Lonesome South Koreans who have trouble finding true love can now get video calls from a beautiful and cute girlfriend — if they download a smartphone application.
Nabix, a South Korean app developer, launched one called “Honey, it’s me!” on Nov. 30 for iPhone users. It achieved 80,000 downloads a day during an initial free launch period.
There are a number of apps on the market that can make single men feel a little less lonesome, including a night time app that plays the sound of a female sleeping peacefully on the next pillow.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
But the “Honey, it’s me!” app appears to be the first to make video calls from a virtual model. Mina, 22, video calls smartphone users three to four times a day for some sweet talk.
Her messages range from “Are you still sleeping? Time for breakfast!” to “Good night, sweet dreams.”
A Korean model posed for the video calls and recorded more than 100 comments to melt the hearts of single men.
“I’ve developed this application to console people for their loneliness,” Kim Yoon-Kak, head of Nabix, told AFP.
Kim said usage had declined since the app went on sale for US$1.99, but he planned to allow free downloads again from this week.
Early reaction to Mina has been enthusiastic. “It’s a blessing for all single men,” praised one of the users on Twitter.
“Mina called me while I was working overtime. This is just great,” said another.
Nabix now plans new versions with more messages in English, Chinese and Japanese, both for free and with a charge for longer comments. An Android version will also be launched.
(AFP)
覓不得真愛的寂寞南韓人，如今得接到美麗又可愛女友的視訊來電─只要下載智慧型手機應用軟體。
南韓應用軟體開發商Nabix十一月三十日推出名為「寶貝，是我！」的軟體給iPhone使用者。免費下載使用期間曾創下單日八萬人次下載。
目前市面上有些用來減少單身漢寂寞的應用軟體，包括一款夜間會在隔壁枕頭，發出女性安祥睡眠聲的應用軟體。
但是「寶貝，是我！」似乎是第一個以虛擬模特兒撥打視訊電話的應用軟體。二十二歲的米娜每日三到四次，打電話給智慧型手機用戶說些甜言蜜語。
她的訊息從「你還在睡覺嗎？該吃早餐囉！」到「晚安，祝好夢」都有。
一位南韓模特兒擺著姿勢，錄製了一百多則訊息溶化單身漢的心。
軟體開發商Nabix負責人Kim Yoon-Kak告訴法新社，「我開發這個軟體是為了填補人們的孤獨。」
他表示這個軟體使用量自從要收費一點九九美元而開始下降，但他打算從這週開始重新開放免費下載。
使用者對米娜的初期反應相當熱烈。有個使用者在微型部落格推特上發文說，「這對所有單身男子而言是個福音。」
另一位使用者在推特上說，「米娜在我加班的時候打給我。簡直是太棒了。」
Nabix目前打算推出新版本，提供英文、中文與日文發音的訊息。新舊版本都是免費，如果想收到較長的訊息有付費版本。未來將推出人型機器人版本。
（法新社／翻譯：吳岱璟）
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