Text-to-Speech

iPad and iPod Touch application developers have recently created several programs which help aid the learning and development for children with autism. The success and usability of many of these programs has not only offered a new platform to help autistic children with their education, but can also offer much-needed relief to their parents. Autistic children are said to be adapting to these iPad programs like ducks to water, whilst the supervising parents can finally get some quiet time for a cup of coffee or to simply read the newspaper in peace. Read More

Shortly available for consumer beta, LookTel is a smartphone object recognition package which is intended to help the visually impaired correctly identify such things as money, CD titles, landmarks and so on. An image captured by the phone's camera is sent to a PC which then quickly scans through a database and when a match is made, the result is returned to the phone and spoken to the user. Sighted user assist, a handy text-to-speech function and guided interface control also feature. Read More

BlueAnt Wireless is about to release a Bluetooth headset which promises to deliver clear audio even in winds of up to 22 mph. The T1 headset also benefits from a durable design and protective silicon covers, a text-to-speech engine which announces incoming callers and audio setup guides. Read More

First seen at this year's CES in Las Vegas, Samsung's entry into the e-Reader market has now been made official. The device offers much of what we've all come to expect from an electronic reader such as e-Ink display and WiFi but, thanks to a deal with Barnes & Noble, users will have access to over a million book titles, magazines and newspapers. Read More

Garmin has introduced the newest member of its Zumo family of motorcycle-oriented GPS navigators, the Zumo 220. Coming on the heels of the CES 2010 announcement of the top-of-line Zumo 665 with XM capability, the Zumo 220 rounds out the series offering key features at a more affordable price. The new unit sports a touchscreen interface in a rugged, waterproof, and fuel-proof housing. Navigation features include text-to-speech directions, “lane assist” guidance, and on-road/off-road modes. Although it is less fully-featured compared to the Zumo 550 or 665, the Zumo 220 does feature Bluetooth headset capability, a MicroSD memory card slot, and improved battery life. Read More

Mobile device convergence is accelerating like crazy, with a new breed of smartphones packing enough power to run an impressive range of software. And some of these mobile applications are getting pretty freakin' amazing - take Ray Kurzweil's kReader for Symbian, which allows blind or illiterate folk to point their phone camera at printed words and have them spoken aloud. Sakhr has gone a step further with an Arabic Spoken Translator for Blackberry devices. You speak English or Arabic into your handset, it transcribes, translates and speaks your phrase back in the other language, breaking down the language barrier in one fell swoop. Read More

LG’s wristwatch videophone that first piqued our interest when it appeared at CES 2009 has been given a release date. Dick Tracy wannabes will be able to live out their fantasies when the LG-GD910 Touch Watch Phone goes on sale from July. The GD-910 will initially be exclusively available through Orange UK and Carphone Warehouse before hitting Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Latin America. There’s no announcement as to whether a yellow coat and fedora will be included with the Touch Watch Phone. Read More

Over at The Mobiler, we’ve taken a glimpse at what Google has in store with Android 2.0, also known as “Donut”. In the first keynote at Google’s I/O conference Google has managed to whet our appetites with a number of Donut’s new features including universal search and a text-to-speech API. Read More

Mobile phones and laptop computers have made traditional 9-to-5 workdays a thing of the past for many workers. That ability to work from any location, however, can be a double-edged sword. The flexibility to be freed from the office also means that work is increasingly encroaching on people’s recreation time, as they find they are never really off the clock. That situation looks set to worsen, or improve, depending on your perspective, with the introduction of the Golden-i from Kopin Corporation. The Golden-i is a Bluetooth headset that provides a 15-inch virtual display with a hands-free, natural-speech-recognition interface for wireless remote control over a range of devices including mobile phones, PCs, company networks and wireless systems. Read More