Open Source to Give Apple a Run for It's Money

On the cool gadget front, there is a new upstart that can give Apple a run for it’s money with open source applications.  The device is called the GiiNii Moveit which is a mobile Internet device that operates on a 4.3 inch screen.

The device is Wifi enabled and can be used with a Skype account to call anyone anywhere via VoIP internet connections so you know how much that costs per call.  This device also has a build in mini webcam to make your Skype connection face to face.

Add that to the Internet connection with Google and social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter and you really have something worth talking about.  Everything you would like on a small device where open source can add any application you want.

The landscape is looking good out there.

Open Source Audio Capture Utility

Are you looking for an open source audio capture utility?  If you are there are a few good ones out there that will do the job for you. one of the most popular of these programs is Nanogong.

Nanogong is an applet that can be used to record, save, and playback a voice recording.  It’s very simple to use, you just download the applet and stick it in the web page and your users can record using the microphone attached to their local PC.   There is also code that integrates the recording device in the open source tinyMCE editor so recordings may be made and attached as audio files to your web page.

There is another audio capture software program  available called Audacity which is an open source program for both capturing and editing sounds.  This software is a cross platform program in that it is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.  This is a great program especially if you are interested in editing the sounds.  This program comes with many USB turntables that can be used to clean up all those pops and hisses that exist on your old vinyl records when you convert them to digital.

Elsewhere in the Open Source

Audacity Free Audio Editor for Windows, Mac, Linux | I

Audacity: Free Audio Editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux Audacity is a free and open source audio editor and recorder that works for Windows, Mac, and Linu… … It can record live audio through a microphone or mixer. Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording. Can digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl records, or minidiscs. Can capture streaming audio. Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings. […]

 .NET Voice Recorder

NET framework does not provide any direct support for recording audio, so I will make use of the open source NAudio project, which includes wrappers for a number of Windows audio recording APIs. Note: It is important to point out that . … Normally, you will be able to use the default audio capture device without any difficulties, but should you need to offer the user a choice, NAudio will allow you to do so. You can use the WaveIn.DeviceCount and WaveIn.  […]