we hear there's a game of some kind out now with these voices in it. But it's doubtful that playing the game could be any more fun than watching these guys work.
First Look: Voices for iPhone
Novelty and social applications are a big hit on the iPhone. A new one from the folks of Taptivate is sure to be a big hit when it is released in the near future. Voices for iPhone is touted as an "audio recorder with a twist" and even a "social voicemail" utility. With Voices [iTunes Link], you're given tools to manipulate your own voice in many fun and odd ways. Whether you'd like to transform into Darth Vader or a chipmunk, you're good to go with Voices. Sporting a unique and very pretty user interface, the application boasts a lot of cool extras sure to show you how hard the developers have worked on it. The app has a home screen-like selection window where you can choose the way in which you want your voice manipulated. A stack of your recordings can also be accessed with just a tap. After initially seeing this app when it was in early beta, it has come a long way since then. The app is being published by Tap Tap Tap and is available for only 99 cents. Also, to celebrate the release, MacHeist is offering a special "Tweetblast" deal, giving away a free copy of Voice Candy for Mac to people who help spread the word on Twitter. Here's some shots of Voices in action: %Gallery-77971%
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker English voice cast announced
With fingers crossed, we turned to the latest Kojima Productions podcast, hoping beyond hope that the studio had taken our recommendation to refresh the voice of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's bearded protagonist. Our nominee for Solid Snake's new pipes? Bobcat Goldthwait. Sure, Mr. Goldthwait would likely take the series in an unexpected direction -- but what unsuspecting player wouldn't be swept up in an exploration of Snake's rarely discussed history as a rabid, nigh-incomprehensible stand-up comic? Now there's a 90-minute cutscene we can get behind. Alas, Konami's recently announced voice cast for Peace Walker is actually (gasp!) sans-Goldthwait. Of course David Hayter will reprise the role for, like, the hundredth time. The rest of the totally unsurprising list can be found after the jump -- but why not watch this beautiful excerpt of the Peace Walker that could have been instead? [Via Kotaku]
Tim Curry provides voice of 'calculating villain' in Dragon Age: Origins
EA and BioWare have made the obvious -- and quite correct -- choice in casting Tim Curry as Arl Rendon Howe, a man whose insatiable lust for power puts him at odds with the heroes of November's swords-and-sultry-sorcery epic, Dragon Age: Origins. Those keeping count on Curry's "calculating villain" roles will remember his appearance as Premier Cherdenko in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, as well as his forthcoming part as Doviculus in Brütal Legend, slated for release a few weeks before Halloween (when anything can happen).Dragon Age: Origins, which BioWare describes as having the largest cast of characters in any of its games to date, will also feature the vocal talents of Tim Russ, Claudia Black (you'll spot her in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves this October), Steve Valentine, and Kate Mulgrew, who was last seen slurping coffee and balking at the Prime Directive in Star Trek: Voyager.%Gallery-70488%
Infinity Ward spells out Modern Warfare 2 voice cast
Another voice work announcement from Twitter now, as Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling (aka FourZeroTwo) has confirmed that the cast of veteran voice actors has completed recording its grunts and grumbles for what seems to be the only game coming out this holiday, Modern Warfare 2. Roll credits: Barry Pepper (Alex Mercer in Prototype and an amazing sniper back in WWII) Kevin McKidd (Dr. Hunt on Grey's Anatomy and not something on the McDonald's menu) Craig Fairbass (Gaz in COD4 -- recently thrown off a mountain in Cliffhanger) Keith David (Voice of Goliath in Gargoyles and host of sex parties in Requiem for a Dream) Glenn Morshower (Played an agent in 24 and moonlights as a Jim Gaffigan lookalike) Fairbass is almost definitely going to return as the voice of Gaz, but the others actors have yet to be matched to the game's characters. Best guesses?
Thorim, remixed, in the mountains
Here's a great way to start off the weekend for sure. lockexenocide on WoW LJ points out this remix of Thorim's "In the mountains" speech, and I like it a lot. It's part of a speech Thorim gives when you first pull him, thrown in with some phat beats and cuts. Unfortunately, LJ doesn't know who put it together, but even stranger, a search reveals a another Thorim remix in the Youtube video above.I'm surprised there aren't more remixes of Blizzard's music and/or audio -- these sound really good, and it'd be fun to hear someone like The Maiden of Virtue ("Cast out your corrupt thoughts!") or Noth ("Rise, my soldiers! Rise and fight once more!") get this treatment. There's probably a whole bunch of cool ways aspiring DJs could cut up and remix some of Blizzard's audio.Update: Here's a cool Yogg Saron mix from Thebum in our comments.
Aion finds its voice for CBT5 weekend
This weekend sees the fifth iteration of Aion's Closed Beta Test and NCsoft has released a nice set of notes to go along with it. The big news is this CBT will see the introduction of the first sound files for English audio, including NPC greetings, farewells and narration during cut scenes. During character selection you'll also be able to sample the avatar voices for the first time. If you're curious to see what the NPC voices sound like AionSource have managed to track down some samples of the Shugo, Elyos and Asmodian sound files.But that's not all; the long-awaited racial prologues will also be included. This is the first quest in the game, an opening cutscene which leads into the starter zones of Poeta or Ishalgen. To see them you just need to create a new character of either faction. For beginners, NCsoft are also including tutorial videos, new dialogue and quest text, various fixes and two new servers in both Europe and North America. Excited yet? Well don't forget, the fun begins on Friday at noon PST and 8PM CEST.Update: NCsoft have posted some samples and outtakes of their own, as well as some interesting facts about the process of creating English language dialogue, on the official site.
GhostReader 1.5: text to audiobook
GhostReader is a text to speech application that allows you to have your computer read aloud PDF, Word, and text files and save the output in a variety of formats for importing into iTunes. While Mac OS X does have built-in text to speech capabilities in the Universal Access Preference Pane (VoiceOver), GhostReader adds more voices (including various voices tailored to multiple European languages), allows you to modify how words are pronounced, and automates the conversion to audiobooks.GhostReader 1.5 is $39.95 for one language; additional languages are extra; a demo is available.
The Green Mile actor Barry Pepper to voice Prototype lead
New details have emerged surrounding Prototype, Radical Entertainment's sandbox-style successor to Hulk:Ultimate Destruction, specifically concerning whose voice we'll be hearing when the shape shifting protagonist Alex Mercer flaps 'genetically mutated' lips. Mercer will be voiced by Barry Pepper, who some may recognize for his role as Officer Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, or for his arguably most memorable work as Jake in one episode of Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years. Other voices confirmed for Prototype include NYPD Blue's Gordon Clap and CSI's Paul Guilfoyle, both of which publisher Sierra note as being appropriate additions to the cast given the game's "uniquely mysterious and conspiracy-filled plot." Prototype is expected to change shape and smash New York City later this year for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.[Via press release]
