But once radio got out from the living room into a person’s pocket, radio become a revolution. Wi-Fi may have it’s limitation: one can’t access internet in the bushes. But you get idea, the concept of Wi-Fi Radio is to make radio even more portable.

Whatever you call it though, wi-fi, DAB, internet radio, the market is growing. It won’t be long until Wi-Fi radio becomes a household must-have. Here is a list of 20 great-looking internet radio devices. A glimpse of what everyone will have in their bedrooms and living rooms.

1. Sony Dash Touchsreen Internet Gadget

2. Logitech Squeezebox Touch WI-FI Radio

3. World Wide Web Receiver

4. Revo UNO2 Wi-Fi Radio

5. Terractic Noxon iRadio

6. Satechi Insp3 Wi-Fi Radio

7. Roberts Stream 202 DAB Internet Radio

8. Revo Heritage

9. RCR-8WF Sangean Wi-Fi Radio

10. Pure Sensia Wi-Fi DAB Radio

11. Pure Evoke DAB Radio

12. Oxx Digital Tube

13. Monitor Audio Airstream DAB Radio

14. Mondo Wi-Fi Radio

15. Iona Cube

16. Grace Wireless Internet Radio

17. Domino Revo Wi-Fi Radio

18. Aluratek Internet Alarm Clock

19. AE Wi-Fi Radio

20. Acoustic Research Arir200 Internet Radio/h2>

Short status updates, and you know this pertains to Twitter and Facebook. And while five years from now these fads could fade out, it’s definitely not a crime to jump into the bandwagon of social networking.

You can go and start your own with any of the following sites and services. They range from different categories, and price range. There are free to try and free to run for life. Check them out.

1. AffinityCircles.com

2. BigTent

3. CrowdFactory

4. CrowdVine

5. Elgg

6. Famster

7. GoingOn

8. GroupSite

9. HumanFlow

10. iBelong

11. introNetworks

12. KickApps

13. Leverage Software

14. Mobile Me

15. Mzinga

16. Ning.com

17. OneSite

18. Pluck

19. Pringo

20. Select Minds

21. SmallWorlds

22. SocialGo

23. Sparta Social Networks

24. Veridoo

25. WackWall

26. Webs.com

27. While Label Dating

Top Pronounciation Websites For Voiceover Artists

As a voiceover artist, you need to be versatile, able to convey message in different tones, style, mood and even gender. What’s even more challenging is when you’re given a copy that’s not your native language. I had this opportunity when someone from The Netherlands asked me to voice their station. The first part of the challenge was to listen to how their station logo is spoken.

The second part is actually reading their station name with the native accent. That’s when I realize I need a crash course on the Dutch language. Dictionaries, whether online or hardcopy, are such a big help, since they provide textual phonetic guide. But when you have to learn to read a Dutch station name, I had to depend on these websites.

Forvo.com is my top choice. It’s content is user-generated, so the actual speakers of their words are natives. You will find every pronounciation you need for literally every kind of dialect in the planet.

HowJSay.com on the other hand is my destination for British Language phonetics. Answers.com and Merriam-Webster.com also provides some good phonetics audio. Here is a list of websites you can use if ever you need to learn how to pronounce Koninkrijk België.

Websites To Go For Phonetic Guide

1. Forvo.com – Phonetic Guide to Words From Different Countries
2. HowJSay.com – 100K Plus British English Words
3. Answers.com – Wikipedia-Like Site with Selected Phonetic Guide
4. Merriam-Webster.com – Dictionary with Audio and Text Phonetics
5. Inogolo.com – American English Pronounciation Guide
6. bl.uk – Regional Accents Accross UK

And while many think that gold is guaranteed from national ads, the reality is, there is a gold mine for you in your local advertisements. The key is to offer your clients and prospects a package they cannot resist, offering commercial production with top-notch quality.

But see, here’s the part where most advertisers are stingy about. Most of them would go for a cheap commercial production with a man sounding like he’s reading a leaflet.

And so to help stimulate the advertisers, a station can resort to outsourcing. Simply put, a third party company will provide the production on behalf of the station, leaving less work for the producer, but more inspiration, and giving sales people more creative ways to sell airtime.

The station, however, should be picky when outsourcing, as this may become a source of headache than help. Those traditional commercial production outsourcing companies provide the station with lots of web forms to fill out, and let you wait forever whenever there are revisions to make, which often result to arguing.

Choose a commercial production program that gives you more local control at the station level. A program that provide weekly reports, input, and reviews will help in creating a dialogue between the service provider and the station. On top of national-quality service, station should also choose a service that use professional copywriters who can give you fresh and creative input.

Also choose a commercial production program that offers a wider spectrum of radio ad categories, from automative dealers to gambling and grocery, and home security to wellness to name a few.

And finally choose, a service that provides you more tools: music beds that enhances the emotion of a production, not just another filler music to run in the background; sound effects and soundscapes like crowd effects, outdoor audio, and restaurant ambience that are realistic.

Fresh, fun and creative ideas, more production tools, national-level quality, professional copy, these are just of the benefits you’ll get when you choose the right commercial production program. The bottom line is reduce cost, and increase revenue.

Creative Solutions from Rick Allen Creative Services is a high quality commercial production program designed with a turn key approach to help your radio stations make more money! Visit www.rickallencreative.com. Listen to audio demos here.

DAILY CUSTOMIZED FORECAST #1: Customized mp3 weather update emailed overnight for your staff to download and use on the air throughout the morning and into the mid-afternoon hours. This update includes the forecast for that day, that night and the following day.

DAILY CUSTOMIZED FORECAST #2: Customized mp3 weather update mailed mid-morning for your staff to download and use on the air throughout the mid/late afternoon and into the late night hours. This update includes the forecast for that night, and the two following days.

WEEKEND CUSTOMIZED FORECASTS: Because many stations automate their operations on the weekend, we have not included weekend forecasts as part of this package. However, if your station requires weekend forecasts for airplay, please notify us and we will accommodate your needs.

PRICING: You get daily customized Power Weather forcasts for your station for just $29.99 per week. Sell a sponsorship and you’ll make a profit and increase listenership by providing a service nobody can live without….weather! CONTACT Scott Lanter now, log on to www.scottlanter.com for further details.

Listen to Power Weather Demo

Audiochat.nl Montage

New Production Elements Ready for Download:

Combifiller 1 – with breatbeats, ends with some nice pads..
Filler 6 -Strong radiofiller with nice SFX intro
Sounder 3 – Soft commercialsounder for broadcasting
Bed 2 – Talkover bed for weather, traffic or other radio-item. Duration: 1:08
Filmscore 2 – Musicproduction with an ambient vibe and bongo’s. The file can be looped. Duration 1:04
News Donut 2010 2 – Short newsdonut with beat.

Click the link below to listen and download these new production elements. http://selwyndoniaproducties.nl/site/?cat=12

Image FM - The World's First Internet Station About Radio Imaging and Production

Here’s more about Image-FM

Image-FM is going to be an internet radio station specifically designed for anyone in radio. With a contributor-selected playlist, and Imaging from producers and voice talent all over the world, Image-FM will be a jumping off point for producers everywhere looking for inspiration. With the current climate in radio, creativity has been sucked out of every one of us. This will be a place that you can hear truly creative, innovative, and unique imaging.

Producers: We’re building a station for you. Image-FM will be comprised of music, and imaging from producers all over the world. Want to join in? We ask that Imaging Directors everywhere send us 2-3 sweepers/bits/promos/etc of anything your warped mind can come up with. No PDs or a post-PPM world breathing down your neck here. We want you to be as original as creative as you want to be. Anything goes. No unified sound or official voice-talent on this station, so get creative! Are you an aspiring VO person, as well? Include yourself in your Imaging. Get exposed.

Voice-Talent: Looking to branch out and be a part of something innovative? Write and throw us a few lines. We’ll post them up on the site for others to use and abuse.

We’re looking to launch in late/mid February of 2010, or as soon as we have enough content. Send us 2-3 pieces of prod, with the name “Image-FM… It Starts Here” or any combination thereof, and e-mail it to prod@image-fm.com, along with 5 tracks you’d like on the station. No mp3 files are necessary. Just title and artist, and we’ll find them. If you want to produce more, give us more! We’ll keep building the library of all your best stuff.

Send all your content to prod[at]image-fm.com

Be a part of something truly epic… Be a part of Image-FM….

… It Starts Here.

Image FM Positioner

He was the winner of last year’s Production Contest initiated by Ryan Drean of RyanOnTheRadio.com. He was the only Filipino, in fact the only Asian producer to have participated. He outvoted six other producers in the contest. Like everyone else, he does so many things with his two hands; being an on-air personality, producer and officer-in-charge at the same time is a big feat.

His name is Napoleon C. David II, 25 years old, of Monster Radio, Davao. And we got a chance to interview this young producer who is a big fan of Rick Dees. Get to know more about this Monster Radio Producer from the Philippines.

Producer Bio: Real Name: Napoleon C. David II Air Name: Paul Wiggy Address: Davao City Birthdate: December 27, 1984 Station: Monster Radio BT 99.5 Job: on-air personality/radio imaging producer/creative director Network: AudioVisual Communicators Inc.

Naps’ Winning Entry

Montage:

Nap’s Production Montage 1

Nap’s Production Montage 2

Nap’s Skit Demo

***

Interview:

Novell: How young were you when you started in radio and how did you get into radio?

Napoleon: It was in 2002, I was 17 back then. I was never really into radio and thought that all DJs sound the same. Needless to say, since I didn’t have that typical DJ deep voice, I didn’t fancy in becoming one. But hey! Been doing this for 8 years now!

Novell: Who did you look up to as far as your disc jockeying is concerned?

Napoleon: I give high regards to Rick Dees. I always listen to his syndicated show, Rick Dees and the Weekly Top 40. I even have his aircheck when he had his last stint in his morning show at Kiss LA.

Novell: How did you get into producing?

Napoleon: I was relegated to the production side in 2006, although prior to that, I was already doing some production (and I sucked at it!). We just transferred to a new place at that time and the higher ups decided to delegate workloads. I was assigned to become the “Production Supervisor” although I was still doing on-air shifts. I, however, didn’t know my job description. My boss just told me “you’d be the voice of the station”.

Novell: What tools, softwares and libraries do you use for production?

Napoleon: Fellow producers will definitely bash me because we don’t have fancy gadgets to boast. I only use Shure SM58 as my mic. I would want to have a condenser mic though, but budget-wise . . . nah! I’m stuck with Audition 1.5 which I have been using for the longest time. All of the compressions and whatnot are done there with Waves as my plugin. I’ve been practicing using 3.0 but I guess you have to have a fairly fast computer. In terms of libraries, I was given recently the Elements Café from Sound Ideas although some of the effects do not cut through like other production libraries. There are a few plug and play stingers though. But most of my libraries are downloaded freebies from the net.

Novell: As far as production is concerned how involved are you in your station? Do you voice and write the copy all the time or does someone do the job for you? Do you produce the imaging only or do commercials too?

Napoleon: I practically do everything – from copy to voicing to production. Sometimes, I ask help from our production staffs if my workload is too much to handle. But yeah, most of the time I do it.

For imaging, I voice 90% of it. The other 10% is voiced by the other djs. For commercials, I tend to steer away from voicing them so I let my colleagues do it. All of the production is done by me.

Novell: Where do you get your inspiration in producing?

Napoleon: It’s really bringing something novel to the listeners. That’s where I get my inspiration from. I treat all stingers, sweepers, Id’s, etc. as songs. You have to have fresh production all the time or else it becomes outdated. I also make sure that when they hear the sweepers, it has to grab them by the ear – because it’s either entertaining or it’s the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard (what the f*%k was that!??).

Other people’s work also motivates me to improve on my craft. I always loved John Frost’s production, Jeff Berlin, KKK, Ann Dewig, , Dave Foxx just to name a few. I recently asked for Dave’s advice and he quickly responded and taught me a bunch of things that’ll greatly develop my production skills. He’s an amazing guy!

Novell: You’ve won the Production Contest by Ryan Drean on RyanOnTheRadio.com last year. Tell us about your experience and your entry.

Napoleon: Well, first up, I’m greatly honored to have been named the winner being pitted with some great producers all over the world. I didn’t realize I was the only Filipino, even the sole Asian to have joined. I had no intention in joining the contest in the first place because up until now, I really think I am a terrible producer! One of the reasons why I ended up doing it instead was those neat bed/prod sfx packages as prizes. They’re just way too tempting! Given our monetary situation, I gotta have freebies!

I believe I’ve gone through multiple changes while producing until I finally decided, “Ok . . . I’m done with this S*%t!”. Seriously, I just had fun! I made a cartoon skit out from Ryan’s theme “Red and Purple Sardines”. I thought, hey . . . it would be funny if Red and Purple Sardines were superheroes and as they’re about to save this damsel in distress against evil midgets, they end up fighting by themselves on how to address their superhero names. Funny thing was, I was too excited to send the final piece to Ryan only to find out I made a wrong production – Red and BLUE sardines. I was quick to recognize it and sent him a new file.

As a prize, Napoleon received the 202-Sound FX/Bed Pack from AvDeli, Complete Xmas Imaging Pack from Big Fish Worldwide, Big Bad Beds by Ryan Drean, and a subscription to R.A.P. Mag.

Novell: I understand that you are the OIC now at Monster Radio. What new responsibilities that this entail?

Napoleon: I started as a DJ, then assigned as the Radio Imaging Producer, and just last year, I was appointed as the Officer-in-Charge. My main task is to police everyone, not just the production staff but the admin, traffic, marketing and technical staff as well. It’s a daunting task especially when you deal with different personalities. The staff understands that there is a fine line between work and friendship so we get along pretty well.

Novell: Which weighs more, producing or disc jockeying?

Napoleon: Producing, I must say, is now a part of my system. I have to be in front of a mic and computer messing around with copies and listening to noises all the time. I’m getting old and disc jockeying is for the young. I feel like I’m not in the loop of things anymore. I just recently made my facebook account!!!

Novell: In a parallel world, how would you be living your life?

Napoleon: I live a simple life and I never dreamt of having all the riches in the world. But for the sake of argument, I’d want to live my life like the Quahog community with the Griffins (Family Guy) and Stewie and I will plot for world domination!!

Novell: What’s the first record or cd you bought?

Napoleon: When I finally had my first paycheck, the first cds I bought were Jason Mraz’s “Waiting for my Rocket to Come”, John Mayer’s “Room For Squares”, Nine Days “Madding Crowd”, and Plumbs “Candycoated WAterdrops”.

Novell: Gadget you can’t live without?

Napoleon: My iphone! I use it for music and rarely use the phone function. Hmmm? Why didn’t I buy an Ipod instead?

Novell: A phrase you use very often on the air?

Napoleon: Spread the monstah love and the monstah respect!

Novell: A common misconception about you…

Napoleon: Snobbish . . . I’m totally friendly! Cmon!!!

Novell: What is one thing in your life that you consider “Monster”?

Napoleon: This gig! I won’t trade it to any profession.

Novell: In the near future, would you want your child to be in radio too?

Napoleon: I have an 8-month daughter and we always take pictures of her inside the booth with the headphones on. Go figure!

Novell: The bottomline, what is life in 3 words.

Napoleon: Live with it!

There goes our interview with Napoleon from Monster Radio. One thing I’ve learned from this guy is to never to set the standards of others as yours. Although he didn’t have that baritone DJ voice, which is stereotypical in the country, this did not let him down. And instead blazed his own trail.

You can compare yourself with others, yes, but there will always be greater and lesser person that you are.

Some of these designs may look odd to you, however, some of them are already existing. From cordless mp3 players, wireless gadgets, to floating audio speakers and miniature turntable device, here is a glimpse of the present and the future designs of audio devices.

AlienWare Speaker Set

Audio Matryoshka Speakers

Capsule MP3 Player

Carkit Headset Speak Acts As Dock for Headset

Chukka Kinetic Music Player That Produces Electricity

Colorsonic MP3 Player

Creative Cordless MP3 Player

David Turnpin MultiFunction MP3 Radio

Flexible Paper Thin Speaker

Flexio Solar Powered Radio

Folding Speaker

Forsta Bamboo Speakers

Harman Kardon GLA 55 Glass Speaker

Helio Solar Powered Radio

iAudio Alternative to iPod Nano

iBangle Bracelet MP3 Player

iPod Capsule

iStorm Emergency Alert Radio Receiver

JBL Creater III Black Speaker

Jewely MP3 Player

Loupio MP3 Player

Maverick Bluetooh Headset

Miffy Cute MP3 Player with Built-in Speaker

Rubik Cube Shape MP3 Player design by HeeYong

Mysik Wearable MP3 Player

Nuno Teixeira Digit MP3 Player

Omni Directional Futuristic Speakers

Orio MP3 Player Portable Karaoke

Ovate Radio Flip to Turn On

Pantech Pivot Clock Radio

Portable DJ Gadget

Pure Sensia WIFI DAB Radio

Radio in Scale by Mikael Silvanto

Radio Mac Mini

Rock Radio That Rocks

Shake Shake Radio Pen

Shower Radio by Reflex Designs

Snail Desktop Radio

Sound Pot Bluetooth Speakers

Tokyo Flash Waterproof MP3 Player

Touchtable Unique Personal Music Player

Vestalife Fashionable Headband Headphone

Weatherproof Submersible Speaker

WIFI Wireless Music Entertainment with Wall Radio