audio-book
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Text to Audiobook free script
The idea of being able to select text and have it automatically converted into an audiobook using text-to-speech isn't a new one, but it is a good one. I mean, who doesn't love the idea of being able to take longer text on the road with you and listen to it in the car or on the bus? Well, if you loved the idea as much as I did, but didn't think you'd be using it enough to justify coughing up some dough for it, you're in luck. Over at Mac OS X Hints, user miketyson has created a script that will add a service to your Mac's Services menu. The new service, which is appropriately called Speak to iTunes Audiobook, allows you to select a body of text and automatically have it converted into an audiobook, then have it imported straight into iTunes. In testing the script works as advertised. My only quibble is that the clipped audiobooks don't get any sort of meaningful name given to them. They are simply named Speech 1, Speech 2, etc. If the script was smart enough to look at the title of the document the text was being clipped from and generate a title from that, this would be a killer utility. But that's really only a minor complaint considering the heavy lifting this little script actually accomplishes. And heck, if you find yourself using it, you might consider going back and giving GhostReader a second look.
Nokia Beta Labs releases Audiobooks app
Entrenching its Nseries devices just a little deeper in the wide world of multimedia, Nokia's Beta Labs group has released its Audiobooks application which -- you guessed it -- plays audio books. The phone app itself works on pretty much any S60 3rd Edition device and reads books encoded using AMR-WB (read: optimized for the spoken word and very well compressed). A matching Windows-based app comes with the setup, too, enabling users to convert files to the AMR-WB format and compile 'em all into individual chapters. It's available now from the Beta Labs site; of course, you'll want to be careful on account of the whole "beta" thing, but it looks pretty solid so far.
