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，只要下載一款智慧手機軟體，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訊電話了。
韓國軟體開發商Nabix11月30日為iPhone手機使用者最新推出了一款名為“寶貝，是我！”的手機軟體。在最初的免費試用階段，這款軟體的每日下載量高達8萬次。
目前市場上有多款軟體可以撫慰單身男士寂寞的心靈，其中一款夜用軟體能播放女性睡在枕邊的安詳呼吸聲。
但“寶貝，是我！”這款軟體似乎是首個可以使使用者接到虛擬女友視訊電話的軟體。虛擬的22歲女友米娜每天給智慧手機使用者打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。
一位韓國模特為通話錄下視訊鏡頭，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：“我開發這款軟體是為了安慰寂寞的人。”
金先生表示，自從軟體定價1.99美元出售後，使用率有所下降，但他計劃在本週重啟免費下載。
“米娜”面世之初，人們對她都很熱情。推特微博上的一名使用者誇讚說：“這是所有單身男人的福音。”
另一位使用者說：“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、日語等多語言軟體版本，並提供更多語音資訊。軟體可免費使用，較長的交談需付費。同時還將推出Android手機版本。
Vocabulary:
video call: 視訊電話
