Voice Technology

TextAloud converts any text into spoken words. TextAloud reads Text, Email, Web Pages, and documents using your choice of voices. The Text to MP3 conversion can save your daily reading to MP3 audio files to download to your portable MP3 player. Listen to email, online news, or important documents while you exercise, work or commute. TextAloud now supports additional speech engines for other languages and has several new free English voices.

CoolSpeech is a text-to-speech utility, which can read out every word or sentence wherever you've just typed. It can also read any text from the clipboard, thereby allowing for example to you to read your email aloud. CoolSpeech's features include: Listen to online news from any URL you specified; Convert your text into spoken WAV files; Listen to your new messages from your email accounts; Listen to every word or sentence you've just typed; Tell the time and the date in different styles...and more. CoolSpeech also allows to schedule files, URLs and emails to be read aloud. The program supports a wide range of computer voices.

IVOS (Intelligent Voice Operating System) is an intelligent agent that offers both Speech Recognition and Text-to-Speech capabilities, allowing you to run your computer via voice commands. You can control the menu and sub menu of any software, including total voice operation of MS Outlook. You can use voice commands to open files, folders or websites and much more. In addition, the Text-to-Speech features allow you to convert your spoken text into typed letters, compatible with any software that offers a text input window (email messages, forms etc.). Additional features include dynamic voice control, dictation, transcription of recordings and more.

2nd Speech Center lets you listen to text instead of reading it on screen. It uses Text-to-Speech technology to synthesize natural sounding speech from ordinary text. Just copy text to the clipboard or import from text files and listen as the program reads it back to you. It also allows you to convert text into a MP3/WAV audio file and save it to disk, so you can listen to it later. Using this feature, you can for example create MP3 files from your email, news articles or any text you want, then download it to your portable MP3 player and take it on the road. 2nd Speech Center also includes a feature that automatically organizes you text-to-speech recorded files. Additional features include scheduled Reminders, Alarms, playlists, word highlighting, auto-naming of recorded files, Windows Explorer integration and more.

Text To Speech Live Player is a text-to-speech translator that lets you listen to text in documents, web pages, email messages and more. Listening to web pages is as easy as selecting the text and choosing the Speak option from the right click menu. The program also integrates with the MS Word toolbar, providing one-click access to listen to any document and you can also listen to entire text files by using a new right-click option in Windows Explorer. The Text To Speech Live Player uses TruVoice and can read aloud 10 languages. The audio can be saved into .txt files and .rtf files, as well as to MP3 , allowing you to save the spoken text as an audio file.

TalkItTypeIt uses Voice Recognition Technology to translate spoken words into typed text. You can use it with any windows software and dictate the text via your microphone to have the software automatically type it for you. TalkItTypeIt can be used with text editors, word processors, email messages and any other window that allows typed text input. It supports custom vocabulary, punctuation, emails and URLs. The system is easy to use and works, however it may require extensive training and favorable environment conditions (no noise) as well as a good microphone. During our review, it only worked well for a portion of the dictated text - many words or sentences were misinterpreted, however this may improve with a couple hours of training, using the provided MS Voice Training Wizard. Give it a try.

Cynthia is a hands-free intercom software for instant voice connections between computers over a network. Cynthia is easy to use and uses voice commands to initiate conversations. If Charles wants to speak with Wayne, Charles says to his computer, Cynthia, call Wayne, and Waynes Cynthia (the software's synthetic voice) speaks to him saying, Charles is calling. If Wayne says, Yes, Cynthia, then they are connected and can speak to each other. When they're finished, either one can say Cynthia, disconnect. Thats all there is to it! Additional features include room monitoring, simultaneous conferences among multiple users, and voice paging. Communication is established through existing LAN connections and there is no limit to the number of computers which can be connected or to the number of simultaneous conversations. A mouse-driven GUI is also available for users who prefer it over voice commands.

GearVox is a talking time and e-mail notification utility. it can periodically check your POP account for new mail and announce the sender and subject via Microsoft Agent s voice characters. GearVox will remember the state of your POP e-mail between sessions. In addition, the program can be used to announce the system time. The core features, speaking time, e-mail sender and subject for one account are free and will never expire. Requires MS Agent.

OESpeaker is a simple program, that adds a Speak button to the top toolbar of Outlook Express. You can then select any email message, click on speak and it will read the email aloud. The program is straightforward and simple to use. You can adjust the volume as well as the reading speed.