Utatane Piko

Piko Utatane (開発コードPIKO / 歌手音ピコ Utatane Piko) is the first Vocaloid from Sony Music Distribution and will use the Vocaloid2 engine. His name "Utatane" means "sound of singer" while "Piko" is the name of a popular Nico Nico Douga singer called Piko; in other words, his name means "sound of singer Piko". He will be released on December 8, 2010.

About
Piko will be released on December 8th 2010, at a price of 15,750 yen (around $173.08), but is ready to be pre-ordered as of now.

A free trial version was released on December 1st.

The same day his trial was released, Sony demanded that all content made with it be taken down. It is unknown whether this extends to the full version or not.

Usage for Music
In its default state, Utatane Piko has a feminine tone of voice, owed to his providers capablities to reach vocal ranges usually only capable of achieving by female vocalists. His female sounding voice makes him the least mascline sounding male Vocaloid released provided by male voice samples.

The trial version was released, but unlike past trial versions was released to be usable only for 5 days. The VSQ files cannot be saved and the only savable format is .wav. Tutorials were also uploaded on how to use the software. The demo version has a synchronization difficulties and uploading VSQ files of other vocaloids will not match up as perfectly as one expects. Piko's demo is subject to pronounication problems, producing slightly muffled results without tweaking on some notes, this puts his overall sample quality on the same level as Lily's.

Trivia

 * Utatane Piko's hairstyle is almost identical to the real Piko's hairstyle, the only difference being an ahoge on top of the head that is shaped like the letter "P". The white hair color is likely inspired by depicted artworks of the singer.
 * Utatane Piko's trial has caused a stir amongst Vocaloid fans. Some complained 5 days was not enough for the Producers to create songs with. Some put the blame of the limited trial on previous hacked trials of Lily and Iroha (note that in a technical sense 5 days would create no difference). Others blamed Sony for installing harsh restrictions on their trial on other reasons; regardless of the circumstances, Sony began removing videos that did contain his voice.
 * His design incorporates the guitar.