f you’ve got a Windows Mobile 6 device and haven’t yet tried the voice clip feature, do it - it’s amazing! Instead of struggling with the touchscreen or keypad input, you just activate the voiceclip function, speak into the device’s microphone, and the other party gets an embedded voice clip within the chat window.Mitchell and I have been using the voice clip function with each other this morning - he on the HTC P3600i, and me on the i-mate JASJAR. Sound quality is excellent - sounds even better than speakerphone IMO, which is not surprising as it’s completely digital. Also, I was using it over my wireless network while Mitchell was doing it over 3G, and it works across different devices - I was also getting the voice clips using Windows Live on my MacBook.

The experience was very similar to using a walkie talkie - he’d record a voice clip and send it, I’d listen, record a voice clip in response, and send it back. Sounds complicated, but it really isn’t - Microsoft has done a great job at simplifying the experience. And it works like speakerphone, so you don’t need to have the handset to your face to use it. If you miss what the other person said, simply hit the Play button to repeat it. You can even save clips to your device.

piscreenshot225838.png

One thing worth mentioning is that each clip has a maximum of around 5 seconds, and it automatically cuts you off after that. But if you keep on eye on the timer bar, it’s easy enough to structure your ramblings to fit within the designated time for each clip.

Many of my day-to-day contacts are on Messenger, so this also helps me save on phone bills. Plus, it’s just so fun to use! :) I suppose you could do the same thing on Skype - and have a full-duplex conversation at that - but I’ve got a grand total of five people in my Skype contacts list, versus the 200 or so on MSN!

3 Responses to “Voice clips on Windows Live Messenger”

  1. Gravatar Icon 1 Jerry Raia Sep 22nd, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    I would love to try this if it wasn’t for Live Messenger trying to mess up my Outlook contacts.

  2. Gravatar Icon 2 Jenneth Orantia Sep 22nd, 2007 at 3:51 pm

    Ha, yeah, worst new “feature” ever!

  3. Gravatar Icon 3 Mitchell Oke Sep 22nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    The good thing about this as opposed to Skype is you can reply to something as soon as your able, like on MSN. Like yesterday I was doing stuff around the house, your voice would come out of the P3600i, and I’d response as soon as my hands were free.

    I guess this is what PTT was supposed to be, but it never took off :P