MakeUseOf Directory » text to speech

Select & Speak: An Easy To Use Text To Speech Extension [Chrome]

Hammad — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:01:34 +0000

Select and Speak is a handy extension for Google Chrome that allows users to listen to text from almost any website. The extension has a list of voices (accents) to choose from; you can choose any of the voices that you recognize the clearest and the easiest.

To get started, simply install the extension and visit any website. Now, select the text you want it to read and then click on the Select and Speak icon to start listening to the text being read aloud. You can pause/stop the playback anytime by clicking on the pause button when the text is being read aloud. You can also configure a shortcut to use the extension from Select and Speak options page.

Features

Configure voice and speed of narrator.
Listen to news/blog articles/etc while browsing other websites.
A very helpful app for people with vision problems.
Similar tools: QR Voice, Chrome Speak, Announcify, Zazu, TweJay, RoboVoice, Text To Voice, BlindSpeak, DragonDictate, Vozme, SpokenText, Odiogo, Text-to-Speech, PedioPhon and Spesoft Text to Speech Software.

Check out Select and Speak @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gfjopfpjmkcfgjpogepmdjmcnihfpokn

QR Voice: Convenient Text-To-Speech Through QR Codes

Umar — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:01:25 +0000

Text-to-speech lets you automatically have a voice read pieces of text, and sharing the converted speech means you do not have to read out the text yourself. Normally to share the converted speech you have to electronically send somebody the speech file. But using a service called QR Voice, you can conveniently and quickly send anybody a speech file that has been converted from text, as a QR code.

QR Voice is quite simple to use. All you have to do is visit the site’s homepage and type in the text you want said out loud. Next you select the language of the text; a wide array of languages is supported.

After these steps you can generate a QR code for your text-to-speech. You can download that QR code and share it. People can also scan it with their smartphone and be taken to the speech’s URL where they can listen to the converted speech.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Converts text-to-speech.
Generates QR Code for speech URL.
Simplifies share text-to-speech files.

Check out QR Voice @ http://qrvoice.net (By Umar from AllthatIsApple)

Chrome Speak: Let Chrome ‘Speak’ The Websites To You

abhijeet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:01:45 +0000

Chrome Speak, as the name suggests, is an add-on that enables the Chrome browser to read content selected on a website in a human voice. So basically, you can select a paragraph on a webpage, right click on it, go to the Chrome Speak option (assuming you have it installed) and then click “Read the selected text.” That’s about it, you should hear a robotic voice speak that text to you. The add-on offers the ability to control the rate, pitch and volume of the voice.

Overall, for everyday users this tool might not be of great significance except for its amusement quotient. Hearing your browser speak does give a good feeling. But the tool might come in handy for people with a handicap that forces them to use tools that offer text to speech functions.

Features

Add-on that enables text to voice.
Works on the Chrome browser.
Similar tools: Announcify, Zazu, TweJay, RoboVoice, Text To Voice, BlindSpeak, DragonDictate, Vozme, SpokenText, Odiogo, Text-to-Speech, PedioPhon and Spesoft Text to Speech Software.

Check out Chrome Speak @ chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/diagnfimeecdcecjpnkjgbnlelkclcpj (via Guiding Tech By Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

AnyDO: A To-Do List Creator That Supports Speech-To-Text [Android]

Umar — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:01:56 +0000

When you are in the middle of a task and reminded to add something to your to-do list, you are often discouraged by the thought of using your phone’s keypad to type the entire task. Thus apps that let you create to-do lists should support speech-to-text so you can quickly add tasks to list by voicing them. This feature is precisely what an app called AnyDO offers.

AnyDO is a free smartphone application for Android devices. The app is sized at 3.4 MB and compatible with Android version 2.2 or later. AnyDO offers you numerous useful features but the most prominent one is its speech-to-text support. The app lets you add tasks simply by speaking them into your phone. Your tasks are kept organized by letting you sort them into different lists and folders. Reminders for important tasks can be set to ensure you do not forget them.

To clear completed tasks from your list, you need to only shake your phone. These features along with others such as synchronization with your Google account make AnyDO an excellent to-do list management app.

Features:

A user-friendly phone app.
Compatible with Android devices.
Lets you create and organize to-do lists.
Supports speech-to-text recognition.
Supports synchronization with your Google account.
Similar tools: DragonDictate.

Check out AnyDO @ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.anydo (By Umar from AllthatIsApple)

Announcify: A Chrome Extension That Reads Webpages Outloud

MOin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:02:23 +0000

After a night of intense studying or research, you simply do not have the stamina to go through another webpage. What you could really use is for somebody to read out the webpage to you. This immensely useful service is exactly what a tool called Announcify offers.

Announcify is a browser extension for Google Chrome that reads out webpages for you. After you install the extension, you will see its icon appear in top right corner of Chrome. Whenever you are on a webpage that you want read out to you, you can simply click on this icon. A new browser tab will appear with the webpage’s text loaded up. The extension will initiate a text-to-speech action that will read out the text on the webpage; the text currently not being read will be blurred out, as you can see in the image above. The default reading voice can be adjusted using the extension’s options.

Features:

A user-friendly browser extension.
Compatible with Google Chrome.
Reads out webpages to you.
Lets you modify speech type.
Similar tools: Zazu, TweJay, RoboVoice, Text To Voice, BlindSpeak, DragonDictate, Vozme, SpokenText, Odiogo, Text-to-Speech, PedioPhon and Spesoft Text to Speech Software.

Check out Announcify @ chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mmiolkcfamcbpoandjpnefiegkcpeoan (by MOin from Thumb Press)

Vocre: A Phone App That Translates Your Speech & Plays The Translation [iOS]

MOin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:01:48 +0000

While there are many applications out there for translation, they still lack immensely for people to easily converse in foreign languages. But an application called Vocre might have finally bridged the gap left by other translation apps.

Vocre is a user-friendly smartphone application. The app is sized at 12.9 MB and requires an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad running iOS version 4.0 or later. The app lets you converse in foreign languages in a uniquely simple way. You speak into your phone in your own language; the speech is then processed and detected by the application to convert into text. The app translates the text into the foreign language you have chosen and plays it to be heard. This facilitates conversations with foreign language speakers.

The text translations are also displayed on the application to ensure that the app executes the translation accurately.

The app is free to download but offers 10 translations for $0.99 and a hundred translations for $8.99.

Features:

A user-friendly phone app.
Compatible with iOS devices.
Lets you converse with foreign language speakers.
Plays translated speech and displays translated text.
Similar tools: Mobile Translator and TextLang.
Also read related articles:

Check out Vocre @ www.vocre.com (via Tech Crunch) (by MOin from Urban Savior)

Festvox: An Online Speech Synthesizer

abhijeet — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:01:44 +0000

If you have heard the robotic announcements in railway stations and other public places, and wondered whether there was always a human sitting behind the mic, then you need to acquaint yourself with a phenomenon called speech synthesis. This is the process of artificially producing a human voice from the computer. Festvox is an online tool that helps you create speech synthesis demos in various pre-defined accents.

Select the voice from the dropdown menu, select the audio format (wav, sun, aiff or ulaw), type the text in the box, and hit the synthesize button to play the resulting synthesized speech.

The voices available are a various mix of males and females.

Festvox is also available as a download for free. The tool is developed by Alan Black at Carnegie Mellon University.

Features

Web based speech synthesizer.
Various voices and audio formats available.
Available as a download too.

Check out Festvox @ www.festvox.org/voicedemos.html (By Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

iHearNetwork: Reads Out Tweets In Your Area

TehseenBaweja — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:01:23 +0000

With millions of users buzzing on Twitter from around the world, one often wonders which ones are in your area and what they are talking about. iHearNetwork is an Android app that identifies tweets being sent in your area and reads them out to you so you don’t have to focus on reading them yourself.

You can change the location by simply entering any city or adjusting the covered area through a slider. You can stop, skip or even rewind a tweet that the app has just read. The most wonderful part is that the app works for almost all the cities throughout the world. If you like something you hear, tap the star icon to share it with your friends via a text, email or Bluetooth.

Features:

Listen to tweets being shared around you.
Pause, rewind or skip tweets.
Enter any location of the world to hear tweets from there.
Mark as favorite and share using text message or email.

Download iHearNetwork from Android Market Place

Zazu: Wake Up To Weather Reports, News or RSS Feeds (Android)

MOin — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:01:17 +0000

Android phone owners have a number of free applications that can make their life easier. For example many people like to stay in touch with the news and weather. Zazu is one Android app that can read the news and weather out to you whenever you want.

Zazu is a free app and sized at nearly 6 MB. The app’s main function is to gather information on the local weather and global news; it then reads out this information to you while you busy yourself with other tasks. In addition to news and weather, you can also add a custom greeting to Zazu or any site’s RSS feed. You can easily use it as an alarm clock that wakes you up with the news and local weather.

The app’s developers soon plan to add calendar integration, advanced voices, advanced news feed settings, and full social media integration; they also plan to create Zazu versions for other smartphones.

Search Zazu on the Android Marketplace or use the QR-code below:

Features:

A user friendly applications.
Compatible with Android phones.
Reads out the weather and news to you.
Reads out the RSS feed of websites.
Promises future improvements and enhanced features.
Also read related article: Slide Screen Redefines The Android Home Interface.

Get Zazu from by searching for it on the Android Marketplace or visit its official site @ www.getzazu.com (via AndroidZoom) (by MOin from ThumbPress)

Plain Text: Note Organizer & Text Editor for iPhone & iPad

MOin — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 19:01:03 +0000

There are a number of note taking applications for iOS devices. But most of them offer very basic functionality without note organization. If you are looking for a plain text editor and organizer, check out Plain Text.

Plain Text is a free application for iOS devices. Sized at 1.3 MB the app requires your iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad to run iOS 3.0 or later. The app lets you create notes and store them. In addition to that you can create folders to organize your notes.

Since the app works strictly with plain text, it stores notes in the TXT file format extension. You can create and edit TXT notes in the app’s interface that is very paper-like, keeping focus on the text and little else.

Dropbox users can connect their Dropbox account with the app and have their Plain Text notes uploaded to their Dropbox account.

Features:

Note organizer and plain text editor for iPad & iPhone.
Tiny size ““ 1.3 MB.
Compatible with all iOS devices.
Lets you create and organize notes in folders.
Works with TXT files.
Has a paper-like interface.
Lets you upload notes to your Dropbox account.
Similar tools: textPlus and DragonDictate.

Check out Plain Text @ www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/plaintext (by MOin from ThumbPress)