PRODUCT REVIEW: Podcasts Converted to Text

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        PRODUCT REVIEW: Podcasts Converted to Text
Date:   Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:08:36 -0500
From:   Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
To:     undisclosed-recipient:;



     PRODUCT REVIEW: Podcasts Converted to Text
     - Nov 17, 2005 09:42 PM (AP Online)

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer


BOSTON (AP) -- Suddenly the universe of downloadable audio files 
known as podcasts seems as enormous as the Internet. Name a topic _ 
from the weather in Asuncion to the ZigBee wireless technology _ and 
there is a podcast about it.


But while the Internet's vastness is accessible because of 
deep-probing search engines, comparably authoritative services for 
podcasts and other multimedia haven't really emerged.


That's because search programs are primed to catalog text. When they 
encounter an audio or video file, generally they determine the 
contents by reading the titles and other descriptive tags, known as 
"metadata," that creators voluntarily add.


It's useful, but much like examining only the first few lines of a 
Web site. Reading the whole thing is a lot better.


With that in mind, a few companies are trying to make search engines 
actually listen to big audio and video files. From there, 
speech-to-text software can generate written transcripts, which are 
searched in addition to metadata.


Perhaps best known has been Blinkx Inc., an information-management 
startup that gets its speech-to-text software from Autonomy Corp.


Now comes BBN Technologies Inc., a defense contractor that developed 
elements of the Internet. After tinkering with speech-to-text 
programs it created for U.S. intelligence services, BBN has produced 
Podzinger, a Web service that mines the content of podcasts.


A third service, Podscope, from a broadcast-monitoring company called 
TV Eyes Inc., performs a similar trick, but with a twist. CEO David 
Ives says Podscope uses some voice-recognition technology but mainly 
scans for phonemes _ the individual sounds that make up syllables _ 
rather than full words.


...

     - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=53272500




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