The announcement of the first release candidate of AV Music Morpher Gold new version 5.0

Avnex Ltd. announces the release candidate of their premium AV Music Morpher Gold new version 5.0, along with a promotional celebration program for this year’s Valentine’s Day. For more information, please visit their website at www.audio4fun.com/promotion.htm.

2010 started well for AVnex’s Music Morpher Gold when the 1 millionth download from CNet occurred in early January. Following that was an announcement of an upcoming new version. AVnex revealed today that the new version of AV Music Morpher Gold focuses on convenience, and ease of use. The new release candidate also includes a new DJ module. “We don’t need to say too much about the improvements in the program, as users will recognize them right away. The DJ module, on the other hand, is totally new to users,” said Chris R.F., Customer Support Manager of AVnex, “This is the first version of the DJ module and it was made for novices who are just starting out in the DJ world, and want to get basic experience on this kind of tool before they decide on which functions are the most useful for them, and which ones best fit their style. Improvements for this DJ module will be made in future versions after we have got more comments from our users.”

Known in the audio and music editing software market for its multi-tracking audio editing and its huge audio effects library, AV Music Morpher Gold also stands out for its ability to change voice in real-time, thanks to the voice changing technology included in the program, that AVnex pioneered, and is well represented in their AV Voice Changer Software product line. Now, with the new DJ module, it seems like AVnex will continue to improve it. AVnex has once again shown its commitment to its loyal users and audio editing fans by not increasing the price of the new 5.0 version, even though they are completely committed to making improvements and adding more new features to it.

“For now, the changes in the new version will only be applied to the Gold edition of the product line; the Basic edition is still not upgraded, as we want to focus on the best improvements first,” said Chris R.F.

This release candidate is not yet available for downloading on AVnex’s website. For this year’s Valentine’s Day, AVnex will offer this release candidate only to users who order either the current version of the program (version 4.0) or AV Voice Changer Software Diamond 7.0 from their website. Both these programs are set at 20% off of their retail price, and this offer is only available from now until the end of this Valentine’s Day. The official release time for Music Morpher Gold’s new version is said to be in April, so it seems like this release candidate will be a solid version; owners of the release candidate will receive a free, final full version when released.

Come visit their website to learn more about the new version, and see for yourself what the latest additions include, and be the first to experience the premium software choice in the music editing arena at http://www.audio4fun.com/promotion.htm.
About Avnex Ltd.:
Avnex Ltd. practices its expertise in the three core areas: Audio and Video Morphing Algorithms, Audio and Video Stream Interception, Audio and Video Real Time Effecting. This dedication results in four main product series of Voice Changer Softwares, Audio Morphers, Video Morphers, and Webcam Morphers. More detailed information can be found at http://www.audio4fun.com.

http://www.information-online.com

Online Video Explodes

The online video market continued to grow in December, as nearly 178 million U.S. Internet users watched 33.2 billion videos in the month a lone, said comScore last week. When broken down, the numbers mean that 86.5 percent of total U.S. Internet users watched online videos and averaged 187 videos per user. The average length video watched was 4.1 minutes, up from 3.5 minutes in a report from last March.

Google sites account for 13.2 billion videos, or almost 40 percent of the total. More than 134 million people watched more than 13 billion YouTube videos, averaging 97.1 videos per user.

Hulu had a record-breaking month.

“Hulu ranked second with more than 1 billion videos viewed, an all-time high for the property, and representing 3.0 percent market share,” said Andrew Lipsman, in the report. The site saw 44.1 million unique visitors in December; each spent an average of 2.2 hours watching 22.9 videos.

Although Hulu came in second for total videos viewed, the site came in sixth place for most unique visitors. Not surprisingly, Google topped the list and was followed by Yahoo, Fox Interactive Media, CBS Interactive and Microsoft sites.

A similar report released in March of last year by comScore, showed Google with 41 percent of market share, with 5.3 billion videos viewed in a month by 99.3 billion visitors. In the same month Hulu showed a 42 percent increase in unique viewers. (See also PC World’s own most-watched videos.)

By Paul Suarez

http://news.yahoo.com

Five Benefits of an Open Source Symbian

The Symbian mobile operating system is getting a second life as the Symbian Foundation makes the smartphone platform open source. The lifeline will revitalize the platform, and has benefits for Nokia, smartphone developers, Symbian handsets, and smartphone users.

With all of the hype and attention devoted to the iPhone, it’s easy to forget that Symbian is actually the leading smartphone operating system in the world. Symbian has nearly as much market share as the rest of its competitors combined–including the iPhone, with more than 330 million Symbian smartphones in use.

So, why isn’t that news worth celebrating in and of itself? If Symbian is so dominant, why should Nokia spin it off, and why should the Symbian Foundation make it open source?

The answer is that Symbian is yesterday’s smartphone operating system. It may be dominant, but its declining. Symbian has a huge footprint globally, but RIM and Apple have been steadily chipping away at it. It is somewhat geriatric compared with next-generation smartphone operating systems like iPhone and Android.

The move to open source for the Symbian platform is a good move with benefits at all levels. Here are five ways an open source Symbian is good for the smartphone platform:

1. Nokia. Nokia benefits from the transition to open source because it pumps new blood into the waning platform without any effort or investment from Nokia. While Nokia moves on to creating new devices built on its Linux-based Maemo platform, it will still gain a marketing and public relations boost from its relationship with Symbian and its dominant contribution to the development of the smartphone platform.

2. Smartphone Manufacturers. The availability of Symbian as an open source operating system gives smartphone manufacturers an alternative to Google’s Android. Android has demonstrated that an open source mobile operating system can be a very effective platform–enabling smartphone vendors to customize the OS, and develop robust devices at a lower cost (or higher profit margin) due to the lack of associated licensing fees.

Some manufacturers may be interested in leveraging an open source platform, yet be reluctant to partner too closely with Google. Even vendors who have embraced Android may be looking for alternatives now that Google has entered the market as a direct competitor with the Nexus One.

3. Developers. Making the source code of the Symbian operating system available as open source opens up a huge market for developers. Symbian will never achieve the rabid success of the iPhone App Store, but it’s hard to ignore a market of 330 million potential customers. Just based on economy of scale, even a mediocre Symbian app could be quite lucrative.

4. Businesses. Taking the developers benefit in a different direction, companies of all sizes will benefit from the ability to customize the platform, and develop unique applications to integrate Symbian smartphones with the enterprise, and streamline business processes.

For businesses that are already invested in Symbian-based smartphones, an open source Symbian can extend the useful life of the devices and enable the company to maximize the investment it’s already made rather than allocating precious budget dollars to smartphone upgrades.

5. Users. The 330 million Symbian users of the world get some new life as well. As developers embrace the open source Symbian and begin to create innovative applications for the smartphones, Symbian users will benefit from new features and functionality without having to trade their devices in for an iPhone or a Nexus One.

The transition to open source isn’t necessarily all wine and roses, though. As different developers take the open source code in different directions, there is a risk of the platform forking and creating some confusion as far as which Symbian will work with which Symbian smartphones.

Making Symbian open source may stop some of the hemorrhaging of market share Symbian has experienced, and it is almost guaranteed to extend the useful life of the platform. However, it is still yesterday’s smartphone platform and Symbian’s days are still numbered–the number is just higher now.

By Tony Bradley

http://news.yahoo.com

Is blogging a slog? Some young people think so

CHICAGO – Could it be that blogs have become online fodder for the — gasp! — more mature reader?

A new study has found that young people are losing interest in long-form blogging, as their communication habits have become increasingly brief, and mobile. Tech experts say it doesn’t mean blogging is going away. Rather, it’s gone the way of the telephone and e-mail — still useful, just not sexy.

“Remember when ‘You’ve got mail!’ used to produce a moment of enthusiasm and not dread?” asks Danah Boyd, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Now when it comes to blogs, she says, “people focus on using them for what they’re good for and turning to other channels for more exciting things.”

Those channels might include anything from social networking sites to others that feature games or video.

The study, released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, found that 14 percent of Internet youths, ages 12 to 17, now say they blog, compared with just over a quarter who did so in 2006. And only about half in that age group say they comment on friends’ blogs, down from three-quarters who did so four years ago.

Pew found a similar drop in blogging among 18- to 29-year-olds.

Overall, Pew estimates that roughly one in 10 online adults maintain a blog — a number that has remained consistent since 2005, when blogs became a more mainstream activity. In the U.S., that would mean there are more than 30 million adults who blog.

“That’s a pretty remarkable thing to have gone from zero to 30 million in the last 10 years,” says David Sifry, founder of blog search site Technorati.

But according to the data, that population is aging.

The Pew study found, for instance, that the percentage of Internet users age 30 and older who maintain a blog increased from 7 percent in 2007 to 11 percent in 2009.

Pew’s over-18 data, collected in the last half of last year, were based on interviews with 2,253 adults and have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. The under-18 data came from phone interviews with 800 12- to 17-year-olds and their parents. The margin of error for that data was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

So why are young people less interested in blogging?

The explosion of social networking is one obvious answer. The Pew survey found that nearly three-quarters of 12- to 17-year-olds who have access to the Internet use social networking sites, such as Facebook. That compares with 55 percent four years ago.

With social networking has come the ability to do a quick status update and that has “kind of sucked the life out of long-form blogging,” says Amanda Lenhart, a Pew senior researcher and lead author of the latest study.

More young people are also accessing the Internet from their mobile phones, only increasing the need for brevity. The survey found, for instance, that half of 18- to 29-year-olds had done so.

All of that rings true to Sarah Rondeau, a freshman at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

“It’s a matter of typing quickly. People these days don’t find reading that fun,” the 18-year-old student says. She loves Facebook and has recently started using Twitter to share pictures of her dorm room and blurbs about campus life, which are, in turn, shared on the Holy Cross Web site for prospective students.

Meanwhile, New Yorker Jackie Huang hasn’t made a posting on her long-form blog in two years, and she now uses Facebook and Twitter because her friends do — though she’s still not too hot on tweeting.

Now 25, she started blogging when she was a college freshman, using Xanga and then WordPress to tell friends, family and a few strangers about anything from travel experiences to pop culture to politics.

“My blog was my own little soapbox,” says Huang, who now works for a communications agency. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m interesting enough for my followers to want to know where I am every hour of the day and what I’m thinking. I’m not Ashton Kutcher, and I don’t post racy pictures of Demi Moore in her skivvies.”

Few doubt that blogging will die. Lenhart suspects that those who blog for personal reasons may focus more on events — a wedding, a trip, a baby’s birth.

Arax-Rae Van Buren, who writes about trends, travel and food on her Kiss and Type blog, is relaunching her site with a mobile audience in mind. “It is imperative that the site design is translatable to a phone,” says the 24-year-old New Yorker.

There also are early signs that “microblogging” on sites such as Twitter might actually create long-form bloggers out of people who get frustrated by the constraints of the 140-word limit. Already, sites such as Tumblr and FriendFeed have emerged to allow for expansion of thought and content, though it remains to be seen whether those services will catch on with younger people.

“Blogging is actually a quite involved form of self-expression. It takes a lot of time and effort,” says Eszter Hargittai, an associate professor of communications studies at Northwestern University.

She and other tech experts also suspect that fewer young people have an interest in sharing their every thought with the whole world.

“Five years ago blogging was a club,” says Sifry of Technorati. “There was this wonderful, delicious feeling of being able to talk privately or semi-privately with people who shared your interests. And there were few consequences of being able to share with your friends on a blog.

“I think we’re seeing a deeper awareness of the perception of privacy and how that can affect your life if it’s violated.”

By MARTHA IRVINE

http://news.yahoo.com

What Is This Mysterious Facebook Music App?

Facebook Music may not exist, but you may have it installed anyway. Right now if you log into the site and go to Facebook’s “Edit Applications” screen, you’ll probably encounter a new application at the top of the list: Music. And it’s pretty clear that this isn’t just some third party app; the application links to Facebook.com/music, which is the same format used by other official Facebook applications, including photos (Facebook.com/photos) and events (Facebook.com/events). But the application doesn’t work at all — clicking it just brings you to your Facebook News Feed.

Update: Facebook has now removed the application. We’re still waiting on a full explanation.

We reached out to Facebook about the mysterious application. They’ve directed us to a Facebook Music Player app that appears on some Facebook Pages, and say that there may be a bug that’s showing some Pages apps on the editapps.php page (they’re looking into the issue). They also say that the Facebook.com/music site may be related to a now-defunct site that was launched at SXSW a few years ago (it wasn’t a streaming music service). That may well be the case, but the Pages music player application has a different Application ID than this new one does — it doesn’t look like they’re the same thing. Still, Facebook’s spokesperson was pretty clear that there was no new Facebook Music app, stating, “We have no plans to launch a music service on Facebook.”

Facebook long considered launching a free music service, and previously engaged in talks with multiple different streaming services to power the site.  Obviously those didn’t pan out, and in light of Facebook’s promotion of third party apps and pages, they may have decided to ditch the idea entirely.

It’s worth pointing out that one of Facebook’s most popular music applications is iLike, which was recently acquired by MySpace. Facebook and MySpace may not be butting heads as much any more (MySpace has shifted its focus to the ’socialization of content’ rather than networking with friends) but given their history it’s an interesting arrangement.

Thanks to Will Hankinson for the tip.

By Jason Kincaid

http://www.techcrunch.com

Video VoIP calls over iPhone 3G? You betcha

Apple may have focused all its laser-beam attention on the iPad at Wednesday’s press event, but that wasn’t the computing giant’s only announcement. Effective immediately, Apple has given up blocking voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls over 3G data networks on the iPhone, and has changed the SDK to reflect the allowance. Of course, your carrier has to also comply for VoIP calls to work over 3G in addition to Wi-Fi. Luckily for us, AT&T in the U.S. is already on board.

The iCall app was one of the first to announce the 3G compatibility news to its VoIP users. Fring, a voice and chat app that supports Skype, SIP, and video calls, soon followed. We wanted to see just how reliable Fring’s VoIP video calling was in the absence of Wi-Fi, so we turned off the wireless and made a few calls

Fring dials out from a dial pad using cellular, SIP, or Skype, and can also make video calls with a compatible service. We tested Skype video calls within California and from the CNET offices, first with 3G and then with Wi-Fi. We also tested with and without headphones.

Video calls were one-way–we could see our callers through their Webcams, but they couldn’t see us. Despite having full bars of AT&T reception, our callers clearly heard only one out of every 5 or 6 words with the headphones plugged in, but we could hear them. We sounded clearer with the headphones out, but couldn’t hear as well on our end. Wi-Fi made the voice transaction clearer all around and caused fewer crashes and stalls.

Stability was an issue over both Wi-Fi and 3G. We had to restart Fring multiple times throughout the course of a call. Of course, the Skype service itself isn’t without delays and freezes when you use it on a home computer supported by fast, reliable Internet, and we haven’t had a chance to extensively test all Fring scenarios with Wi-Fi and 3G. Your experience may differ based on your own surroundings and the technology level on the other end of the line. One thing that’s clear is that Fring’s service indeed makes calls over 3G–albeit inconsistently, in our experience–in addition to calls over Wi-Fi. Improving stability and performance are the next steps for Fring, Skype, and other VoIP players taking advantage of iPhone’s newly relaxed regulations.

by Jessica Dolcourt

http://download.cnet.com

PhoneTag Voice-To-Text Is Only 86 Percent Accurate, But That’s Better Than Google Voice

Computer voice-to-text technology has come a long way, and every time it gets better, new applications open up. It is still not 100 percent accurate. Hell, it’s not even 90 percent accurate. But it is accurate enough for automated voicemail transcription services to become increasingly available and good enough not to have to listen through 15 voicemails to get the gist of what they are about.  Of course, voicemails are often translated incorrectly, sometimes to comic effect.

In a study comparing the accuracy of four different voice-to-text technologies (Google Voice, Preview in Microsoft Exchange, Ditech’s PhoneTag, and Yap) the one which came out on top was PhoneTag, which is now part of Ditech Networks. PhoneTag showed an 86 percent accuracy rate in translating 500 spoken messages into text. Google Voice was only able to achieve an 82 percent accuracy in its voice-to-text translations.  The study only evaluated purely automated voice-to-text systems.  Here’s how all four fared:

Automated Voice-to-Text Accuracy:

• PhoneTag: 86%
• Microsoft: 84%
• Google: 82%>
• Yap: 78%

The study was commissioned by Ditech and carried out by William Meisel of TMA Associates. You can read his methodology in the document embedded below. Of course, a study commissioned by Google might show Google Voice coming out on top  But what I find more interesting is that 86 percent accuracy is considered something to boast about.  Ditech’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jamie Siminoff (who founded the company behind PhoneTag, Simulscribe) points out that each percentage point gain in accuracy is a big deal and that his goal is to get to 90 percent accuracy.  To get beyond that, it si still necessary to use humans to clean up the automated translations.

PhoneTag offers both fully-automated and human-assisted transcription.  One service which uses PhoneTag is Ribbit Mobile, which I’ve been using with the human-assisted transcription option turned on.  I also use Google Voice on another phone.  I’ve certainly noticed that the human-assisted transcriptions are incredibly accurate.  It can even make sense of my three-year-old son’s messages:

Hi, daddy. Hello. We’re calling you from the kitchen. We just made, what we had just made, a banana (??). Bye. Bye.’

I turned off the human-assisted option and tested some purely automated transcriptions today, so I could compare it more fairly to Google Voice.  Some messages were pretty much the same, for others the accuracy went way down, but I really couldn’t say that PhoneTag was noticeably better than Gogle Voice.  But I do notice the difference when I have the human-assisted option turned on. So while 86 percent accuracy might be something to crow about, adding human translators to the mix is still by far the best way to go.

By Erick Schonfeld

http://www.techcrunch.com

Apple backs VoIP calls over 3G networks for iPhone

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Apple Inc. is allowing iPhone owners to use Internet calling services over cellular networks.

Several companies offering Voice over Internet Protocol — or VoIP — services said this week that Apple now allows their applications to work on the iPhone.

VoIP calling has been available on the iPhone, but only over Wi-Fi connections, which don’t have the range of 3G cellular networks.

Apple on Thursday confirmed the change and said it applies to applications for the iPhone and the new iPad tablet device unveiled this week, some of which will come with 3G capabilities.

Apple’s earlier decision to block a Google Inc. calling application triggered an inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating competition in the wireless industry.

Apple said at the time that it blocked Google Voice because the program duplicated some of the iPhone’s features, and that it was still studying the application.

Two months after the FCC sent letters to Apple, Google, and AT&T Inc. — the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. wireless carrier — AT&T said it had tweaked its technology to allow VoIP services on the iPhone to work over its 3G wireless network, even though the services challenge AT&T’s core calling business.

AT&T also revealed that Apple wasn’t allowed to enable any Internet calling applications that use AT&T’s 3G network without AT&T’s permission. Apple vowed to get VoIP applications into its App Store.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Thursday praised Apple’s latest decision, calling it “an action that will create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and provide more choices for consumers.”

http://news.yahoo.com

One Millionth Download Reached on CNET – Audio4fun.com Celebrating by Offering Special Discount

www.audio4fun.com – The famous music product of Audio4fun.com, AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0, has just reached its one millionth download on CNET. To celebrate this success, Audio4fun.com is now offering a hardly-ever-found discount of 40% OFF on AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0. More details about the product and the discount can be found at http://www.audio4fun.com. More information about AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0 on CNET can be found at http://download.cnet.com/AV-Music-Morpher-Gold/3000-2170_4-10285343.html?tag=mncol.

”We are so happy that AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0 has reached its 1 millionth download on CNET; so through this discount program, we are sending a big ‘Thank You’ to all of our customers, especially music lovers. AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0 is usually offered at the retail price of $99.95; but through this program, customers can buy it at only $59.97 per copy, saving almost $40,” said Tracy Norman, Head of Sales and Marketing, “The program is just extended through 3 days only, so anyone who wants to own this music product at this special price should act fast.”

AV Music Morpher Gold includes the latest achievements in digital sound and real-time processing, with new and enhanced features. Audio Video Morphing Algorithm technology allows the user to isolate the voice in an audio recording, then alter it and apply sound effects in real-time. AV Music Morpher Gold offers real mixing capabilities. For example, using the wave editor, users can import parts from different compositions into a multi-track session; then they can edit each part in a waveform data window, apply some special music effects, combine them together and save them to create a brand new music file. Also Voice Remover and Voice Extractor have been improved in AV Music Morpher Gold. Voice Remover lets users easily erase any type of voice from a musical composition, while Voice Extractor helps attenuate the music, while leaving the voice intact. With AV Music Morpher Gold, users also can also apply Direct X and VST plug-ins. This feature will help users gather all the best digital sound effects innovations into a single home audio studio. AV Music Morpher Gold also provides users with an enhanced surround sound player, supporting 4.0, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems. More details on AV Music Morpher Gold can be found at http://mp3-player.audio4fun.com/mp3-music-editor.htm.

More information about AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0 and other Audio4fun music software products, as well as more information about this discount program can be found at http://www.audio4fun.com. All the discounts are valid through 3 days only, so anyone interested should act fast and take advantage of this great opportunity and own the software program at the amazing prices. Download AV Music Morpher Gold 4.0 at http://mp3-player.audio4fun.com/mp3-music-editor.htm or at http://download.cnet.com/AV-Music-Morpher-Gold/3000-2170_4-10285343.html?tag=mncol. For more information about all Audio4fun products, please visit www.audio4fun.com.

By Eric McDaniel

http://www.i-newswire.com

Classic Final Fantasy games coming to iPhone

Great news for RPG fans: The legendary RPG titles Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are making their way to the iPhone and iPod Touch more than 20 years after their original releases on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Final Fantasy developer Square Enix posted the glorious news on its Facebook accounts, and has even set up a Website for the upcoming release.

Although details such as launch date and pricing have yet to be released, we do know that the games will feature optimized control systems for the iPhone and iPod Touch interfaces, additional dungeons that weren’t available in the original 1980’s releases, and bonus content that will be accessible once the main game is completed. Square Enix posted screen shots of the games with the announcement, and from what we can see, the graphics look like they’ve gotten a new coat of paint since the original NES versions.

This is a major announcement for iPhone and iPod Touch gamers, as well as for mobile gamers who have been holding off on these devices in hopes that they will improve as gaming platforms. With the addition of these two iconic titles, the iPhone and iPod Touch should definitely continue to increase their profiles as handheld gaming devices.

By David Dahlquist

http://news.yahoo.com