2008 Wrap up, What's up for 2009?

Hey there Green-Ear fans,
Happiest of Holidays and Merriest of New Years.

2008 was a big year for us here at Green-Ear and first off I want to send a big thank you shout out to everyone who has supported us and helped successfully launch Green-Ear this year.

First a recap. This year was the year a group of super smart people got together and tried to decide the best use of our vast amount of technology and features for VoIP other than the business communications products we were selling at the time. A collective gasp, a burst of thought, some storming of brains and the answer was Green-Ear- it was the answer we wanted all along but didn't dare to dream that we would get to live out our hobbies and passion for games at WORK, too? This was the best news! So, in a very short time following the tech was reconfigured and repackaged for gaming.

GarageGames was a natural first partner for us because our companies share the same vision and desire to provide affordable solutions for not just the big guy and not even just the small guy- All the guys (*I'm a girl and can say that with no sexism implied;). We all want to make game development accessible to anyone with talent and passion and drive. Easy to implement, affordable. And GarageGames definitely helps us make that happen. With a Green-Ear SDK that is Torque integrated it is simple and fast to add complex voice features in your game.

With prices starting at just $49.95!!!

(Had to break up my rambling with an infomercial.)

Back to ramble: Anyway, everyone at GG has been amazing- from just "getting" what we were trying to do to sharing their space with us at Austin GDC, we couldn't have done it without them and we owe them a debt of gratitude. (and sales. buy buy buy)

Since then we have added additional SDK's and features to the Green-Ear offerings. Developing in Flash? C++? have no fear, you can Green-Ear those games up too. For a quick run down of all the fabulous features to date (including voice morphing, text to speech and much much more): www.green-ear.com/features.aspx

Also this year, we found our demo to be less than stellar so we instead asked you, our brilliant development community to compete for our demo love. The contest ends December 31 and the prizes are fierce. 1st prize: $1000 and a showcase at our GDC booth in March. 2nd and 3rd prized are $500 and $250, respectively. For more information on this amazing opportunity: www.green-ear.com/contest.aspx
Hurry, time is running out. There is nothing to lose!

More cool stuff is going on over at the Green-Ear developer area of our site (http://www.green-ear.com/developer_newuser.aspx) Now, in addition to being able to add titles, manage your users, power up your voice slots and track usage...you can also download the SDK's for which you are licensed and any of the documentation you seek!

So with all that, its on to 2009 and all sorts of excitement!

Our next release is expected any time now-and will include (drumroll.....) Voice Commands, Speech Recognition and Input Record & Playback.

Did you catch that?
Voice Commands?
Sweet, I know!
And they couldn't be easier to execute. Just login to the developer area on Green-Ear.com, create your own lists of prefixes and words to recognize. Submit and you have specific speech rec. event files that you can insert in to your game so that your "FIRE FIRE FIRE" really fire, fire, fires.

You can expect the 2.1 release very soon.

Also in 2009, look for announcements of at least two additional partnerships that will make Green-Ear available for a couple of super hot (but top secret) platforms in the first part of the year.

Whew. That was a big year, no wonder I'm tired. Well, I'm off to Florida to recoup and come at you in a big way in '09. I hope each and every one of you get everything you want for whatever gift receiving holiday you celebrate. I wish for you a breath and a break, for health and happiness and lots of fun stuff. See you in the new year. It's gonna be a doozy. ;)

Best,
Leba

Green-Ear for Flash, plus... new features!

Green-Ear for Flash is now available!

Happy December, Everyone!

With the new month come some exciting new developments for Green-Ear. Including, Green-Ear for Flash. Yep, now you can get all the voice functionality of Green-Ear and all the versatility of Flash at your fingertips. Green-Ear Flash integration allows flash applications running locally in a browser or standalone to access all the Green-Ear features. Flash developers are provided with ActionScript code that allows them to invoke functions in Green-Ear network client access library by calling methods of an ActionScript object called FlashGear.

Here’s an excerpt from our Press Release:

Green-Ear for Flash enables Flash game developers to easily add voice and text chat, voice morphing, voice fonts, conferencing, and other features to Flash games and Flash game portals. With Green-Ear for Flash one can rapidly deploy voice capabilities inside games and across multiple games on portals. All without the costs and complexities found in competing alternatives thanks to Green-Ear's managed services and Tier 1 voice network.

"According to reliable sources over 20,000 Flash game portals exist, each containing anywhere from one to thousands of games. We believe the majority of them could benefit from adding voice chat and other voice features from Green-Ear. While playing many games your fingers are busy with game controls and you can't type to text chat, adding voice chat to the game experience allows you to communicate with others and still keep your hands in the game." Dave Govan, Vice Chairman of Green-Ear.

"The addition of Green-Ear for Flash provides a feature set that isn't currently available anywhere else for flash at an affordable cost. A lot of people can benefit from this technology; this market is huge and growing all the time. I think we will begin to see more and more flash sites finding a way to get in on the current trend to socialize online communities." Mike Rojas, Green-Ear CEO.

Green-Ear has added some new features, as well:

· Mutli-Channel Chat: Developers now have the ability to participate in multiple channels simultaneously. Chat with up to 32 channels at a time with both live chat and push-to-talk capabilities. This is particularly great for battle type games, for example, where players can participate in a HQ channel and a squad channel.

· Individualized Chat Control: enable/disable audio play out of the speakers or from being sent to the voice chat. An excellent way to implement Push-to-Talk service.

· Enhance Voice Chat Volume Control: Control the overall volume of the incoming audio from the voice chat(s).

· Stereo Voice Chat: Individual Right and Left Speaker Control.

· .Wav file Supported Chat: Introduce .wav files into a chat, available on a loop- great for background audio.

And of course don’t forget there are only 26 days left to enter the Green-Ear Demo contest and the competition is heating up. Go to www.green-ear.com/contest.aspx for contest details.

Cheers,

Leba

Green-Ear Demo Contest Deadline EXTENDED

The Green-Ear Demo Contest Deadline has been extended to December 31, 2008!

Based on the high volume of interest the Green-Ear Demo contest is generating we have gotten an extension of the deadline! We've heard from many of you that you just need more time and there are still some people yet to jump on the Green-Ear demo bandwagon...to those of you I say, "December 31, 2008!" That's the new deadline, but don't think that there's a moment to waste! That $1000 Grand Prize will only go to the best demo, so bring your A game.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with the Green-Ear Demo Contest...let me fill you in.

First, a Green-Ear review: Green-Ear makes it simple and affordable to include voice features into your games. That includes voice chat, voice morphing, private and public channels and much more, see our Features page for all the details.

Green-Ear's Demo Contest: Instead of providing you with a lame-o demo we have decided to give you an opportunity to build a demo of our voice features inside of your own game, in any platform. We will review all demo submissions and award $1,000 to 1st Place, $500 to 2nd place and $250 to 3rd place winners.

The top 3 winners will have their games showcased in our booth at the GDC in San Francisco in March. All Demo submissions will be displayed on our website, green-ear.com.

And all submissions are reimbursed for their SDK- That's right, if you enter, your SDK is free. Everybody's a winner!

Here is how easy it is to compete::

1. Buy a Software Development Kit for $49.95 for Indies or $99.95 for Commercial Developers @ http://www.green-ear.com/pricing.aspx (for a Torque integrated SDK, go to garagegames.com/products/greenear)

2. After you submit your demo game we will credit your money back

3. Use Green-Ear to add voice features to your game

4. Send your Demo contest submission to Leba (at) green-ear.com

5. Rules: You can submit as many entries as you wish but all entries must be submitted no later than the EXTENDED EXTENDED deadline of December 31, 2008.

Green-Ear Demo Contest

Green-Ear Contest

Make a demo exemplifying Green_Ear's amazing voice in game technologies- get a FREE SDK, have your demo displayed on green-ear.com, get entered in a contest with prizes of up to $1000 and the top three submissions are showcased at the Green-Ear booth for GDC!

Green-Ear's Demo Contest: Instead of providing you with a lame demo we have decided to give you an opportunity to build a demo of our voice features inside of your own game, in any platform. We will review all demo submissions and award $1,000 to 1st Place, $500 to 2nd place and $250 to 3rd place winners.

The top 3 winners will have their games showcased in our booth at the GDC in San Francisco in March. All Demo submissions will be displayed on our website, green-ear.com.

And all submissions are reimbursed for their SDK- That's right, if you enter, your SDK is free. Win, win.

Here is how easy it is to compete::

1. Buy a Software Development Kit for $49.95 for Indies or $99.95 for Commercial Developers @ www.garagegames.com/products/310

2. After you submit your demo game we will credit your money back

3. Use Green-Ear to add voice features to your game

4. Send your Demo contest submission to Leba (at) green-ear.com

5. Rules: You can submit as many entries as you wish but all entries must be submitted no later than the EXTENDED deadline of December 1, 2008.

For more information see www.green-ear.com/contest.html

GarageGames and creative use of cardboard

I started to write a new post, when I received this hilarious post from our friends at GarageGames.

Because GarageGames is so awesome, the Green-Ear team pulled some dough together and sent them a ping-pong table. However, what really inspired them was the box that it came in.

You have to check this out, seriously! It is hilarious!

http://www.garagegames.com/blogs/83134/15507

Cheers,
Mike

Green-Ear SDK for Torque Now Available at Garage Games!

Program all things voice into your Torque Games:
http://www.garagegames.com/products/greenear

Green-Ear brings Torque integrated voice and text chat, voice morphing, private channels and more to its exciting release of the Green-Ear SDK.

The Green-Ear team wanted an alternative to the voice chat options currently available that were expensive and time consuming to integrate and often required server rental from the game players. That led them to the development of Green-Ear, the affordable easily integrated voice chat. Green-Ear simplifies the integration with minimal code and prices starting at just $49.95.

All of the embedded features are included in the SDK as well as the source code to our library- so that you can customize it to suit your games' needs.

The players of your game access our hosted and maintained network through your acquisition of reserved slots on the network. You can grow your game as quickly or slowly as you need based on the activity of your game. Purchase slots in packs that grant players simultaneous access to the network. Slots cover simultaneous players- 10 slots can cover an online community of 300+ users! Buy as little or as much as you'd like and there is no expiration.

Buy today!

Austin GDC Green-Ear Follow-Up

Well, we are back from Austin Game Developer Conference, an exhausting and exciting trip. We met so many wonderful people and spread the Green-Ear word. (see the pics below)

Our friends at GarageGames hosted us in their booth and together we were able to promote the ease of use of Green-Ear in Torque. We would like to give a public welcome to them for their amazing hospitality and help in getting this thing off the ground. THANK YOU GARAGEGAMES!

This week our website(www.green-ear.com) has had an overhaul as well. You will now find pricing information, a downloadable demo and a developer login section that features a developer dashboard for tracking statistics and use of your Green-Ear products.

Thanks again to everyone we met in Austin, we'll be in touch and you should too. Send us a note and let us know that you attended the session, or the demo or met us and we can continue our conversations. In the meantime, look at just some of the the fun that was had below and see more exciting pics on our Facebook page.

Here is our session sign: Voice as a Service: Delivering Voice in Flash and Casual Games

AppleTV Raffle Winner

Green-Ear Demo drew a sizable crowd


GarageGames and Green-Ear together at last...


Deborah Marshall (GarageGames) and Leba Lualdi (Green-Ear)
Brett Seyler (Vp Biz Dev GarageGames, Leba Lualdi Product Dev. Mgr Green-Ear)

A very special thank you to the nicest man alive, Eric Olsen, who is not only a huge help but a great joy to be around.


Marcus Staples, Game Designer and best business card winner


Adam Day


Leba's new BFF Jenn Decker of Playxpert


NEOPETS!!


Sickhead Games' Ross Pawley


For more pictures, visit our Facebook page. Don't forget to check out the new stuff on Green-Ear.com and any day now the SDK will be available on the GarageGames site under developer tools.

Regards,
Leba

Green-Ear + GarageGames = Voice in Torque

As promised, breaking news:

GARAGEGAMES AND GREEN-EAR TEAM UP TO BRING VOICE TO TORQUE

Akron, Ohio, September 8, 2008 – GarageGames and Green-Ear are proud to announce the availability of Green-Ear’s Torque integrated Software Development Kit. The new partnership allows game developers to easily add voice and text chat, voice morphing, private channels and more into their games. Complementing its affordable cost, Green-Ear’s voice network eliminates expensive integration costs and costly server rentals.

“Green-Ear technology was a natural fit with Torque. Providing independent developers with affordable tools to make great games is a mutual goal of both companies,” said Derek Bronson, Director of Third Party Development, GarageGames.

Green-Ear and GarageGames will showcase the extensive voice capabilities of Green-Ear technology working in the Torque Game Engine September 15 at the Game Developer Conference in Austin, Texas. The integrated SDK will soon be available on GarageGames.com with prices starting at $49.95.

According to Mike Rojas, Green-Ear CEO, “Torque has made it possible for ordinary people to develop sophisticated games and we fit in perfectly in this space. We developed Green-Ear in a way that greatly simplifies adding voice to your game. And if you have Torque, it’s even easier. There’s no need to download external software, rent servers or buy bandwidth, just plug and go.”

For more information on Green-Ear voice technology, please call 330-253-2700 or email info@green-ear.com. For information regarding Torque 360, please contact GarageGames at 541-345-3040 or licensing@garagegames.com.


About Green-Ear
Green-Ear is a communication software developer in Akron, Ohio. The company is committed to providing innovative communication technology for game developers that is easily and quickly integrated and affordable for indie developers and studios alike. Visit green-ear.com for more information.

About GarageGames
GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon and on the web at www.garagegames.com. As the makers of Torque Game Builder, Torque Game Engine, Torque Game Engine Advanced, and Torque X, they have been providing game development tools and technology at an affordable price since 2000. The Torque Technologies line of game engines have been used since to develop hits such as Marble Blast Ultra, Fallen Empire: Legions, Penny Arcade Adventures, Screwjumper, and countless other titles on Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and GarageGames' own InstantAction web-based gaming service.

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Exciting developments coming your way...

Just wanted to give you a heads up on Green-Ear's exciting news.....its an important partnership with a leader in the industry. Stay tuned to find out who and what it means to developers everywhere. Also, don't forget that the Austin Game Developer Conference begins just one week from today! We'll be there and we hope to see you too. Mike will be speaking on voice in games, so be sure to check that out and you will even get a special giveaway for all attendants. Here's the info:

Voice as a Service: Delivering Voice in Flash and Casual Games

Speaker: Mike Rojas(CEO, Green-Ear Gaming)
Date/Time: TUESDAY (September 16, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Room 8A/B
Track: Online Games- Technology and Services
Format: 60 Minute Session
Experience Level: All

Well, more to come very soon. In the meantime, if you haven't seen the new home page at green-ear.com, check it out. It has some examples of the voice morphing technology that will be a part of Green-Ear. Very cool stuff.

Best,
Leba

SDK, GDC, OMG and more fun with letters

Hi. I'm Leba Lualdi, the Product Development Manager at Green-Ear (after all, we can’t let Mike keep the blog fun all to himself). I just had to share with everyone how I’m bursting with excitement for all of the crazy wonderful Green-Ear goings on.

We have accomplished so much in the last few weeks it’s enough to make our heads spin. And it definitely did a couple times. Particularly exciting news is that our very own CEO, Mike Rojas, will be presenting at the Austin Texas Game Developers Conference. He will speak on the topic of Voice as a Service: Delivering Voice to Flash and Casual Gaming. We are very excited for the opportunity to share the latest breakthroughs in using voice communication in games. With the Green-Ear technology, developers will be poised to create new and exciting interactions in their games and no longer be limited to text communication or complicated integration. Come out and see us at the convention, we’d love to meet you!

Another thing I am beyond wild about is that I just had a sneak peak at some of our voice mutation/ voice font capability and I am blown away. It really exceeded my expectations. To have the ability to change your voice not only through text to speech but from speech to speech is honestly not anything I expected. Especially as a girl, to be able to play games online with a voice, especially a different voice, is huge. It was amazing, I know I’m gushing, but it really was! I couldn’t believe it! A guy sounded like a girl and then he had a monster voice! It was badass, really. So, definitely stay tuned for more about that voice mutation stuff, I think it’s going to really going to change the playing field, so to speak.

Lastly, we are shipping our beta SDK out and although it’s just the very first step in a great big staircase, it feels good to have it in the hands of others so we can continue to improve it and get some great feedback from some of the early adopters. Overall, it’s a very exciting time here and I’m glad to have the chance to share my excitement.

Cheers,

Leba

First things first.

Welcome to the Green-Ear blog. I guess some introductions are in order. My name is Mike Rojas and I am the CEO of Green-Ear and Ayalogic. Ayalogic is our parent company. You can read more on that here: http://www.green-ear.com/about_index.html.

But this blog is about Green-Ear. It is about bringing the power of voice communications into social games.

We think it is high time that voice take a prominent role in the fun of games. After all, audio (i.e. music, character dialog, and sound effects) are the basic ingredients of most games. Why not voice? Why hasn’t this basic form of communication been incorporated into the game experience?

The reason is that voice (i.e. real-time communications) is not ready in its current form for most game playing. After all, how can you play at work if you are expected to “talk” to people? Your boss will surely wonder why you are speaking “game” during work-time. Also, using your voice exposes you to all kinds of privacy issues. What if you are playing as a cute girl character online, but you are really a 275 lb. line-backer for the Browns? Your live voice is not really going to cut it. In addition, many games today are being played asynchronously. That means they are probably turn-based – you make your move, and then hours later, someone else makes theirs. What good is live voice in this context?

We hope to change all that. We provide solutions to game developers and gamers that will incorporate voice into the fun of game playing.

But to do that voice technology needs a make-over.

Stay tuned...

Always yours,

Mike