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In today’s digitized business environment, providing top-notch customer service is paramount. As competition intensifies, businesses prioritizing customer satisfaction invariably gain the upper hand. This is where the role of proficient customer support tools becomes crucial.

Customer support tools are more than just mechanisms to facilitate customer interaction. They have transformed into crucial game-changers that drive businesses toward operational efficiency, superior customer service, and enhanced profitability. Below are some of the primary benefits that these tools offer modern businesses.

Streamlined Customer Interaction

Efficient customer support tools help businesses to simplify the process of responding to customer queries. With automated response and ticketing systems, your customer support team can manage a large volume of customer interactions with greater efficiency. This approach boosts customer satisfaction levels, fostering stronger trust and loyalty.

Insightful Data Analysis

When it comes to big data, customer support tools offer invaluable insights. By analyzing a myriad of customer interactions, these tools deliver crucial information on customer behavior, needs, and preferences. This data enables businesses to tailor their products and marketing strategies more effectively, fostering customer retention and business growth.

Enhanced Customer Experience

With diverse tools ranging from live chat to AI-driven virtual assistants, customer support tools facilitate real-time, personalized customer interaction. They offer customers instant and comprehensive support, significantly enriching their experience and boosting loyalty.

Boosting Productivity

Customer support tools alleviate the pressure on your service staff by automating routine tasks and managing customer interactions more efficiently. This streamlined process bolsters productivity and team morale while enhancing customer service quality.

Cost Saving

A strong customer support tool can result in notable cost savings over time. Through efficient workflows and reduced time spent on dealing with customer interactions, an intercom alternative delivers more significant productivity at a reduced cost. The increased customer satisfaction and loyalty generated also lead to stronger profitability, making it a worthwhile investment.

24/7 Support

In the global business landscape, customers expect constant support. To meet these expectations, customer support tools integrate AI-powered chatbots and automated response systems. This level of accessibility significantly boosts customer satisfaction and bolsters your brand’s credibility.

Gaining Competitive Advantage

Ensuring superior customer support is an effective strategy for gaining a competitive advantage. Through swift, personalized, and efficient customer service, customer support tools empower your business to differentiate itself and rise above the competition.

How to Choose a Customer Support Tool

A wide selection of customer support tools is available. Unfortunately, most of these tools in the market today are expensive and bloated. Still, we have intercom alternatives that are revolutionizing customer support, minus the high price tag, but you have to choose right. To maximize customer satisfaction in your business, consider the following factors when choosing a customer support tool. 

• Functionality and Features: Ensure the tool offers the necessary features such as live chat, ticketing, integration with other platforms, automation, etc.
• Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface aids effective utilization by your staff, ensuring a smooth process.
• Scalability: Your customer support needs will evolve as your business grows. So, choose a tool that can scale along with your business.
• Pricing: Consider the pricing structure of the tool and ensure it fits within your budget without compromising essential features.
• Customer Reviews and Reputation: Look at user reviews and the tool’s reputation in the market to understand its worthiness.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why are customer support tools essential for modern businesses?

Customer support tools play a crucial role in enhancing customer satisfaction, driving operational efficiency, and ultimately boosting profitability. In today’s competitive business landscape, prioritizing customer service provides a significant advantage.

2. How do customer support tools streamline customer interaction?

Efficient customer support tools, including automated response and ticketing systems, simplify the process of responding to customer queries. They enable businesses to manage a large volume of interactions with greater efficiency, fostering trust and loyalty.

3. What insights can businesses gain from using customer support tools?

These tools provide invaluable insights through data analysis of customer interactions. Businesses can understand customer behavior, needs, and preferences, allowing for more effective tailoring of products and marketing strategies, leading to customer retention and growth.

4. How do customer support tools enhance the customer experience?

Customer support tools, such as live chat and AI-driven virtual assistants, facilitate real-time, personalized interactions. They offer instant and comprehensive support, significantly enriching the customer experience and fostering loyalty.

5. How do customer support tools contribute to cost savings?

Efficient workflows and reduced time spent on customer interactions lead to notable cost savings. Investing in a robust customer support tool not only improves productivity but also generates increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, resulting in stronger profitability.

6. How do customer support tools provide 24/7 support?

Customer support tools integrate AI-powered chatbots and automated response systems, ensuring constant accessibility. This level of support meets global customer expectations, significantly boosting satisfaction and enhancing the brand’s credibility.

7. How can businesses gain a competitive advantage through customer support tools?

Superior customer support, facilitated by efficient tools, serves as a strategic advantage. Swift, personalized, and efficient customer service differentiates a business and positions it above the competition, ultimately contributing to sustained success.

8. What factors should businesses consider when choosing a customer support tool?

When selecting a customer support tool, consider factors such as functionality, ease of use, scalability, pricing, and customer reviews. Ensuring the tool offers necessary features, is user-friendly, scalable with business growth, fits the budget, and has a positive reputation in the market is crucial for making an informed decision.

9. How do customer support tools contribute to boosting productivity?

Customer support tools automate routine tasks and manage customer interactions efficiently, reducing the workload on service staff. This streamlined process not only enhances team productivity and morale but also ensures the delivery of high-quality customer service.

10. Can customer support tools be customized to meet specific business needs?

Yes, many customer support tools offer customization options to cater to the unique requirements of different businesses. Businesses can tailor features, workflows, and integrations to align with their specific customer service strategies, making the tool adaptable to diverse industries and business models.

The Final Word

Indeed, customer support tools have become indispensable in the current business environment. Their incredible benefits make them a central component of any effective business strategy. With the pace of technological advancement accelerating daily, the importance of these tools is set to grow exponentially. Therefore, investing in a strategic customer support tool today can propel your business toward continued growth and success in the digital age.

Featured image by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

The post The Game-Changing Benefits of Customer Support Tools for Modern Businesses appeared first on noupe.

The role that TikTok plays in influencing trends is undeniable. As the most downloaded app across the globe, TikTok’s stats are topping the charts — and marketers are taking notice. As of 2023, the majority of marketers are incorporating the app heavily into their strategies. Audio marketing is no exception. 

In fact, audio is a large part of why TikTok has become so popular. With its beginnings as the now-defunct app, Musical.ly, TikTok has a stronghold on music-based, short-form video. From dance trends to educational videos with trending sounds, the app has capitalized on its ability to streamline video and audio editing for the casual creator. Learn how to tap into TikTok’s massive influence on the audio industry to promote your products, services, and entire brand.  

Unique Features of TikTok That Shape Audio Trends

The immediacy that TikTok evokes in its users makes the platform stand out. It has the unique ability to prompt users to share snippets of their voice or use songs or other audio to enhance their videos and storytelling capabilities. This evolution of sound has placed audio first and changed how people interact with and create content. 

Popularity

With 1.7 billion people on TikTok, the reach potential is unmatched. While the app has been dominated by primarily Gen Z users, millennials and older generations are increasingly adopting the platform. Targeting this market can help get your audio product or service in front of the right eyes and ears, and TikTok’s unique algorithm can boost your view count faster than other platforms. 

Search Function

TikTok users receive a curated For You page that shows them videos related to their preferences and past behavior. This can place your audio on the home feeds of users who are already interested in audio production. Further, users can search through TikTok sounds when creating videos and save sounds when watching others’ content. Users can also click on the sound and find more information, such as the original creator and all videos created using that sound. This places emphasis on good audio as a community-building tool.

Audio-Focused Trends

With such an audio-forward interface, many of the trends on TikTok are shaped by music or sounds. Some of these trends include:

• Dances to music; 
• ASMR; 
• Storytime videos;
• Comedic soundbites.

Often, users take a popular sound and create a video with a twist on the original. This gives sound creators the possibility to go viral.

User-Friendliness

TikTok gives every user the power to make viral content or, at the very least, audio-visual content that they may not have been able to create before. With the intuitive editing features, TikTokers can add sounds, prerecorded audio, or voiceovers right in the app. This effectively makes everyone an audio artist — and opens up more audio marketing possibilities to a wide audience.

How To Leverage TikTok’s Audio Influence

For audio marketers to use TikTok effectively, you must have a solid understanding of the app’s interface. Start by creating engaging, short-form videos that feature your audio products and services in action. 

Organically Promote Audio Products and Services

You can use TikTok to showcase the unique features and benefits of your audio products and services in a visually appealing way, making sure the content aligns with current trends and challenges. Use TikTok’s search function to find trending sounds that you can apply to relevant videos on your offerings. Engage with your audience through comments, duets, and responses to foster a community around your brand. 

You can even collaborate with TikTok influencers who have a strong presence in the music or audio niche to show your products to their established audience. There is even a TikTok shop feature where users can buy products directly on the platform. You can use any combination of these features to see what works. For instance, you could promote software that cleans up audio by doing a before and after video showing the difference in audio quality it can make. Then, you can run an ad and link directly to your software purchasing page.

Run TikTok Ads

If you want to spend some of your budget on ads, running TikTok ads is a popular way to reach a wider audience and drive targeted social media traffic to your videos that include product offerings. Use the same videos that you created using trending or original sounds when running these ads. 

This way, they can be placed in front of an even more relevant audience since you can tailor the ads to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. TikTok’s ad platform provides valuable analytics and performance insights, allowing you to fine-tune your campaigns for maximum impact.

Tap Into User-Generated Content

Reviews have always been important for sales, but TikTok has increased the amount of trust consumers place in other consumers when looking to make a purchase. They look for authenticity in product and service reviews, and they are more adept at spotting fake reviews. For this reason, it’s important to collaborate with influencers by allowing them to post their genuine thoughts about your offerings. Even better, simply inspire user-generated content by creating and showcasing a genuinely good product that creates TikTok buzz all on its own.

Go With the Flow

Regardless of the method you choose to promote your audio products and services on TikTok, it is extra effective to create and inspire authentic content. That is what the platform is built upon. Use your audio products to create the sounds in your posts. You may even create a trending sound by doing so. Keep up with fast-moving TikTok trends to get ahead of the curve. By leveraging TikTok’s audio industry influence strategically, you can effectively promote your products to a highly engaged and creative user base. 

Featured image by Ron Lach

The post TikTok’s Role in Shaping Audio Marketing Strategies appeared first on noupe.

Video is one of the most powerful and engaging forms of content in the digital world. According to a report by Cisco, video traffic has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 34% and was projected to account for 82% of all internet traffic in 2022. 

However, creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming, expensive, and challenging, especially for small businesses and individuals who lack the resources and skills to produce professional videos.

That’s where AI-generated videos come in. AI video generators can help you create stunning videos for various purposes, such as marketing, education, entertainment, and more, without requiring technical expertise or expensive equipment.

In this blog post, we’ll explore what AI video generators are, how they work, what makes a good AI video generator, and compare the three best AI video generators of 2024.’

What are AI video generators?

AI video generators are online platforms that use artificial intelligence to create videos at scale from text, images, audio, or other input sources. 

They use natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and deep learning to analyze the input, generate a script, select relevant media, add effects, synthesize speech and audio, and make a video in minutes. 

The result is a realistic and engaging video that can be customized and edited according to your preferences.

AI video generators can help you create various types of videos, such as:

• Product videos
• Explainer videos
• Training videos
• Social media content
• Marketing video assets
• Educational videos
• Social media videos
• Entertainment videos

AI video generators can help you save time, money, and effort in creating videos and improve the quality and effectiveness of your video content.

How AI video generators work

An AI video generator is a powerful tool that uses artificial intelligence to automate the video creation process. Depending on the tool, the process may vary slightly, but generally, it involves the following steps:

Step #1 Input

You provide the input for the video, such as text, images, audio, or a URL. 

The input can be a script, a blog post, an article, a product description, or any other source of information. Some AI video makers include script generators based on large language models like ChatGPT.

Step #2. Analysis

The AI video generator analyzes the input, using natural language processing (NLP) to understand the text’s meaning, context, and tone and computer vision to recognize the objects, faces, and scenes in the images.

Step #3. Generation

The AI video creator then generates a video clip from the input, using deep learning to select relevant media, such as stock footage, images, music, and sound effects, and to create a storyboard, a voiceover, and subtitles. 

The AI video generator also adds effects, such as transitions, filters, and animations, to make the video more appealing and dynamic.

Step #4. Customization

You can customize and edit the video using different video tools provided by the AI video platform. 

You can change the media, voice, text, colors, fonts, logo, etc. You can also add audio files for background music and other elements to your video. You can also add or delete scenes, adjust the duration, and rearrange the order of the video.

Step #5. Export

Once you finish editing your video, you can export and download the video in various formats and resolutions, such as MP4, MOV, AVI, 720p, 1080p, and 4K, producing professional-looking videos every time. 

You can also share the video on social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram, or embed it on your website or blog.

What makes a good AI video generator?

The best AI video generator depends strongly on your particular use case.

In some cases, you may be interested in quickly editing a video you previously made to remove its background, add visual effects, or transform it into a cartoon, for example.

In other cases, you may be interested in creating a training video from scratch based on an idea you have in your head. These and other tasks require different sets of features, the most important of which are:

#1. Extensive video template gallery

A good AI video generator should offer various customizable video templates for different purposes, such as explainer, marketing, or educational videos. 

Your chosen video editing tools should allow you to customize the template to change the media, the text, the voice, and other elements of the video.

The video templates should also be updated regularly so that you can access the latest trends and styles in video creation.

#2. AI video editing

A good AI video generator should also provide an AI video editor that allows you to edit and enhance your videos using artificial intelligence. This includes performing common tasks such as: 

• Video quality
• Stabilization
• Brightness
• Saturation
• Trimming
• Cropping
• Rotating
• Resizing
• Contrast
• Color

How? Through simple prompts in natural language, generating personalized videos from input text.

The AI video editor should also be able to add effects to your videos, such as transitions, filters, animations, stickers, and emojis, and remove unwanted objects, backgrounds, and noises without using green screens.

#3. Custom AI avatars

Custom-made AI avatars that can act as spokespersons, characters, or instructors in your videos are becoming more common every day in the AI video generator market. You’ll find excellent options like Synthesia io that offer realistic, expressive, and diverse custom avatars to bring your videos to life. 

These AI avatars should be able to lip-sync, gesture, and emote according to your script and should be fully customizable in terms of their appearance, clothing, and accessories.

#4. Audio and speech synthesis in multiple languages

The more modern AI video generators offer audio and speech synthesis in multiple languages. Some allow you to dub an existing video in any language you like, matching your tone, pitch, speed, and accent and lip-syncing your video to the AI-generated speech. 

Some tools also let you add original, royalty-free background music and sound effects to your videos.

With this feature, you can create videos for different audiences and markets in a matter of minutes with the click of a button.

#5. Integrations with other editing tools

Finally, a good AI video generator should also integrate with other editing tools, such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Canva, and WordPress, so that you can further edit and optimize your videos using your favorite tools. 

The integrations should be seamless, easy, and fast so that you can transfer your videos between different platforms without losing quality or data.

Comparing the 3 best AI video generators for 2024

Now that you know what makes a good AI video generator, let’s look at the three best AI video generators for 2024. We’ll break down how they compare in terms of features, price, and suitability for different use cases.

#1. Synthesia

Synthesia is an AI video generator that allows you to create videos from text in minutes. You can choose from hundreds of video templates or create your own custom video from scratch. You can also use Synthesia’s AI avatars to deliver your message in a realistic and engaging way.

Top Features

• Natural-sounding TTS voice synthesis in 120+ languages
• Realistic human-like avatars
• AI script generator
• AI video editor

Price

Synthesia offers a free trial to create one video from a 200-word prompt. The paid plans start from $29 per month.

Best for

Synthesia is ideal for creating videos of the best possible quality in various languages with a human touch.

#2. Pictory

Pictory is an AI-powered tool that allows you to create videos from text, images, or URLs in minutes. You can upload your own content or use Pictory’s AI to find relevant content from the web. You can also use Pictory’s AI to edit and enhance your videos and add voiceovers and subtitles.

Top Features

• Auto summarizes long videos
• Text-based video editing tool
• Creates video highlights
• Blog-to-video feature
• Script to video

Price

Pictory offers three paid subscription plans starting from $23 per month up to $119 per month.

Best for

Pictory is ideal for repurposing existing content, such as blog posts, articles, product descriptions, or social media posts, into a video.

#3. InVideo

Like Pictory, InVideo is an AI video generator that allows you to create videos from text, images, or URLs in minutes. 

You can choose from thousands of video templates or create your own custom video from scratch. You can also use InVideo’s AI to add effects, transitions, filters, and animations to your videos and generate voiceovers and subtitles.

Top Features

• Generate entire videos from text prompts.
• Extensive collection of over 6,000 video templates.
• Intuitive video editor.
• Natural-sounding voiceovers in 4+ languages.
• Collaboration and multi-user editing.

Price

InVideo offers a free plan that allows you to create up to 60 videos per month with a watermark and an InVideo logo. The paid plans start from $15 per month and offer more videos, higher resolution, no watermark, and more features.

Best for

InVideo has the largest collection of video templates, with over 6,000 templates, making it ideal for streamlining video production. It’s also ideal for learning to create videos from scratch using AI, free of charge.

3 best AI video generators comparison table

Here’s a summary of the main features, prices, and best use cases of the reviewed AI tools to help you compare the three best AI video generators for 2024. 

You can use this table to find the best AI video generator for your needs quickly.

Feature	Synthesia	Pictory	InVideo
Top Features	– Natural-sounding TTS voice synthesis in 120+ languages.- Realistic human-like avatars.- AI script generation.- AI video editor.	– Script to video.- Blog-to-video feature.- EdiVideo editing using prompts.- Creates video highlights.- Auto summarizes long videos.	– Generate entire videos from text prompts.- Extensive collection of over 6,000 video templates.- Intuitive video editor.- Natural-sounding voiceovers in 4+ languages.- Collaboration and multi-user editing.
Price	$29/mo, or $264/year	– Standard: $23/month, or $228/year.- Premium: $47/month, or $468/year.- Teams: $119/month, or $1,188/year.	– Free: $0/month (with watermarks)- Business: $30/month, or $180/year.- Unlimited: $60/month, or $360/year.
Best for	Creating the best quality videos in multiple languages.	Repurposing existing content into video.	Crafting videos from templates and learning AI video generation for free.
Video template library	60+	50+	6,000+
Output video quality	1080p for the Standard license.Unlimited for Pro license.	Up to 1080p	Up to 1080p
Custom AI avatars	140+	No	Yes (not clear how many)
Speech synthesis (TTS) in multiple languages	120+ languages	Only English	4+ including English, Spanish, and Hindi.
Integrations	35+ integrations including WordPress, YouTube, Vimeo, and Shopify	Only 3: Google Drive, Hootsuite, and YouTube.	JW Player, Brightcove, Akamai, YouTube, and more.

The importance of AI video generators

AI video generators aren’t just a novelty or a gimmick. They’re powerful and practical tools that can help you create amazing videos in minutes.

AI video generators can help you:

AI’s role in enhancing real-time game aesthetics

AI video generators have revolutionized character design and environment dynamics in PC gaming. In popular games like Fortnite, these advanced tools are instrumental in crafting highly detailed and interactive outfits, offering players an immersive experience.

Take the Fortnite Batman Who Laughs outfit, for instance. AI’s precision and attention to detail enable the rendering of intricate designs, capturing this crossover character’s haunting and iconic appearance. 

Every menacing laugh, terrifying smile, and eerie movement is amplified, blurring the lines between the virtual and real worlds.

This real-time enhancement isn’t just visual. It extends to how characters respond to the environment and players’ actions, making games like Fortnite a playground of endless possibilities. Every session is a unique and captivating experience.

Cutting production times in half or less

Using AI video generators to automate the video creation process helps you bypass time-consuming processes like recording voiceovers, shooting video footage, editing the video, and adding sound and visual effects. 

Doing so allows you to cut your production time in half or less.

Improving marketing ROI

Saving time saves you money, but so does hiring voiceover artists, actors, and professional video editors to make your videos. Using AI video generators, you can create high-quality and engaging videos for your marketing campaigns at a fraction of the cost it’d take you with a more traditional approach, improving your marketing ROI.

For example, when individuals buy used RVs, they often rely on videos to gauge the vehicle’s condition, history, and features. An AI video generator could transform this process, creating simulated videos based on RV specifications, reviews, and history, offering potential buyers an immersive virtual tour. It’s a testament to how AI video technology can be applied in diverse scenarios.

How AI video generators can transform your video creation process

AI video generators aren’t just a novelty or a gimmick. They’re practical AI-powered tools that can help you create amazing videos in minutes without requiring technical expertise or expensive equipment. 

AI video generators can help you step up your content creation, cut production time and costs, improve your digital marketing asset performance, and level up your sales documents and business proposals, among other benefits.

Here’s to outsourcing the heavy lifting of your video creation workflow!

Featured image by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

The post  Exploring AI Video Generators: A Comparative Overview appeared first on noupe.

There used to be a time when educational resources were limited to the boundaries of a library or university. However, the internet has changed all of that, and nowadays, it is really easy to find tutorials and helpful videos related to almost any niche or topic. In this article, we shall take a look at some of the most popular learning resources and websites.

Top Online Learning Resources

1. W3Schools

If you are looking to learn web development, look no further than W3Schools. The website has tutorials and learning resources related to every major aspect of web development, be it AJAX, HTML5, CSS3, PHP, jQuery, SQL or ASP. Beyond that, there is also an online certification program that can help you become an expert in the coding field of your choice.

• Genre: Web development
• Pricing: Free

2. University of the People

University of the People is a non-profit, tuition-free online university that offers higher education in multiple course streams, such as arts, commerce, science and technology. If you have a flair for learning and wish to get higher education but cannot afford the costly colleges and universities, University of the People can help you out. There is no tuition fee, though if possible, you are encouraged to pay $100 examination fee at the end of the academic tenure.

• Genre: Higher education
• Pricing: Free; one-time “Application Processing Fee” of $10-50 is charged when you apply

3. TED

TED is your resource for cutting-edge discussions and talks on relevant matters. Covering a spectrum of topics that range from global issues, technology and design to entertainment, business and science, TED features great videos that show some of the leading names in the world share their expertise. No matter what your preferred topic is, rest assured, TED will have something educational and fruitful for you.

• Genre: Video talks
• Pricing: Free

4. Peer 2 Peer University

Peer 2 Peer University, or P2PU, is an open educational project that helps you learn at your own pace. You have the option to create your own course, or choose from the several courses that are already available. P2PU is available in multiple languages. However, as of now, the content or list of courses is not really well populated (though over the course of time, you can find the number of courses rising). Also, you will need to register for an account in order to use P2PU.

• Genre: Collaborative learning
• Pricing: Free

5. CK-12

CK-12 caters primarily to school education. It has separate sections for students and instructors/teachers, and you will need to create an account in order to use the services. Basically, the learning is divided on the basis of subjects such as Science, Humanities and Mathematics, and so on. You can create lesson plans and learning modules for your students, and as a student, you have access to books and interactive videos as well as exercises.

• Genre: School education
• Pricing: Free

6. Academic Earth

Academic Earth offers online classes and learning videos for free. The content and tutorials are provided by some of the leading universities and institutions in the world, such as Stanford University, Yale University, Dartmouth College and MIT. The list of subjects covered is huge, and includes History, Languages, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Maths, Engineering, Computers, Accounting, and so on.

• Genre: Video lectures
• Pricing: Free

7. BBC Learning

BBC Online Learning portal has various resources that cover multiple subjects. It offers podcasts as well as online courses to help you learn new things at your own pace. Plus, BBC has separate sections for school education and adult education. While the list of subjects is rather extensive, the USP of BBC Learning program lies in the language courses, which are available both online and in print.

• Genre: -NA-
• Pricing: Free (certain programs may have paid addons, such as print versions or additional curriculum segments)

8. Treehouse

Treehouse teaches you how to create websites and mobile applications. The tutorials offered cover topics such as HTML, CSS, jQuery, Ruby on Rails, PHP and JavaScript, among many others. Furthermore, Treehouse also offers extensive guides for those looking to develop apps for iOS and Android devices. All in all, if you are looking to learn about coding and web development, Treehouse is a great resource!

• Genre: Web/mobile development
• Pricing: Introductory courses are free; $250 per year for Silver plan (or $25 per month)

9. MIT Open CourseWare

As the name suggests, MIT Open CourseWare is a catalog of free online courses and learning resources offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Most of the courses are in the form of audio or video lectures, and the topics covered include Life Sciences, Environment, and Technology. Plus, most of the content has been localized in various languages, including Chinese, Portuguese, Thai, Persian, Turkish and Korean.

• Genre: Higher education
• Pricing: Free (certain addons are paid, such as textbooks and assignment guides)

10. Udacity

Udacity offers interactive online classes and courses in higher education. The topics covered are quite advanced, such as Robotics, Game Development, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography and Parallel Programming. The course catalog is still in its initial stages, and more courses will probably be added over a period of time.

• Genre: Higher education
• Pricing: Free; signup required

11. Learn Enough

Learn Enough is an exceptional online learning platform that specializes in teaching the essential skills needed for software development and technical proficiency. Founded by renowned author and educator Michael Hartl, the site stands out for its unique approach to instruction, focusing on teaching just enough knowledge to get learners started and then gradually building up their skills. The courses, which range from command line and text editor basics to more advanced topics like Ruby on Rails and JavaScript, are meticulously designed to be both accessible for beginners and valuable for more experienced programmers. Each course is structured around practical, hands-on exercises that encourage active learning and immediate application of concepts. Additionally, LearnEnough.com offers an engaging community forum, where learners can interact with peers and experts, enhancing the learning experience through collaboration and support. This platform is ideal for those looking to enter the world of tech or for professionals aiming to expand their skill set in a systematic and effective manner.

Genre: Coding
Pricing: Plans start at $19 per month

12. Mozilla Developer Network

Mozilla Developer Network offers detailed documentation and learning resources for web developers. Apart from documentation and guides, Mozilla DN also has its own community for web developers as well as separate sections for Mozilla tools and mobile applications.

• Genre: Web development
• Pricing: Free

13. The Code Player

The Code Player offers tutorials and walk-throughs for those interested in learning web development. Most of the content is in the form of videos, though you also have detailed step-by-step textual guidelines. The Code Player is still in Alpha, so you will not find a lot of content on the site, though it is growing at a rapid pace and has already earned over a thousand subscribers.

• Genre: Web development
• Pricing: Free

14. Coursera

Coursera offers higher education online courses. Just like Academic Earth, Coursera too relies on several universities for its content — it currently has over 300 courses from 60+ universities, including the likes of University of Washington, Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania and the National University of Singapore. Courses are offered in multiple languages, and cover a plethora of topics such as Genetics, Mythology, Medicine, Science, etc.

• Genre: Higher education
• Pricing: Free

15. Tuts+ Network

Curated and managed by Envato, the Tuts+ Network offers a wide selection of guides, ebooks and tutorials to help you learn. There are separate websites for each topic, and the most popular ones include WordPress, Web Design, Mobile, Game Development, and Vectors. If you are looking to learn anything about design and development, Tuts+ Network should be on your reading list!

• Genre: Web/mobile development, design, et al
• Pricing: Premium Plan starts at $19 per month (or $15 per month if paid for the whole year); Free Plan also available

16. Codecademy

Codecademy does the obvious — teach people how to code. The languages covered include PHP, Python, Ruby and HTML/CSS. The courses range from beginner to advanced, and there is a separate section related to fundamentals and basics.

• Genre: Web development
• Pricing: Free

17. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a useful resource that offers courses and learning tools for subjects such as Science, Maths, Economics, History and Computers. Beyond that, Khan Academy also offers preparatory material and practice resources for competitive examinations and tests such as GMAT, California Standards Test, etc. The current library includes over 4000 videos as well as several practice exercises, and it offers separate sections for teachers and parents/instructors.

• Genre: School and Higher education
• Pricing: Free; Signup needed

18. Edublogs

Edublogs offers blogs for teachers, schools/colleges and students. As a teacher, you can share learning resources with your students, help your students create free blogs as well as offer podcasts and other videos online. Edublogs can also help your college replace the paper newsletter. The blogs are powered using WordPress, and Edublogs itself is managed by the folks at WPMU.org

Edublogs has various signup options, including a free plan. Sadly, the free plan is severely limited: 32 MB storage. The Pro plan comes with 10 GB storage, premium themes and email support, and costs $39.95 per year.

• Genre: Education Blogging
• Pricing: Free plan with 32 MB storage; Pro plan at $39.95 per year

19. eHow

eHow offers how-to guides and DIYs for various topics, generally catering to lifestyle and living rather than learning. However, it also has certain useful practical guides such as those related to Finance, Legal and even Health. So if you are looking for a general piece of information that has more to do with daily life rather than studies (the website also has grocery guides, by the way), eHow can be a good place to start.

• Genre: Lifestyle
• Pricing: Free

20. Moodle

Moodle is not really a learning resource or tutorial collection in its own right. It is a full-fledged CMS that helps you set up learning websites. Thus, Moodle can also be called an LMS — Learning Management System. It can help you create your own learning community or resource website. The software itself is totally free and open source.

• Genre: CMS
• Pricing: Free

21. About.com

About.com serves more or less the same purpose as eHow (though About.com also has an awesome domain name). It offers detailed tutorials and guides as well as DIYs for a wide range of topics, ranging from religion to email as well as daily living such as dessert recipes and even pedicure tips.

• Genre: Lifestyle
• Pricing: Free

22. Code School

Code School provides video lessons in web development and coding. You can learn Ruby, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, jQuery, and several other coding techniques and languages. The courses and screen casts are terrific, and if you can afford to pay for it, you should definitely check out Code School!

• Genre: Web development
• Pricing: $25 per month; Free Plan also available

23. lynda.com

lynda.com offers video tutorials to help you master new skills. The collection at lynda.com currently has over 1700 video courses, and the topics covered include 3D Animation, Design, Photography, and so on. There is a 7-day trial to help you assess lynda.com and its offerings before you decide to subscribe.

• Genre: Video lectures
• Pricing: $25 per month

24. BitDegree

BitDegree is a leading online educational website, powered by the blockchain-based reward system. This educational website offers job-ready digital skills, such as data science, e-commerce, machine learning, graphic design, gamified programming courses, web development, the blockchain, and many more. By providing interactive courses, certifications, scholarships, and many other features, BitDegree makes learning fun and engaging.

25. Career Karma

Got a website or learning tool that we missed here? Share it with us in the comments below!
(sbu/dpe)

The post Learn Something New: 20+ Top Online Learning Resources appeared first on noupe.

In this era of rapidly changing fashion, new technology in entertainment has taken the form of an internal driving force that leads our industry unceasingly along a course toward improvement and change. Whether you’re sitting in the convention center or on your family couch at home, watch whatever and however you want: Technology has brought better conditions.

But one thing is for sure, you have to realize. This importance is not only practical. It should be at the highest decision-making level within the media itself. The reason? Lacking it, growth and innovation will be hidden away; the industry can become out of date. So, stay tuned and discover the evolution, impact, and future trends here in this blog.

How did technology evolve in the entertainment industry?

Digital technology in entertainment dates right back to the days of print. During the 17th century, newspapers were popular for spreading information and entertainment. Likewise, the arrival of the printing press created a boom for newspapers, and market conditions started to take shape.

The twentieth century brought another major shift in the realm of entertainment, media, and television cinema. Since television appeared as an entertainment medium, radio has been pushed away by TV to become easily the least used format. Other technical advances help motion pictures to flourish and develop. 

Here, coming to the 21st century, new technology in entertainment and streaming services is laying the groundwork yet again. Today, Netflix and Amazon Prime are changing the way people interact with media. Cable television and movie houses are another victim of other forms of entertainment.

What role does technology play in entertainment today?

Today, the internet has made it possible for content creators to get their products directly into consumer hands rather than traditional cable channels. This democratized the industry and opened opportunities for independent filmmakers, musicians, & designers. Let’s take a look at a few entertainment technology examples.

• Social Media

There are a few examples of new technology in entertainment industry being used to influence social media, such as 3D Bitmojis, Augmented Reality, Instagram influencer videos, and small businesses. Since the transmission is faster and video quality is higher, multimillion-dollar empires can even keep several people closely together at work every day. The world today has become a family, albeit of a global nature.

• Betting and Technology 

Even the sports betting markets have been buying into technological developments, with most going completely online and others switching to 5G services. With 5G, the bet can be laid in seconds. Moreover, sports betting also now has VR and AI systems in place. During the off-season, there are even special sets of games played through an AI-based system that bring bettors back to their stalls.

• Gaming Industry

New technology in entertainment has had a great impact on the gaming industry. Today’s games are full of content, detailed and realistic to the extreme. Gaming today relies enormously on the internet. Most games are designed with multiplayer gameplay in mind. These games allow people anywhere to fight against one another in post-apocalyptic worlds or just play whimsical party games.

• Moviemaking

Without technology, there would be no movies. The more sophisticated it has gotten, the bigger moviemakers can dream. It exposes them to new ideas and allows for bold experimentation. With technologies like Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence backing it up, By 2028, the online video streaming system is expected to be worth a whopping $ 23.98 billion, thanks mainly to an even greater number of consumers. 

• Music Industry

With time evolving so fast, new technology in entertainment has also brought about significant changes in the music industry. A few generations back, you had to buy records if you wanted to listen to music. These days, you can even get the most recorded songs from the comfort of your home. Because of sites like Spotify, many listen to music without owning songs or albums.

In the industries mentioned above, advancements in technology have had many merits and demerits. One thing is clear: the new technology in entertainment has transformed industries more profoundly than ever before- steering us to development and a better tomorrow.

How to use technology in entertainment to your advantage?

If you accept that there is a technology that could enhance or stabilize your position in the market, it’s obvious to make use of such an opportunity. But how do you get it done? First of all, think about technology and its trends as a way to solve your customer’s problems. It’s not something to show off your company; it should be of some use.

Many media and entertainment consulting businesses combine high-tech, design, and entertainment innovatively. Nevertheless, the true difficulty lies in putting trends into practice and integrating them with mainstream business solutions. For example, let’s take services commonly requested by global clients when it comes to integrating technology into entertainment: 

• Content Management.
• Employee Relations Management.
• Employee Engagement Solutions.
• Contractual Sponsorships.
• CRM Lifecycle & Automation.
• Integrated Data Solutions.
• Real-Time Reporting & Analysis.
• Data Conversion Services.

If you have the right approach and apply design thinking, then every trend above can be used in your service. That’s the real creativity of new technology in entertainment because you can develop it all: enterprise application systems, eCommerce applications, mobile and web platforms, data analytics tools, and productivity solutions. 

There’s no value added, nothing that makes it special for either side of the transaction. It becomes one app among thousands of other generic solutions. So, you want to offer real value for your customers? It’s time to think about personalized and custom-made solutions for what you need.

What does the future hold for technology in entertainment?

With advancing digital entertainment technology, the entertainment and media industry will continue changing. The proliferation of virtual and augmented reality means new ways for consumers to enjoy entertainment. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are expected to play an increasingly important role in the creation, dissemination, and promotion of content.

• Streaming Services

The way content is produced has also been transformed by streaming services. Now that Netflix and others are investing heavily in original programming, we’re even seeing more high-quality (or at least binge-worthy) shows of the types geared to specific niche audiences. Thus, this content creation democratization has created new opportunities and broadened the entertainment environment.

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

When we look at the new technology in entertainment, it is impossible not to consider how AI and machine learning will reshape entertainment. Through AI-based algorithms, content producers can process enormous amounts of data to learn what the audience is looking for and produce tailor-made contents that win over viewers. Machine learning algorithms can examine user data to provide customized entertainment offerings. 

• Blockchain Technology

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum are based on the underlying technology known as blockchain. However, blockchain technology can be used for more than just cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is a distributed ledger providing secure data storage and transmission. Financial services, health care, and supply chain management are but a few of the many possible applications.

• Cloud Computing

With cloud computing as the new technology in entertainment, the data is transferred and stored on distant servers. Cloud computing has completely changed data storage and retrieval. As more and more programs and services take advantage of cloud computing, its rewards seem set to grow by the day. For example, cloud computing can run AI applications such as voice assistants and image recognition services.

Conclusion

The future of new technology in entertainment is far from boring. With these technologies having become commonplace, there are, of course, both benefits and perils. For example, the technology-dependent may suffer from cyberbullying or have their privacy violated. However, technology may result in fewer employment opportunities and greater economic discrepancy. As a society, we must be aware of these dangers yet enjoy all that technology has to offer.

Featured image by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

The post In What Ways Is New Technology in Entertainment Evolving? appeared first on noupe.