韓國:"虛擬女友"助單身男排解寂寞
Lonesome South Koreans who have trouble finding true love can now get video calls from a beautiful and cute girlfriend -- if they download a smartphone application.
Nabix, a South Korean apps developer, launched one called "Honey, it's me!" on November 30 for iPhone users. It achieved 80,000 downloads a day during an initial free launch period.
There are a number of apps on the market that can make single men feel a little less lonesome, including a night time app that plays the sound of a female sleeping peacefully on the next pillow.
But the "Honey, it's me!" app appears to be the first to make video-calls from a virtual model. Mina, 22, video-calls smartphone users three to four times a day for some sweet talk.
Her messages range from "Are you still sleeping? Time for breakfast!" to "Good night, sweet dreams".
A Korean model posed for the video calls and recorded more than 100 comments to melt the hearts of single men.
"I've developed this application to console people for their loneliness," Kim Yoon-Kak, head of Nabix, told the reporters.
Kim said usage had declined since the app went on sale for 1.99 dollars, but he planned to allow free downloads again from this week.
Early reaction to Mina has been enthusiastic. "It's a blessing for all single men," praised one of the users on Twitter.
"Mina called me while I was working overtime. This is just great," said another.
Nabix now plans new versions with more messages in English, Chinese and Japanese, both for free and with a charge for longer comments. An Android version will also be launched.
在韓國，只要下載一款智能手機軟件，難覓真愛的寂寞男們就可以接到美麗迷人的女友打來的視頻電話了。
韓國軟件開發商Nabix11月30日爲iPhone手機用戶最新推出了一款名爲“寶貝，是我！”的手機軟件。在最初的免費試用階段，這款軟件的每日下載量高達8萬次。
目前市場上有多款軟件可以撫慰單身男士寂寞的心靈，其中一款夜用軟件能播放女性睡在枕邊的安詳呼吸聲。
但“寶貝，是我！”這款軟件似乎是首個可以使用戶接到虛擬女友視頻電話的軟件。虛擬的22歲女友米娜每天給智能手機用戶打3到4次電話，說些甜言蜜語。
通話內容包括“你還沒睡醒嗎？該吃早飯啦！”，或者“晚安，做個好夢。”等等。
一位韓國模特爲通話錄下視頻鏡頭，還錄下了上百段對話，足以融化男士的心。
Nabix公司經理金榮甲在接受記者採訪時說：“我開發這款軟件是爲了安慰寂寞的人。”
金先生表示，自從軟件定價1.99美元出售後，使用率有所下降，但他計劃在本週重啓免費下載。
“米娜”面世之初，人們對她都很熱情。推特微博上的一名用戶誇讚說：“這是所有單身男人的福音。”
另一位用戶說：“當我加班時米娜會給我打電話，這種感覺真棒。”
Nabix公司目前計劃開發英語、漢語、日語等多語言軟件版本，並提供更多語音信息。軟件可免費使用，較長的交談需付費。同時還將推出Android手機版本。
Vocabulary:
video call: 視頻電話
