goofyretwar

Is there a way to listen to books on the X50v

Don't Panic!

Audible makes a book reader but it 's not so much actually reading the text as it is playing a tape. Here's a link to the Audible webpage. I haven't seen anything on the Text to Speech front for Pocket PCs.

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goofyretwar

I will look into it.

MleB

Actually, there are a number of sites that produce 'free' audio books (essentially just a MP3) that, as Don't Panic! notes above, is more like a tape or CD recording rather than a text to audio reader.

Like -

http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/screen_main.asp


Then any MP3 player on your PDA (Windows Media, WinAmp, etc) will be able to do playback.


Oh, and Don't Panic! - 42.

arshield

There are also a few authors that are podcasting their books like Cory Dockhow. www.craphound.com

X51V_User

Anyone know of a program to read text(text to speech software).
I know the PC version of Acrobat has this feature, but not the ppc version.

I use TTS Browser on my laptop to read stories in html format.
Looking for something similar for my X51V.

ksong12

do a search on www.freewareppc.com. there was one free. It doesnt work as well for long things, but it works. You just have to copy and paste into the window.

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ksong12

ah yes, i found it, its called Flite.

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ksong12

ok, heres the link, its freeware, it doesnt sound that great, but hey, its not too bad!

http://www.freewareppc.com/multimedia/flite.shtml

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psudo

Search for cepstarl on google.It is one of better ones.On there home page seach for WIN CE compiatble voices.

doverholser

Their are several text to speech programs on the market.
www.Textaloud.com
www.readingmadeeasy.com
They are just two. They use AT&T voices that are the most human I have heard yet. These programs will read the book to you and will also create a wav. mp3. etc.
My two boys are dyslexic and I have been watching this software developing for a long time now. We are turning their text books to text and then making an mp3. or wav.
The voices available are male or female, Indian accent, British accent, etc. The voices come in several languages.
Cepstral is a good sourse and so is AT&T.
Also try www.nextup.com . You can find TextAloud there and get voices from several vendors.

psudo

Originally Posted by doverholser

Their are several text to speech programs on the market. www.Textaloud.com www.readingmadeeasy.com They are just two. They use AT&T voices that are the most human I have heard yet. These programs will read the book to you and will also create a wav. mp3. etc. My two boys are dyslexic and I have been watching this software developing for a long time now. We are turning their text books to text and then making an mp3. or wav. The voices available are male or female, Indian accent, British accent, etc. The voices come in several languages. Cepstral is a good sourse and so is AT&T. Also try www.nextup.com . You can find TextAloud there and get voices from several vendors.

Yes AT&T voices are amazing but do they have pocket PC version like cepstral?

doverholser

Cepstral is the only one that makes a ppc version that I have found.
I don't need to use a ppc voice since I turn the text into speech (MP3) and play it on my Axim as you would play any other recorded MP3 file.

X51V_User

Thanks for all the info.

I checked out Cepstral. The demo/trial version seems to quit when the ppc goes into suspend, forcing me to reload and find where it left off. The price is also make more than I will to spend on a simple text to speech software.

Neospeech mentions support for pppc, but I didnt see a trial or price on their site.

Flite just crashes if I paste in a story.

I guess I will stick to my current (time consuming) method.
1. Use MS TTS engine (free load) to read.
2. Use Audacity to record and convert to mp3.

This is the book I am currently reading.
http://sennadar.plebian.net/

doverholser

The Voices on average cost about $30 each (range $25---$35).
TextAloud runs about $30. You would need the AT&T engine that comes with two voices (1 male and 1 female)which cost about $30.
Yes I agree the prices are higher then I would pay if I didn't have to have this software to assist my son's.
I have written these company's and suggested they lower their prices on voices to about $10 each. Also that their software should be $30 or less.
These company's are in the infant stage right now and are trying to increase their customer base. Reducing the voice cost would cause people to experiment with different voices. The more satisfied the customer the more word spreads about the company.
Well X51V User sorry I wasn't more help. Like all things tech prices will come down and the products will get better. So don't give up. You might be surprised what you find in 6mos to a year from now.