KEEP CALM and CARRY ON - Translated Machine Speech (Beta)

What a time to launch a beta! Right in the middle of a lock-down from a global pandemic. Even while we are all indoors grappling and making adjustments to the current situation, we need to live and work as normally as we can. Our team had a long chat about this and decided that we must press on, including innovation. 

The objective of this beta is rather simple - To convert a video into multiple languages using machine speech. 

Perhaps you have read my COVID-19 message a couple of weeks ago, here's the short version in Hindi (with machine speech). Or you can listen to the same message in 9 different languages HERE

The video is based on my original English version, but I have no idea how accurate it is since I don't understand Hindi. However, to improve accuracy, users can edit both the original and target language text before finalizing the audio. 

There is a story to this beta. The idea came from a client about a year ago. They needed to overcome the language barrier so to spread their message to different countries and communities. While subtitling helps, but it's just not the same as speech. We were too engaged with other work then to do anything about it, but it has always been on the back of my mind. So fast forward one year, the beta is born. 

Translated Machine Speech is available in 45 languages. Some languages are available in both male and female voices. 

We think this can solve some real world problems. It is particularly useful for global engagements, speeches, announcements, lessons, training, sermons, news, etc. But we are limited by what we know. Thus, we would love to work with some real world scenarios and shape this into something useful. 

If you can think of a scenario, please write to me! Or forward this to someone whom you think might be useful. Please note that my COVID-19 message applies. 

Stay indoors! Stay safe! Stay healthy! But most importantly, stay positive!

Yours sincerely,

Alex Chan
CEO, Babbobox

Videospace is the official Video AI platform for Singapore Fintech Festival 2019 (11 - 15 Nov 2019)

We are excited that Videospace is the official Video AI platform that will be powering Singapore Fintech Festival 2019 (11 - 15 Nov 2019), which is Asia-Pacific’s leading Fintech Industry event with an expected audience of 45,000.

The annual event itself is transforming digitally by providing a AI-infused video platform (SFFxSwitch GO) where subscribers can discover fresh concepts and ideas by viewing presentations with searchable and translatable subtitles of speakers from the best of the industry.

“We are excited that Videospace is handpicked as the official Video On-Demand platform for SFF 2019.” says Alex Chan, Babbobox CEO. “We understand the importance of this event for Singapore and around the region. Thus, we are thrilled that the audience will experience SFF in a transformational way.”

We believe this will transform conference as an industry:

• Who? Especially beneficial for those who can't attend.

• How? Physically or virtually attending.

• When? During and beyond the event dates.

• What? It is impossible to attend every talk during an event, this will allow one to.

• Why? It is just a natural extension of an event like SFF.

Videospace is enabling the journey of journey of digital transformation of the conference and events industry.

Note: Videospace runs on Microsoft Azure.

Babbobox co-sells through Microsoft to fuel global expansion

Babbobox is leveraging the co-selling capabilities of Microsoft to fuel growth, innovation and expansion plans globally.

The Singapore-based Video Search Engine expert is tapping on the tech giant’s internal channel changes in the form of One Commercial Partner (OCP) to transform into an international player.

“Babbobox’s relationship with Microsoft did not happen overnight, we believe that it is a strong and one that can stand the test of time,” said Alex Chan, Babbobox CEO.

“We have received tremendous support from numerous Microsoft’s local and international teams, industry specialists, product engineering and product business group teams, working with them on a wide range of joint initiatives locally and around the world.”

Specific to co-selling, “This partnership allows us to continue to capitalise on innovations from Microsoft before they are available in the market. We have experienced significant benefits from greater access to innovation and expertise through Microsoft.” Alex added.

As Babbobox partnership with Microsoft deepens, we are looking to continue to expand geographically beyond our offices in Singapore and Malaysia. With this program, we will also look to enlist the support of Microsoft’s network of partners, distributors and resellers in various verticals globally. 

“We have an ambitious roadmap globally, innovating A.I. infused products that will keep Babbobox on the cutting edge of modern technological trends. We have come a long way, but this is only the start of our global journey” Alex said.

Video Big Data Whitepaper (FREE download)

The term "Video Big Data" is rarely heard of. The reasons are pretty simple: 

1. It's difficult to extract data from videos
2. It's difficult make sense of unstructured video data

Therefore, it is not an understatement to say that video is the most difficult medium to search and extract intelligence from. However, given the amount of videos are that generated daily in the public domain (e.g. YouTube) and private domain (e.g. broadcasters, CCTV, education, etc.), it is also not an understatement to say that video is the King of Content. 

The objective of Big Data is to gain Business Intelligence. Video Big Data is no different. The obvious difference is the source and the type of data that can be extracted out from videos.

This Video Big Data Whitepaper aims to explain how we can extract value and intelligence from videos with a 3 step approach:

1. Extract video data 
2. Transform unstructured video data
3. Analyse to data into intelligence 

With this whitepaper, we hope to share some of our knowledge and experiences working with Video Big Data. From our calculations, we estimate that Video Big Data will dwarf Big Data as we know it. Thus, the importance of this whitepaper. We hope you enjoy and benefit from it!

Yours sincerely,

The VideoSpace Team
 

Microsoft recognizes Babbobox as key global partner for Media Services

We are delighted to be listed as a key Microsoft global partner for Azure Media Services on http://amslabs.azurewebsites.net/. (Please scroll down)

This is in recognition of Babbobox's pioneering Unified Search Engine and Video-Search-as-a-Service where both services are World's First. 

"We are honoured to be invited by Microsoft to be part of this exclusive club of partners." said Alex Chan, Babbobox's CEO, "Considering Babbobox is still a relatively new entrant in comparison to other partners, to be invited into this elite group shows that Microsoft recognizes the huge potential in the things that we are doing. That Babbobox is pushing the boundaries and transforming the way we search in future."

Find out more about Babbobox Search Engine.
Watch this space for more updates!

3 Biggest Take-away from Microsoft Inspire 2017

* Article written by Babbobox CEO, Alex Chan 

It’s more than a week after coming back from Microsoft Inspire in Washington DC. It’s a massive event with 18,000 attendees, 716 total sessions and 572 hours of content. This was Babbobox's Microsoft Inspire. New friendship forged, new connections made, new knowledge learnt, a Carrie Underwood concert, fascinating city and a overall wonderful experience. 

There were many take-aways – from learning new tech to meeting people face-to-face whom you only emailed before. But here’s my three biggest take-aways from the event. 

Take-away #1 – The Transformation

The biggest take-away that I saw was… A Microsoft in transformation.

It is difficult for one to admit to a mistake and publicly apologize for it, it is even harder to change unless that person really wants to change. That’s the Microsoft that I saw during Inspire. It admitted to 18,000 Microsoft personnel and partners that things are not all rosy with their partners and they needed to not just make a change, but a MASSIVE one at that. Thus, the One Commercial Partner Program. 

This resonated with me, and I’m sure with many other Microsoft partners, because I know exactly how difficult it can be to be a Microsoft partner. However, with Inspire, there is new optimism. A new hope that things will be better.  

Take-away #2 – Playing where the Puck will be

In many ways, a better Microsoft could also mean better things for the world. Let me explain. The following is Microsoft’s Mission Statement:

Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

To be honest, I didn’t know Microsoft’s mission statement. When I read it during Satya’s keynote speech, it took a while to sink in.

• How many companies can have a mission statement like that?
• How many companies in the world have that kind of global reach?
• Even if it does, how can one make a positive impact?

Wayne Gretzky was once said “"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." This is the second take-away from Inspire. Microsoft is gearing itself to play where the puck is going to be. For mankind, that would be Cloud, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Services and Machine Learning.

The challenge for Microsoft is not just to establish leadership in these areas, but how to bring these technologies out to every corner of the world so mankind can benefit from it. The only way to do this is through working with other people, with partners.

The one question that I had in my mind is, do I want to be on that bandwagon?

Take-away #3 - Inspiring

The last is more personal – Knowing that I made a difference to a stranger.

Babbobox was invited on a panel session for the APAC region with 3 other leaders talking about digital transformation. Admittedly, it was a lot of fun doing it and sharing our personal stories of transformation with others.

Immediately after the session, someone came up to thank me, shaking my hand profusely expressing what I said on stage was the highlight of his entire Inspire event. To put things into perspective, Inspire had 800+ speakers in hundreds of sessions. To be someone’s Inspire highlight, I had to beat some pretty tough competition!

To know that I have inspired even one person... that made my trip all worthwhile!

Microsoft Inspire… The title… How apt! See you next year!

Announcement: Ricoh Asia partners Babbobox to build B2B Marketplace

We are delighted to announce that Babbobox will be the technology partner for Ricoh Asia to revamp the Ricoh Asia Marketplace. Though it comes as no surprise since the same team had built the first marketplace, but it is still a honour for Ricoh Asia to continue this partnership with us for years to come.

Ricoh Asia (RA) Marketplace is a centralised B2B platform where Ricoh sales companies and distributors  place orders for numerous solution offerings from regional business partners. This B2B platforms serves more than 11 countries within the Asia Pacific region. 

"We are delighted to continue our partnership with Ricoh Asia for the RA Marketplace." says Alex Chan, CEO of Babbobox. "Futhermore, we are also working closely to explore how we can use technology to disrupt the current definition of Office Automation."

Watch out for this space for more updates about the Ricoh Asia and Babbobox partnership!

Announcement: Babbobox to add Japanese Speech Recognition support to Babbobox Search

Babbobox is delighted to announce the release of Japanese language speech recognition to its Babbobox Search capabilities. Babbobox Search Engine is one of the most advanced enterprise search engine in the world. This release will enable Babbobox Search to automatically index and search videos in Japanese language. This release will increase the total number of languages supported to nine. These nine languages are:

• English
• Chinese
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Portuguese (Brazilian)
• Arabic (Egyptian)
• Japanese

 "We are excited about this new release because this means Japanese enterprises can now benefit from Babbobox's unique value proposition" says Babbobox CEO, Alex Chan. "Search is a fundamental need for humankind and organisations. Adding a new language means making more native knowledge discoverable via our Babbobox Search. This explains our excitement every time a new language is added"

Japanese language support on Babbobox is now available! For further enquiries, please write to contact us. 

BABBOBOX AND CLEVERTIME-CONSULTING ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO OFFER VIDEO SEARCH SERVICES AND INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE STORAGE SOLUTIONS TO EUROPEAN UNION (EU) CUSTOMERS

Babbobox and Clevertime-Consulting is announcing a strategic partnership that will make the general availability of Babbobox and VideoSpace Software and Services in the European Union region.

Since 1995, Clevertime-Consulting (www.clevertime-consulting.eu) has been specializing in helping European organizations to be more efficient in the execution of their business rules so that fixed costs are brought to a minimum. This is achieved by a strict control of documents and the data they carry as well as managing processes and intelligent searches in order to find the information that is necessary.

According to studies, by 2019, 80% of internet traffic will be video. However, there is still no cost-effective way of searching video content. This is where the market is waiting for a technology like Babbobox and VideoSpace to fulfill these demand for search. Babbobox is targeted specifically at the enterprise storage level and VideoSpace at the “Enterprise YouTube” market segment, especially since both software have European language capabilities (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese)

Babbobox (www.babbobox.com) is the next generation of intelligent enterprise storage with the most powerful Search Engine in the world. Babbobox Search is the only unified search engine in the world that enables enterprises to "Search Everything" - allowing enterprises to search INSIDE all their digital assets - documents, audio and video files.

VideoSpace (www.videospace.co) is one of the most advanced video platform that allows customers stream, watch, search and translate video. Also included as part of VideoSpace Services, is the world's first Video-Search-as-a-Service (VSaaS) where customers can pick and choose one or more areas that customers would like us to analyze. Our Video Search service focuses on 6 main areas: Speech Recognition, Words or Text, Motion Detection, Face Detection, Emotion Detection and Offensive Content Detection.

“We are delighted to have Clevertime-Consulting as our first strategic partner for the EU market.” Says Alex Chan, Babbobox CEO “Clevertime-Consulting has a long and rich history in helping European enterprises, we are confident that this partnership will meet the increasing multimedia needs of European customers – in terms of video and enterprise storage.”

"This partnership is all a company like ours could wish for. I am still speechless with the expanded horizons Babbobox solutions will allow European customers, private and governmental, to achieve." stated Joao Penha-Lopes CEO of CleverTime-Consulting LLC

With this strategic partnership, European enterprises will have access to these ground-breaking, innovative video search and generation of intelligent enterprise storage services. With the exponential growth in video content, this partnership is poised to meet these increasing global media demands. 

ANNOUNCEMENT: VideoSpace launches Video Translation service with 50+ supported languages

There are many translation services out there. Some of the best are even free. However, they are all text-to-text translation. However, what we offer is Video-to-Text translation service. 

In other words, what makes our Video Translation service unique is that we can take your video, machine-transcribe speech-to-text and then translate it to over 50+ languages. After which, we are able to use these translated text for Video Subtitles (Caption) in Multiple Languages.

Click on image to see demo

Our Video.Translation Engine allows publishers to add subtitles in up to 50+ language to their web video delivering a rich contextual multimedia experience. We also allow your viewer to choose which  subtitle language to watch content directly from the video.

Video.Translation is ideal for:

• foreign language viewers and users who prefer to watch your videos without sound.
• enabling your content to reach for hard of hearing and the deaf community with the ability of subtitled content. 

"We are excited about this new development and service." said Alex Chan, Babbobox CEO "We believe that our Video.Translation service will deliver the cutting edge for VideoSpace. Most importantly, delivering value to clients whom may not be able to afford traditional professional services fees."