VoiceThread Blog

We’re launching a new web-based collaborative network that is simple, powerful and safe, called Ed.VoiceThread. This community is specifically designed for K-12 educators and students. Here is an overview of how it works:

Here’s a quick VoiceThread showing off how you can use your phone to leave comments and navigate pages in your VoiceThreads – like a remote control – from your phone.

We’ve added 3 exciting new features to VoiceThread today.

Phone commenting

VoiceThread now allows you to record voice comments from any domestic U.S. phone number. Simply type in your phone number and VoiceThread will call you to comment. You can even comment on more than one page, using the phone to navigate VoiceThreads like a remote control. All accounts include 3 minutes free, and then it’s just $10 for each additional hour of phone commenting. Additionally, we’ll soon allow you the option to give phone commenting minutes to your VoiceThreads, so that those you invite can use your minutes.

Import media from your existing VoiceThreads

By clicking on the ‘My Media’ button when creating, you can now import pages from other VoiceThreads that you’ve either created or are an editor of.

Import media from a URL

You can also now use the ‘URL’ button when creating to import images, docs and videos from a URL. For example, using ‘http://domain.com/image.jpg’ will import image.jpg to the VoiceThread.

We’d like to introduce you to a couple new features on VoiceThread.

Video Doodling

VoiceThread’s Video Doodling feature allows you to control the playback of a video as you comment using a microphone or webcam; giving you the power to voice comment over specific portions of video. It allows you to move to a specific segment, doodle while you’re there, then move to highlight another segment, all while leaving your comment. See it in action!

Video comments with a webcam

If you’ve got a webcam on or hooked to your computer, simply click on the webcam icon (to the left of record) and capture video from your webcam, as your comment. Free accounts include 30 minutes of use, while Pro users have unlimited access to this feature.

Other additions:

• Control whether VoiceThreads open in fullscreen mode by default (handy for presentations)
• Allow others to right-click-download original image and document files (Pro users)
• Hide the final share page (Pro users)
• RSS feeds: for MyVoice new comments, the Browse page and Blog

And on the not-so-distant horizon, we’ve got a bunch more exciting features slated for release. New functionalities might just include: another compelling way of commenting on VoiceThreads, the ability to take VoiceThreads with you for offline or archival use, and accessing VoiceThread content from devices other than your personal computer. We’re big fans of accessibility and are working to ensure VoiceThread is available to the widest range of people and devices. Stay tuned.

The latest version of VoiceThread is ready for primetime.

The feedback we’ve received from our users has been outstanding. Thank you for working so closely with us, your help has been invaluable. The introduction of the new VoiceThread addresses some long-standing bugs and limitations of our old site. We think we’ve built a solid foundation that’s faster, more robust, and more accessible. And for all you enthusiasts out there, we are pleased to offer VoiceThread Pro accounts with new and enhanced features.

For those not ready to move to the latest version of VoiceThread, you can still access the previous version – VoiceThread Classic – via the link on the top right of the new homepage. We’ll keep it up and running until at least the end of 2007.

P.S. We’re looking to grow the conversations within our shiny new forum, and would love your help with that too.

Welcome to our latest version of VoiceThread.

Over the last few months we’ve been hard at work updating and upgrading VoiceThread. As you poke around, if something strikes you as particularly interesting, something doesn’t work as expected, or something just doesn’t work at all, please don’t hesitate to let us know via email from the ‘Contact Us’ link in the above navigation bar or from the ‘Feedback’ link within the application’s ‘Help’ menu. We’ve also implemented a forum for discussions and a place for you to get your questions answered.

Here’s what’s new on VoiceThread:

• Redesigned browsing, creating content and account management functionalities
• Upload more media types to your VoiceThreads: PowerPoints (PPT, PPS), Adobe Documents (PDF), Word Documents (DOC), Excel Spreadsheets (XLS) and videos
• Seamless Facebook image importing directly to your VoiceThreads
• View VoiceThreads in a full screen presentation mode
• Integrated rotate and crop tool for uploading pictures for identity management
• Control the amount of pause between the pages of your VoiceThreads in play mode
• New informational site, complete with the forum

We’ll be keeping both versions of VoiceThread running in parallel for some time, this version which we’re calling ‘fresh’ and the previous version, ‘classic’. As soon as ‘fresh’ is thoroughly tested, with your help of course, it will be hosted at VoiceThread.com with a link to ‘classic’. Be on the lookout for more updates and new features, we’ve got lots on the way.