Opinions on this PhatBox feature?

"PhatNoise's patent pending SSA interface is unlike any other interface available for the car. Using voice prompting, the PhatNoise Car Audio System reads album, artist, genre and playlist names to you while you drive....In addition to these great features there is a voice prompted help that is always available at the touch of a button. Then you can turn it off once you get the hang of the system."

Taken from here: http://www.phatnoise.com/products/systemoverview/headunit_interaction.php

Patent Pending, huh?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

HMMMMMM.....

Speaking of inferior Empeg alternatives, I was interested to see Blaupunkt's latest effort:

https://secure.caraudiodirect.com/shop/acatalog/C_A_D_Catalogue_Blaupunkt_Blitz_23.html

1Gb MP3 changer "compact drive". It's interesting to see a big-name manufacturer finally moving in the right direction, even if they are still miles off...

I wonder how long it will be until they produce units that are even half as good as the Empeg? Perhaps one day... :-)

Okay. I might be wrong here but is their revolutionary system just a voice synth? If so then "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm......." is right...

Probably would get the patent granted though... I like the recent one that was on slashdot about a patent for swing sideways on a swing

- Trevor

This would get annoying very quickly.

Sean

In reply to:

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This would get annoying very quickly

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I don't know about that. There have been some close calls while driving and flipping through my playlists. An audible cue seems like it would be nice AND safe.

I don't know what the plausibilty is of this but, what if there was some way to record the user saying each artist/genre/source/etc into wav files. Then in Emplode "linking" them to the coresponding search parameter. Then u/ling them to the player so that those wavs get played every time a search parameter is selected. Thoughts?

I hate the sound of my own voice. I wouldn't use it.

I usually dont mess around with playlists when im on the move, I only do that sort of thing when I'm stopped at a light. IMHO, it would be a neat feature for about a week, then I would turn it off. Besides that, it would take a lot of development work to implement it. Maybe this would work well on the digital audio center though. hmmm.

Doing searches would still be impossible while on the move, you would still have to fumble around with the remote.

Sean

[censored] Rick, I wasn't suggesting to use YOUR voice. Go get a chick that sounds like Katheleen Turner

I could just imagine. I'd go get my Ex-girlfriend to do her best porn actress impression while saying, "Oh yeah baby, give me some Trance!" Or, "Lets Rock n' Roll right now baby!" Or "Oh you bad boy, do me like Drum and Bass!"

And how exactly do you explain the voice to your girlfriend?
I wouldn't want to use my girlfriend's voice though. That would drive me insane!

- Trevor

You wouldn't need to record wave files. There are plenty of decent text-to-speech packages out there that could pronounce and speak the tag information. And these days they sound better that Stephen Hawking, too.

I'd say this is an excellent way to control a product of this nature, given the lack of UI on the factory head unit. I doubt it's an original idea. Also, having seen/heard it at CES, I can say that this particular implementation sounds terrible!

Rob

Hey Rob where did you get that pic of the nellie guy with the dark red top hat ?

Scarily enough, that picture is of him...
It's on the riocar.org page here

What's Nellie BTW?

- Trevor

A friend of mine has this on his BMW PhatBox, and he can find any song in his 30G collection with a few buttons without taking his eyes off the road. Pretty impressive, something my Empeg could learn from. At least we can hack in things like that to the Empeg.

Nellie is slang for an effeminate gay man; it's also used as an adjective meaning like one. It's somewhat derogatory, kinda like ``fairy'', but seems to be used in the gay community now in the same way that black folks use the n-word.

I think that someone has stuck his foot in his mouth. Unless Rob is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Actually I paint my face white and apply eye liner most days. The top hat only comes out at weekends - it's a bit too macho to be an all week accessory.

Rob.

Different products have different approaches to these things. The product you own is a geek toy, that doesn't mean all of our automotive designs have the same UI (or anything close to it). For that matter, just because a company slaps a Pat Pend on a feature doesn't mean they were the first to come up with it.

Rob

Note to Rob: Robert Smith is not to be considered a fashion-sense expert.

Time for a new girlfriend?