AudioDizer received great reviews in a recent article written by Steve Smith of MinOnline.com. The article titled “Tech Review Gives voice to iPhone Apps” reviews the various features provided by the app and how the audio podcasts give it some very unique flavor.
Here are some direct quotes:
Not surprisingly, the MIT-owned Technology Review stays ahead of the curve when it comes to smartphone apps…But then the TR crew tosses in an unexpected and rare feature – voice narration.
The one novel feature in TR’s app is voice. Using text-to-voice synthesis, any article can be read to the user. A simple Listen button activates the feature, and all of the major stories are accessible for easy playback in the Playlist area.
Listening to the stories in a lean-back or hands-free environment really requires more basic audio playback tools and track management. The synthesized voice is quite good, however, which only makes us wish the feature had been developed more fully.
The author also mentions how he would like to see more “customizable” audio features (e.g. being able to pause, play, save, and create a more personalized playlist) which is great feedback for us.
Oh and please download the MIT Technology Review iPhone App!
Thanks for your support!
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We have a new audio podcast sponsorship with National Instruments through MIT Technology Review. They are featuring an audio white paper as well as sponsoring all files under the “Computing” section.
Here is the text of the audio we creating:
With NI LabVIEW graphical programming tools and NI customizable off the shelf hardware, transform an idea into a functional prototype in weeks rather than months. Learn more at http://www.ni.com/prototyping.
You can listen to the audio white paper on by following the link: http://www.audiodizer.com/technologyreview/specialreports/NIWP/26982.mp3
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Recently Folio Magazine profiled six key tools that improve user experience, engagement, and secure new revenue. The magazines that were profiled included:
- Backpacker.com - for their GearFinder service
- Inc.com. - for their Business Valuations Calculator
- MIT Technology Review - for Text to speech podcasts (powered by AudioDizer aka us!)
- Parenting.com - for their Birthday Cake Planner
- Kiplinger.com - for their Tax Withholding Calculator
- Hearst - for their Virtual Beauty Makeover
Kathleen Kennedy, Chief Strategy Officer of MIT Technology Review had some great quotes about our service (from Folio Magazine):
]]>Why read a story when you can listen to it instead? That’s the question Technology Review, a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answered when it began utilizing technology that converts the magazine’s text articles into audio podcasts that can be downloaded to an iPod or MP3 player.
“Technology Review has a menu at the top of every article with a button that allows the user to either listen to the article on a flash player or download it to their MP3 player,” says chief strategy officer Kathleen Kennedy. “Readers love the flexibility of being able to download articles to their MP3 players to listen to articles on-the-go.”
The text-to-audio tool launched on TechnologyReview.com in 2007 and was developed in partnership with AudioDizer, an MIT-founded start-up. It monitors the site’s RSS feed to determine when new articles are published and converts the text to audio. “AudioDizer’s voice engine breaks down a word into a set of sounds that when pieced together sounds like the real word,” Kennedy explains. “We offer a variety of customizable features including male and female voices, languages and music that is mashed up with a sponsorship message to create each file.”
The magazine says it has seen podcast downloads grow exponentially from around 18,000 to more than 350,000 per month. Kennedy says that while users access the podcasts free of charge, the magazine’s revenue source comes from selling sponsorships. Technology Review has a combination licensing/revenue sharing agreement with AudioDizer and revenues “exceed costs,” says Kennedy.
Hal Varian says newspapers need to “experiment, experiment, experiment” with the new platforms and online in order to try and stop the decline that has been going on since 1985.
You can read the full article on Google’s Public Policy Blog
]]>(PRWEB) March 1, 2010 — As a leading source of science and technology news, PhysOrg.com continually offers its readers cutting-edge ways to stay up to date on the latest research. Now PhysOrg is making it even easier for readers to keep up with science breakthroughs while away from the computer.
A screenshot of the PhysOrg iPhone App (Full version).
A screenshot of the PhysOrg iPhone App (Full version).
PhysOrg is introducing three new high-tech ways for readers to wirelessly stay in touch with the news on its website. Starting now, readers can read PhysOrg stories on the iPhone with new PhysOrg apps, listen to podcasts through iTunes on any MP3 player, and read stories on the Amazon Kindle.
“With 1.75 million readers every month, PhysOrg hopes to offer a mobile reading option for everyone. These wireless services are ideal for people commuting by train, plane or carpooling.”
“With 1.75 million readers every month, PhysOrg hopes to offer a mobile reading option for everyone,” said Alexander Pol, Managing Editor of PhysOrg.com. “These wireless services are ideal for people commuting by train, plane or carpooling.”
PhysOrg iPhone App
Although iPhones, PDAs, and other devices have always been able to access a mobile version (http://www.physorg.com/help/physorg-mobile/) of PhysOrg.com, the new iPhone app is designed to make it even easier for iPhone users to read the text on the small screen, as well as offer other features.
The PhysOrg iPhone app comes in two versions: a “Lite” (free) version itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/physorg-com-news-lite/id356443503?mt=8 and a “Full” (paid) version itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/physorg-com-news/id356448743?mt=8 , both of which are ad-free. The “Lite” version allows readers to browse the top 10 daily news stories on PhysOrg.com. Readers may rate, bookmark and share favorite stories via Twitter or email directly using the app. Readers can also read stories in offline or “airplane” mode.
The “Full” version offers these features as well, but includes all PhysOrg stories in all categories. Readers may customize content by selecting their favorite categories, which include physics, technology, earth science, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space, biology and chemistry.
Readers can download the “Lite” and “Full” PhysOrg apps from the Apple App store. For more information about the apps (including a video demonstration), visit http://www.physorg.com/help/iphone/ .
PhysOrg Text-to-Speech Audio Podcasts
Every day, about 40 of the top PhysOrg stories (called “Spotlight News”) are converted into text-to-speech (T2S) podcasts. You can listen to the podcasts online by clicking the speaker icon next to the story, manually download the podcasts into your MP3 player through an RSS feed, or subscribe to the podcasts via iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/audiodizer-physorg-com-spotlight/id348735233). The T2S conversion process is powered by AudioDizer, an MIT-student-founded company. AudioDizer takes the podcast experience to the next level by using multiple voices, different accents, and music to enhance the listening experience. For more information on PhysOrg podcasts, visit http://www.physorg.com/help/audio/ .
PhysOrg on the Kindle
Readers can subscribe to PhysOrg stories through the Amazon Kindle e-reader through two feeds. The “Spotlight News” feed offers the top 40 or so stories of the day (the same stories that are converted to podcasts). Readers who are primarily interested in a specific subject can subscribe to one of five channel feeds, which provide all stories in that subject. The five channel feeds are Space and Earth, Technology and Electronics, Biology and Chemistry, Physics and Nanotechnology, and Medicine and Health. Already, PhysOrg has more than 350 Kindle subscribers, and the number is growing rapidly. For more information and to download PhysOrg feeds on the Kindle, visit http://www.physorg.com/help/physorg-kindle/ .
About PhysOrg.com
PhysOrg.com™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics. These include physics, earth science, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and other sciences and technologies. Launched in 2004, PhysOrg’s readership has grown steadily to include 1.75 million scientists, researchers, and engineers every month. PhysOrg publishes approximately 100 quality articles every day, offering some of the most comprehensive coverage of sci-tech developments world-wide. Quancast 2009 includes PhysOrg in its list of the Global Top 2,000 Websites. PhysOrg community members enjoy access to many personalized features such as social networking, a personal home page set-up, RSS/XML feeds, article comments and ranking, the ability to save favorite articles, a daily newsletter, and other options.
]]>- Steven Brill, Co-Founder, Journalism Online
- Bruce Campbell, President, Digital Media and Corporate Development, Discovery Communications
- Rio Caraeff, CEO, Vevo
- Josh Cohen, Senior Business Product Manager, Google News
- Shawn Colo, Co-Founder, Demand Media
- Bart Decrem, Co-Founder and CEO, Tapulous
- Kenneth ‘KC’ Estenson, Senior Vice President and GM, CNN.com
- Richard Greenfield, Co-Head, Pali Research
- Rob Grimshaw, Managing Director, FT.com
- David Hyman, CEO, Mog
- Cella Irvine, President and CEO, The About Group
- Patrick Keane, CEO, Associated Content
- John Kosner, Senior VP and GM, ESPN Digital Media
- James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., Vice President, Principal Analyst
- Marty Moe, SVP, AOL Money & Finance
- Martin Nisenholtz, Senior Vice President, Digital Operations, The New York Times
- Janet L. Robinson, President and Chief Executive Officer, The New York Times Company
- Hilary Schneider, Executive VP, Yahoo! North America
- Quincy Smith, Partner, Code Advisors
- Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times
- John Squires, Managing Director, Next Issue Media
- Devin Wenig, Chief Executive Officer, Markets, Thomson Reuters
To learn more about the conference, check out the PaidContent.org conference website
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PhysOrg.com™, a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics, is now offering AudioDizer text to speech podcasts for every article. The podcasts are available to download on PhysOrg.com (in the article menu bar) as well as on iTunes.
To learn more about the audio program please visit the “about the audio page” on PhysOrg.com.
To advertise within these articles please contact us at bizdev@audiodizer.com
About PhysOrg:
PhysOrg.com™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics. These include physics, earth science, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and other sciences and technologies. Launched in 2004, PhysOrg’s readership has grown steadily to include 1.75 million scientists, researchers, and engineers every month. PhysOrg publishes approximately 100 quality articles every day, offering some of the most comprehensive coverage of sci-tech developments world-wide. Quancast 2009 includes PhysOrg in its list of the Global Top 2,000 Websites. PhysOrg community members enjoy access to many personalized features such as social networking, a personal home page set-up, RSS/XML feeds, article comments and ranking, the ability to save favorite articles, a daily newsletter, and other options.
]]>Read the full article here: http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-forecast-online-will-take-more-ad-dollars-than-newspapers-by-2015/
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Ford Sync is now advertising on AudioDizer podcasts through MIT Technology Review. Ford Sync is sponsoring the Transportation Brief - a series of articles on the impact of technology on transportation and fossil fuels:
]]>Transportation defines our civilization. Where we live and work, the structure of our cities, the flow of global commerce–all have been shaped by transportation technologies. But modern transportation’s reliance on fossil fuels cannot be sustained. Passenger planes, trains, and automobiles were responsible for nearly four billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2005–about 14 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted globally that year. If we continue to rely almost exclusively on petroleum to power these vehicles, they will be responsible for 11 billion to 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2050. That’s because developing nations–which are home to 82 percent of the world’s population and will be responsible for 98 percent of population growth in coming years–are on the verge of mass motorization.
1. Tracking your audience - figure out what types of content users are really looking for and build your service around that.
2. Involve advertisers early in the creative process - sometimes advertisers are trying to solve similar problems and by leveraging their branding you can address multiple issues.
You can read the full article here: The Do’s And Don’ts Of Creating Original Video
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