Speakapedia for Mac makes Wikipedia speak
updated 08:20 pm EDT, Wed July 16, 2008
Speakapedia for Mac
Shiny Development has released Speakapedia 1.0, a Mac utility that converts WIkipedia articles into spoken words, and "seamlessly manages them as tracks" in iTunes. The application uses an article's main photo for iTunes album art. The utility allows knowledge-hungry users to "listen" to articles on their Macs and iPods, and has obvious benefits for those who are sight-impiared.
Shiny Development says the application uses Apple's new "Alex" speaking voice included in Mac OS X 10.5. Speakapedia automatically filters out "non-essential" text, so the narrative sounds more like it's being read by a real person. Users can also select specific portions of an article to be read aloud.
Speakapedia is available for download at the "introductory price" of $10 through the end of August when the price goes up to $15. Speakapedia requires a Power PC or Intel Mac running OS X 10.5 or higher.
