speed reading
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Sound off! Do you use any speed-reading apps?
Speed-reading apps seem like the new weather apps. There are tons of different examples to choose from and they tout benefits that range from better memory retention to more free time and even healthier, shinier hair (one of those may not be totally true). So, have you used one to take your reading skills from average speed to ludicrous speed? Head over to the Engadget forums and share your experiences.
Spritz's speed-reading tech shows up to 1,000 words a minute, makes its debut on Samsung devices
Two weeks ago, we were so busy getting hands-on with the new Samsung GS5 and Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch that an exclusive app for the two devices flew completely under our radar. That "app," as we call it, isn't really an app at all: it's Spritz's speed-reading technology, and if all goes according to plan, it will soon be embedded into loads of websites, apps and wearables devices. For now, though, the tech is making is debut on the GS5 and the Gear 2, with a public SDK set to come out in a few weeks.
Speed-reading app ReadQuick shrinks down for iPhone
How much do you read in a day? Is there a backed-up queue of articles, documents and stories that you'd tackle if you had more time -- or if you could read more quickly? ReadQuick, a US$4.99 iOS app produced by the husband and wife / TV journalist team of Clayton and Natali Morris and programmed by Pablo Quinterros, aims to up your reading speed gracefully. The new version adds iPhone support, a longstanding request from fans. The original version of ReadQuick, launched last year to generally solid reviews, was only available on the iPad. It features an accessible, sleek interface (if you like Instapaper, one of ReadQuick's content sources, you'll like the Wondersauce-designed RQ look) and the ability to adjust reading speed from the default 250 words per minute down to a plodding 100 WPM or up to a blazing 800 WPM. The app delivers stories from Pocket, Instapaper or a collection of featured specialist, news and tech sites in a very specific way: one - word - at - a - time. You get a preview of how long reading the story will take, helping to optimize your reading time. There's also a "timed playlist" feature, checking how long your full set of stories will take to read, and a statistics page with your reading performance. This chunked content delivery -- an implementation of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, or RSVP -- has shown promise in some research contexts for improving reading speed without a proportional drop in comprehension. For me personally, RQ is a great way to enforce focus and attention on what I'm reading; if I look away, daydream or get distracted, I'm going to miss something. Aside from feeling like you can only blink one eye at a time, it's actually quite immersive. The iPhone version is just as effective as the iPad; in fact, the smaller screen makes the single-word UI seem more appropriate. ReadQuick is a solid combination of brain training and handy story aggregation. For the cost of a grande latte, you can try to widen your personal information bandwidth, and who couldn't use an upgrade?
Speed Reading for slowpokes
Most of us can't read Japanese at all, let alone fast enough to be tested. Dr. Akihiro Kawamura of the Speed Reading Committee won't have any such incompetence with DS owners today, and came up with training methods to become a master of speed reading. That is, reading Japanese, which we can't comprehend in the first place. How about speed looking?Still, there's got to be some fluent Fanboy readers out there just itching to shave some seconds off their record recitals of the latest Kanji literature. The game teaches masterful reading through mini-games and a good old-fashioned timer. Expect Speed Reading DS to rocket up the North American sales charts!
BookMuncher software enables speed-reading on your mobile
Having e-reader functionality on your mobile or handheld certainly isn't new, but a British company is developing software that will reportedly allow you to breeze through War and Peace at an astounding "300 words-per-minute." The company utilizes Rapid Serial Visualization Presentation (RSVP) to display text in "word by word" fashion mid-screen, which forces your brain to simply "absorb" the word rather than read and then subvocalize (that's the real time waster, folks) before moving on. The company claims that the science behind the speed-reading revolution is "word shape recognition," which differs from the relationship between letters that we're used to looking for. While there's no set release date nor price for the mobile version, a comparable PC-ready version goes for £20 ($38), and we're sure this miracle-working software will have you blasting through Engadget's front page in just a matter of milliseconds whenever it becomes available.
