The world has instant messaging. Text messages. E-mail. Voicemail. Blogs. Online social networks. And the good ol' cellphone. But, if you thought there were enough ways to communicate with others, think again.
At this week's DEMOfall 2006 conference in San Diego, a showcase of some of the most promising innovations in technology, nearly 70 companies will each have six minutes on stage to tout their new or upcoming products. At least a half dozen will unveil new ways of blasting your voice or words.
"A lot of building blocks are falling into place, allowing for a lot more experimentation to happen in the market, whether it's personal expression or mobile services," said Chris Shipley, the event's producer.
Cellphones are more powerful. More homes have acquired high-speed Internet connections, helping to carve the path for new trends in online creativity, community-building and communications.
A new voice-messaging service due to be introduced yesterday by Pinger Inc takes advantage of improved connections to zap voice messages between cellphones and PCs. Ideas that pop into your head late at night or other impolite times to call no longer have to be confined to a written e-mail.
Instead, you could pick up a phone, talk and send the voice message to your friends' e-mail or cell phone text-message inboxes. You could even post the audio message, or "pinger," as a comment on their MySpace.com personal Web page.
Recipients then listen to your voice rather than read your words.
The service aims to be a welcome alternative to texting, its co-founders said, especially for those who have not mastered thumb-typing on cellphones. It could also be a convenient way to deliver a message to a group of people.
To send a message, users need to have first registered online with Pinger and given it a list of contacts. Registered users could then dial Pinger from their cellphones or any phone and name the person, persons, or group of people to whom they want to send a voice message.
Pinger then acts as the messenger. Recipients, however, do not need to be registered with Pinger to get the message.
"It's just faster for me to talk than to do e-mail," said Greg Woock, Pinger's co-founder and chief executive, and the owner of a Treo smart phone. "And if we're right about this, this could be a new communication tool for everyone: It's like BlackBerries for everybody, but with a phone."
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