Now Your Treo Can “SayIt”
Toysoft Inc., the best selling mytreo.net Star Developer, has released a cool new utility called SayIt. The program hooks into your other Treo applications, such as SMS, email and instant messaging (among others), and reads text out loud.
Like most computer generated speech programs, SayIt employs a somewhat tinny and robotic voice. The voice is acceptably clear. However, it does not pause at commas or pay great attention to other punctuation.
The program is great for reading text messages. SayIt begins by speaking the name of the sender, and then reads the text. If you have time stamping turned on, it will also read the time and date. (Dates are read as one long number. So May 19, 2006 or 5/19/2006 sounds like, “5192006.”)
SayIt adds a button inside applications so that text-to-speech can be initiated easily. Toysoft plans to change this approach and use an option in drop-down menus instead, because beta testers have complained that buttons interfere with other options of applications.
Perhaps more amusing than of practical value, SayIt can read complete emails and documents easily and intelligibly. It cannot be used for e-books because SayIt can only read text that will fit in the Treo’s clipboard.
This is definitely a program to watch.
Related Links
Download SayIt
Discuss Treo utilities in the forum.
Visit the Toysoft Star Developer forum.
Filed under: Software reviews
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Can It also read the DateBook windows associated with the alarm ??
Hi to all
One MAJOR enhancement they need to do, in order to really make this a great application, is…
…when in VersaMail, if no text is selected, automatically skip the header stuff and just read the body text of the email. When driving, I can’t be looking down and fumbling with a stylus to try and select the text to read aloud. But if it can do that automatically, how great to have your emails read to you while you are driving to and from the office, etc.!!!
The voice is terrible! It sounds so like 1960’s Science fiction or a Darlek “I-am-a-robot-I-come-to-kill-all-humaanns”! Other than that great! Cannot they not team up with someone like Natural Voices or AT&T? With them now you can choose accents and gender for voices. Still I would have to say this is going to be a much needed addition to Treo. Especially for those who drive and want their smartphone to talk messages and those who want to translate documents. There is software now that translates pdf to mp3 (you’d have to use a PC to do it) very handy again for briefing yourself on long journeys or if you are dyslexic. So I look forward very much to the developments of this software. Good price too.
I HAVE VERIZON SERVICE & I’M PURCHASING A NEW TREO TOMORROW WHICH IS BETTER THE 700w OR THE 700p?
I have had a stroke, so consequently have difficulty speaking clearly. I had been looking around for some software and a handheld to use to help me speak.
I will have ths software and palm arrive tomorrow!
I think that works only in english, so for the spanish guys? nothing to do?