Although sales of audiobooks in 2020 topped $1.3 billion, an increase of 13% over 2019, the ‘manufacturing’ process remains onerous. With “brand-name talent” getting paid over $1,000 per finished hour (PFH) of the audiobook, and the typical two-hour session in the studio only garnering one finished hour, the costs – alongside the timeline – swiftly lengthens. In come the plethora of digital voice technologies covered in this article, each pining after the ‘holy grail’ : “mak[ing] their voices indistinguishable from human voices”. Read full article here
Technology
The First Solar-Powered Car Comes at a Hot Price
The Lightyear O is a revolutionary electric car powered by the sun. Developed by a Dutch startup, the four-door sedan has over 50 square feet of solar panels on its roof and hood, generating up to 43 miles of energy a day. With production now underway in Finland, the car does come with a hefty price tag at $262,000, but the company hopes to introduce a more affordable version, the Lightyear 2, by 2025. Read full article here
Merv
January 27, 2023
