The PocketBook InkPad 4 is an eReader with a 7.8 inch, 1404 x 1872 pixel E Ink Carta 1200 greyscale display featuring 300 pixels per inch. It has a font-light with support for brightness and color temperature adjustments, and the InkPad 4 has a G-sensor for automatic screen rotation. In other words, it’s a device […]
text to speech
Lilbits: MNT Pocket Reform modular mini-laptop to sell for around $900
The MNT Pocket Reform is a mini-laptop with a modular design that lets you pick your processor module. It features a 7 inch full HD display, an ortholinear 60-key keyboard with mechanical switches, a trackball, and an open hardware design. Made by the folks behind the 12.5 inch MNT Reform notebook, the MNT Pocket Reform […]
Google Assistant now reads web pages aloud to you
Google Assistant already lets you interact with many gadgets using just your voice to play music, check appointments, get weather forecasts, and much more. Now you can also use it to “read” web pages. Google has announced a new “OK Google, read this page” option that will let the company’s virtual assistant software read web […]
Google Go app can read web pages aloud to you (Android Go Edition devices only)
As promised, Google has released an update to the Google app for Android Go Edition devices that can read web pages aloud, letting you listen to the web with your ears rather than reading with your eyes. The new Google Go app is available from the Play Store, and folks with Go Edition phones should […]
Video: Make your own Kindle Audio Adapter for text-to-speech (or buy one for $20)
The last Amazon Kindle eReader to feature a headphone jack and speaker that worked with Amazon’s text-to-speech software was the 2011-era Kindle Touch. But if you have a recent Kindle, you can still have it read text-only books aloud to you. It just takes a little extra hardware… and a bit more patience. Amazon sells […]
DIY audio adapter for Amazon Kindle text-to-speech
Amazon recently launched an Audio Adapter for the Kindle Paperwhite that allows you to plug in a pair of headphones and use Amazon’s VoiceView feature. Not only does VoiceView read eBooks aloud to you using Amazon’s text-to-speech engine, but it also provides audible navigation cues, helping visually-impaired users to interact with their Kindles. The Audio Adapter […]
Kindle text-to-speech could make a comeback with Kindle Oasis
Amazon’s Kindle eReaders used to include support for text-to-speech, allowing you to plug in a pair of headphones or use a built-in speaker to listen to a computer voice read books out loud to you. But Amazon hasn’t released a Kindle with those features since 2011. Now it looks like text-to-speech may be making a […]
How Google got its (new) voice
Google’s search apps have been able to listen to your voice and respond with speech for years. Want to get directions to your next appointment? Google Maps can read them to you out loud. Wondering what the capital of New Zealand is? Ask Google Search and the app will tell you it’s Wellington. But while […]
Android Text To Speech update improves voice quality
Google has released an update to its Text-to-speech app for Android, and it removes the “high quality” voices the company introduced earlier this year. Don’t worry though… they’re only gone because Google says its standard voices now sound better than the high quality voices they replace (although some users disagree). They also take up a […]
Amazon acquires text-to-speech software maker Ivona for use in Kindle products
Ivona Software offers a range of text-to-speech software for PCs and mobile devices. The company currently offers 44 different voices in 17 languages, and they pretty much all sound better than the default voice that reads you driving directions or answers your questions on your smartphone. Amazon has been using Ivona voices to power text-to-speech […]