NextUp.com News

TextAloud toolbar for FireFox 3 Released

Tue, 6 May 2008 15:51:43 -0400

The latest version of TextAloud now includes FireFox toolbar/extension for FireFox version 3.
http://nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

InfoVox Desktop Pro from Acapela now available

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:48:48 -0400

While we've offered Acapela voice for TextAloud for a long time, we often get requests for open, SAPI compatible versions of these voice that will work with any program. We now have these available, and are the sole US distributor of InfoVox Desktop Pro.
http://www.nextup.com/infovox.html

GhostReader for Mac now available

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:48:32 -0400

We are happy to announce we are now offering ConvienceWare's GhostReader for Mac. Like TextAloud, this product allows you to take any text and create audio files for easy portable listening. It is available with high quality Acapela Voices.
http://www.nextup.com/mac.html

TextAloud with iTunes/iPod/iPhone integration

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:48:15 -0400

We've done an upgrade of TextAloud to include iTunes integration, allowing TextAloud to automatically add TextAloud created audio files to a playlist in iTunes, making it easy to sync to mp3 players.
http://www.nextup.com/itunes.html

13 New TextAloud Voices from Acapela

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 10:28:57 -0400

We are proud to offer 13 new voices from Acapela Group, including new High Quality voice in German, British, French, Canadian French, and others. New supported languages include European Portuguese, Mexican Spanish, Danish, Czech, Faroese, Icelandic, Finnish, and Turkish
http://nextup.com/acapela.html

Cancer Survivor Overcomes Voice Loss with NextUp Talker

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 09:13:33 -0400

In April of 2007, husband and wife Chuck and May Rone received the difficult news that May had cancer -- and that the treatment would necessitate the loss of her tongue and voice box to surgery. The couple took the news with courage and optimism, and decided to explore technology options to help speak for May. Most importantly, they wanted something that could also preserve the sound of her voice in memorable phrases and statements. Their search quickly led them to NextUp Talker (http://www.Talkforme.com), an easy-to-use program from the Text to Speech experts at NextUp Technologies. NextUp Talker offers a unique and affordable software solution for those suffering voice loss to communicate in spoken voice once again, simply by using an ordinary Windows computer or laptop.

Planning ahead for their life after the surgery, Chuck bought his wife a voice recorder, and had her make voice notes of important little phrases such as "Good morning," and "I love you," as well as statements that would be vital in the days to come, such as "I'm in pain." "I never wanted to forget how her voice sounded!" he comments. Working with the voice recorder, Chuck quickly discovered the power of Text to Speech software and chose NextUp Talker to aid May in speech replacement after her surgery.

Unlike other technology products that are often prohibitively expensive for many users, NextUp Talker offers an affordable solution to the voiceless - and with a free 30-day trial that anyone can download and evaluate immediately, via http://www.Talkforme.com. If users then decide to purchase NextUp Talker, natural-sounding voices are available in a wide range of genders, ages, accents, and approaches, for a Text to Speech solution that's truly "conversational."

"All this was new to me," Chuck comments. Researching as many options as he could, he called on several companies selling Text to Speech devices. "One well-known company took a week to return my call," he adds, "while another demonstrated their products for us but left us unimpressed. The technology was very highly priced, was difficult to operate, and not very mobile." Chuck and May finally decided on NextUp Talker as the best, simplest and most affordable option, choosing the NeoSpeech voice "Kate" from the premium voices available. "We installed the program, and WOW! You could type in the program and it would 'talk!'" he enthuses. "Best of all, NextUp Talker and NeoSpeech are far superior to all the other options we had explored, and there is no comparison to cost, as well."

May's surgery was a success, and during her recovery she quickly became accustomed to using the program on a UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) running Microsoft Vista. Easy to install and use with "Kate," the NeoSpeech voice of her choice, NextUp Talker allowed May to supplement her speech loss with computer speech with ease. Chuck, wanting to make sure he used the program to its full potential, also turned to help from NextUp Talker's tech support, and was highly pleased with the process. "I needed help integrating May's prerecorded and predefined phrases, as well as getting used to the shortcut keys and other aspects," comments Chuck. "Here, I have to acknowledge Jim Bretti of NextUp Talker support, who was fast to respond, and very smart. I have never received such support from any company as I have from Jim."

Chuck and May soon began using NextUp Talker on an ongoing basis with extraordinary success. The program empowered May with the ability to continue to speak aloud, and for Chuck to continue to hear her voice every day, even after voice loss.

"My wife can now talk to her doctors, family and friends, make phone calls, go shopping and carry on as close to a normal life as possible," adds Chuck. "We are very thankful for the people who have put so much time and effort into NextUp Talker. I would recommend the program to anyone who has a voice impairment. NextUp Talker has made our lives a whole lot better!"

NextUp Talker was specifically designed for use in conversation, offering pleasant and "conversational" speech and working easily with either mouse or keyboard. Easy-to-use shortcuts for common words or phrases help the user adapt to their own style and speech. The program can even insert actual sound files along with speech, helping to make kids more comfortable in talking with an adult using a computer to speak.

NextUp Talker is priced at just $99.95, and is compatible with Windows® Vista, XP, 98, NT, 2000, or Tablet PCs. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.talkforme.com/. NextUp Talker comes with a pair of male and female premium voices from either AT&T Natural Voices™ or NeoSpeech® for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Additional premium voices offered optionally by NextUp.com include RealSpeak® and Acapela®.

TextAloud Brings Faith to Life for Listeners

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:22:37 -0400

The greatest power of Text to Speech lies in its ability to bring written words into sound - to entertain, educate, or, as is the case with many users, even to reconnect the listener with his or her faith. When a printed word becomes a spoken one, reading is no longer confined to a chair, but opened up to the world. Through Text to Speech and programs like TextAloud from NextUp Technologies (http://www.Nextup.com), the Bible, Scriptures or other religious works can now be enjoyed anywhere, bringing comfort and inspiration wherever the listener goes.

Using Foreign Voices with English text to get unique Accents

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:52:33 -0400

Using Foreign Voices with English text to get unique Accents

We did an experiment to see how voices designed for non-English languages would do with English text, and got some surprising results.
http://www.nextup.com/accents.html

TextAloud Helps Pilot to Soar in Studies

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:09:46 -0400

CLEMMONS, NC and and THE WOODLANDS, TX - As a United States Air Force pilot, Tom Schwarzkopf balances a busy schedule between flying, teaching, and family, a demanding enough task on its own. But until recently, Tom also had to fit learning and memorization time into the mix, during his study of advanced military doctrine at Air Command and Staff College. Luckily, he discovered Text to Speech software TextAloud from NextUp Technologies (http://www.Nextup.com), and the program was such an efficient tool that he directly credits TextAloud as the reason he was able to finish eighteen months of advanced military studies in just nine. Affordably priced at just $29.95, TextAloud is a Text to Speech program that installs in seconds, and converts text into spoken audio files for listening on a PC, Laptop, or MP3 player or other portable device. "The amount of retention I gained, as well as the amount of time I saved overall," Tom comments, "was unbelievable."

Tom first started using TextAloud three years ago when he was enrolled in Air Command and Staff College. "The study material was complex, mind-numbingly boring and incredibly immense, and with literally hundreds, if not thousands, of repeated acronyms to remember. It's easy to let your mind wander when you're reading that kind of thing visually." Instead, Tom looked for a better solution, and found one in TextAloud.

He found the program after doing a search on the Internet for text readers and chose TextAloud because of the program's wide assortment of available Premium voices. "I particularly liked the AT&T Natural Voices™ 'Crystal' voice, as it was a soft female voice without the typical computer persona." With TextAloud installed in minutes to his laptop, and Crystal to read to him, Tom dove into his studies, and was delighted to discover an almost immediate increase in his retention and understanding of even the most complex material.

He soon created a learning routine that worked for him, finding that reading his material while listening to it read aloud was the quickest way to comprehension and retention. "I would sit down in front of the computer in a comfortable chair, put on my earphones, open a lesson on the computer, and open the book at the same time. While following along in my book, I would listen to the words as they were being read to me by TextAloud." The speed at which TextAloud reads the text can be easily adjusted to fit the user's comfort zone, an advantage Tom used constantly. "I set the program's reading speed at the fastest level that I could still comfortably comprehend." Working this way vastly increased the efficiency of his study time. "Comprehension markedly improves when the material you study is backed up in your brain by more than one sensory input," he comments. "I was able to visually 'see' and hear the material all at once, learning and retaining more in far less time." He also liked having the ability to integrate the use of TextAloud into other programs such as Office and Explorer, as well.

Soon, Tom was even able to use the program to overcome another of his hurdles in military study -- the huge numbers of repeated acronyms present in the material. "I discovered that TextAloud can be easily configured to read the expanded versions of the acronyms every time," he comments, "so once I did this, I was able to reinforce my understanding of the material even further."

His new study methods also helped Tom to immerse himself in his learning without the constant household distractions of kids, pets, telephone, and more. A family man with three kids, two dogs, and a cat, Tom's exuberant surroundings could occasionally present challenges for someone seeking a little quiet study time. "I could put on my earphones and literally isolate myself from the outside world. Before using TextAloud, I was reading seven pages of material per hour with questionable retention. After introducing TextAloud into my study routine, I was able to complete seventeen pages of material every hour with clearly improved retention. I'm a firm believer in using TextAloud as a tool to improve the retention of facts and the efficiency of time." Using his new study approach, Tom finished eighteen months of advanced military study in just nine months.

"TextAloud allowed me to graduate from school very quickly. These schools were prerequisites to better jobs, promotions and better pay." He now recommends his approaches to others, including his children, and now even has students of his own. "I'm now an educator of sorts myself, an instructor pilot, and recommend my study techniques with TextAloud to others whenever I can. It took away the 'pain' of going to school, and significantly reduced the amount of time I've spent slouched over a book. It can do so for others, as well. TextAloud is an outstanding tool."

For Writer Carolyn Jewel, NextUp's TextAloud Provides an Essential Finishing Touch to the Novel-Writing Process

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:12:51 -0400

CLEMMONS, NC and PETALUMA, CA - California native Carolyn Jewel is the successful author of such historical and paranormal romance titles as Shards of Crimson, A Darker Crimson, The Spare, Lord Ruin, and Magellan's Witch (upcoming in 2008 from Grand Central Publishing). She is also a fan of Text to Speech, and chooses the TextAloud program near the end of the writing process as one of her most important proofing tools. Easy, affordable, and a breeze to use, TextAloud is a Text to Speech program from NextUp Technologies (http://www.NextUp.com) that converts text into spoken audio files for listening on a PC (or a wide variety of popular portable devices).

"At various times during the process of writing a novel, I use TextAloud to read my chapters to me," she comments. "This allows me to catch typos my eye has missed, or to find places where I need to tighten or clarify the language and dialogue." As she's listening, Carolyn keeps her chapter open in her word processing program at the same time, so that she can pause TextAloud's read-through in order to make instant edits. It's now become an essential part of her process for finishing each one of her books.

"Lots of writers recommend literally reading one's work aloud because it's a great way to catch clunky phrases and repetitive bits," says Carolyn. "I tried that once, but it's pretty hard on the voice, and it still doesn't solve the issue of your eyes and brain conspiring to 'fix' typos for you." She adds, "What I really wanted was for someone else to do all that reading! So, I tried out three or four text readers, and TextAloud proved to be the easiest to use, not to mention the most stable."

For the highest-quality listening experience, Carolyn purchased Premium voices, choosing as her favorites AT&T Natural Voices™ Mike and Crystal as the perfect solution. "Using the program is pretty simple. I copy and paste a chapter right into TextAloud, keeping my word processing file open to make fixes right away, and then put on my headphones. TextAloud doesn't miss those typos, and I'm able to fix them right away -- same with confusing phrases or other awkwardness."

A busy and successful novelist currently under contract for four more titles, Jewel is now working on her next historical romance, titled Scandal (for Berkley Books, with a tentative release date set for December 2008). "In the next month or so, I'll be at a point where I'll have Scandal read back to me as well," she comments.

Text to Speech can be a surprisingly strong tool for writers like Jewel, and even more so for writers working with unusual words and character names. "Several of my titles included some characters with unusual names (my hero in A Darker Crimson was a vampire named Tiberiu Korzha, for example) so I used the voice editor to tweak the pronunciation of his name as well as some others," comments Carolyn. "That way, the names fit with how I imagined they'd be spoken." She adds, "The most important thing is that TextAloud reads exactly what I wrote, mistakes and all, and that I can pause the reading to insert missing words or to fix typos. Hearing the work read aloud keeps me from supplying meaning that isn't really there."

Carolyn runs TextAloud on her laptop, a Dell Inspiron 8150, and her favorite aspect of the program is how unintimidating and easy to use it is, no matter what the level of expertise. "When I'm on deadline, I don't have time to fuss with figuring out how to do something," she comments. "I just need to be able to do it, preferably without wasting time that I should be spending finishing the book."

Carolyn is already at work on several titles to come, and TextAloud will be a part of that. "Having my work read back to me is a truly valuable tool."

About TextAloud
TextAloud has been featured in The New York Times, PC Magazine, Writer's Digest, on CNN, and more. Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows (R) 98, NT, 2000, XP and VISTA. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.nextup.com/purchase.html
.

NextUp.com also offers TextAloud with optional premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices (TM), NeoSpeech (R), Nuance (R), Acapela (R) and Cepstral (R) for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Available languages include US English, UK English, Indian Accent English, Scottish Accent English, French, Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, Castilian (European) Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Korean, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Belgian Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, and Arabic.

About NextUp.com
NextUp.com, a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC, provides award-winning Text to Speech software for consumers, business customers, educators, and those with visual or vocal impairment, or learning disabilities.

TextAloud helps Scrabble Champion spell Victory

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:12:25 -0400

TextAloud Helps Scrabble Champ Spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

View a PDF file for this press release

CLEMMONS, NC and OXFORD, ENGLAND - David S. is a retired U.K. computer programmer and successful tournament Scrabble™ player who has recently discovered Text to Speech program TextAloud as one of the secrets to his success. An easy and budget-friendly software program from NextUp Technologies (www.NextUp.com), TextAloud converts text into spoken audio files for listening on a PC or portable device. The program has proven popular with a rich and varied assortment of users worldwide - users like David, who found their own unique value in the program.

David, a United Kingdom user who lives not far from Oxford, likes to prepare for matches by listening to words and Scrabble practices via sound files, while he's out walking or driving in the car. Now, thanks to TextAloud, he can create those sound files more easily than ever, and using his favorite voice (AT&T Natural Voices™ "Audrey," complete with familiar British accent).

The standout aspects of TextAloud for David include the program's quick and easy interface, its ability to import text by cut-and-paste as well as by file, and (most of all) its ability to direct the text's spoken output to a sound file for downloading to an MP3 player. "My favorite aspect by far is the ease and speed with which one can generate MP3 files." He adds, "I also really like the fact that TextAloud's simple interface is supported by a powerful pronunciation editor that lets you 'tune' your chosen voice or voices for greater accuracy." He also appreciates the way the program allows users the option of having the words literally spelled out for them where necessary. "It's an important feature in my case, where the text I want to record for Scrabble purposes tends to include a lot of words that are sometimes very weird, indeed."

Before discovering TextAloud, David had long been in the habit of improvising his own Scrabble practice sound files by recording to cassette and then converting from cassette to MP3 file on the computer. "One day I thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice if there was a decent not-too-expensive bit of software that let one create MP3 files very quickly from an imported text file of the kind that I could easily generate from my Scrabble database, such that I could generate an endless variety of supplementary files?'" he commented. "After all, the quality wouldn't have to be perfect as long as the words were clear and reasonably recognizable."

David was pessimistic about his chance for success, but after a quick online search, he discovered TextAloud, and was pleasantly surprised at the level of accuracy available from the program on everyday vocabulary. "This, coupled with the potential for dealing with quite way-out vocabulary with a little effort on the Pronunciation Editor front, quickly made me see the possibilities," adds David. "I took it from there, receiving extremely prompt and helpful support from the team at NextUp when I had a few queries at the start on how to achieve certain effects with Pronunciation Editor."

He's now a faithful user, and continues to do well in tournaments. "TextAloud certainly helps me stay in practice!" he says. "My own usage needs typically involve fairly short single files, however my requirements, though simple, are also very demanding due to the nature of the vocabulary, and I make heavy use of some of the more sophisticated things you can do with Pronunciation Editor."

David uses TextAloud on his desktop PC and then transfers them to his MP3 player, a Nomad Zen. He chose his AT&T Natural Voices™ premium voice "Audrey" after sampling the assortment of voices available for preview at the NextUp website. "I tried quite a few before I thought, 'That's the one'," he adds.

"The way I use TextAloud is somewhat specialized and requires a fair amount of computer literacy, but of course it is the strength of a software package that it can serve many types of requirements and appeal to many different types of users. I wholly recommend the software for those seeking an enjoyable and realistic Text to Speech experience."

About TextAloud
TextAloud has been featured in The New York Times, PC Magazine, Writer's Digest, on CNN, and more. Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows (R) 98, NT, 2000, XP and VISTA. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.nextup.com/purchase.html
.

NextUp.com also offers TextAloud with optional premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices (TM), NeoSpeech (R), Nuance (R), Acapela (R) and Cepstral (R) for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Available languages include US English, UK English, Indian Accent English, Scottish Accent English, French, Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, Castilian (European) Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Korean, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Belgian Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, and Arabic.

About NextUp.com
NextUp.com, a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC, provides award-winning Text to Speech software for consumers, business customers, educators, and those with visual or vocal impairment, or learning disabilities.

PR: Denver Professional hears books and more with TextAloud and BookShare.org

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:11:48 -0400

Denver Professional Hears Books, Recipes and More with TextAloud and Bookshare.org

View a PDF file for this press release

CLEMMONS, NC and Denver, CO - Julie M. of Denver, Colorado is an accomplished musician, performer and social worker who loves to read, cook, podcast and surf the Internet - and whose blindness doesn't slow her down for even a moment. Thanks to tools like NextUp's Text to Speech software program TextAloud, and in conjunction with resources like Bookshare.org, Julie can quickly and easily listen to everything from the latest bestsellers to online recipes.

TextAloud is an easy and affordable software program from NextUp Technologies (www.NextUp.com) that converts text into spoken audio files for listening on a PC or portable device. The program has become increasingly popular with users like Julie M., as well as blind and visually disabled users worldwide, thanks to its natural and human-sounding voices, a welcome alternative to the more traditional or robotic-sounding readers.

For individuals like Julie, Bookshare.org is the perfect complement to TextAloud. Bookshare is an online community that dramatically increases access to books for individuals who are visually impaired and otherwise print-disabled, enabling the legitimate and legal sharing of book scans contributed by Bookshare members as well as directly from publishers. TextAloud Text to Speech software works seamlessly with this resource, as it enables Bookshare members to then export those books to audio files that can be played on anything from computers to iPods® and other portables. The text read aloud via TextAloud offers high-quality, realistic and human-sounding voices which are a far cry from the less naturalistic, more 'robotic-sounding' voices of decades past.

"I love to read, and with Bookshare.org, for only $50 a year, I can download all the books I want," Julie comments. "And by using TextAloud to read them aloud to me, I get voices that are better and much more interesting than those for other screen readers." Julie's favorite voices with TextAloud include such premium voice choices as 'Heather' from Acapela®, 'Ray' from AT&T Natural Voices™, and 'Paul' from NeoSpeech®.

"TextAloud also captures the Clipboard," says Julie, "which is handy when doing internet research." TextAloud also easily saves files to MP3 and WMA formats, which is especially useful for Julie's busy schedule not only as a social worker, but as a musician and performer as well. "It's perfect for commuters and others on the go," she adds. Julie is also an avid podcaster, so when she does research for her show, she listens to web and e-mail content via TextAloud, and also uses the program to save the content for later use and review as well.

But TextAloud isn't just for books. As an avid cook, Julie also cleverly uses TextAloud to read her recipes aloud from the Internet or her other favorite resources. She then easily plays back the files while cooking in the kitchen on her MP3 player or via a dub she has made to cassette tape, to remind herself of the ingredients and directions.

Lisa Friendly, Manager of Bookshare.org for Benetech, is delighted to see that Bookshare subscribers like Julie are pioneering the ways in which TextAloud can be used to optimize their reading experience by tailoring it to their individual preferences. "What a great idea to have the recipe read to you while you're cooking, or to be able to continue reading your book while you're folding the laundry. With a naturalistic sounding voice, the experience doesn't diminish from one reading method to the next."

About Bookshare.org
Sponsored by Benetech, Bookshare.org is an initiative that dramatically increases access to books for the community of visually impaired and print disabled individuals. Bookshare takes advantage of a special exemption in the U.S. copyright law that permits the reproduction of publications into specialized formats for the disabled. Bookshare.org also serves organizations such as the state, local and federal educational system, the rehabilitation system, specialized nonprofit agencies and various governmental units that provide accessible materials to people with disabilities. For more information, please visit www.Bookshare.org
.

PR: NovelMaker.com Recommends TextAloud

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:44:22 -0400

TextAloud offers enormous assistance in the writing process by catching errors more conventional tools like spell-checkers may miss," comments Chris Olander, President and CEO of NovelMaker.com. "It also offers a great deal of creative potential, for use in testing dialogue or even characterization. TextAloud ultimately offers a multitude of fascinating uses sure to be helpful to writers who take part in the NovelMaker community
http://www.nextup.com/press/080307.html

PR: Exec Listens his way to PHD

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:44:01 -0400

As a Vice President with a top national brokerage firm, New Jersey business executive Anthony Scriffignano had already discovered the usefulness of TextAloud, a simple and elegant Text to Speech software that converts text into spoken audio, to listen to his reading on his commutes. However, he began to use the software in earnest to support the huge amount of reading required when he started to pursue his Ph.D - and it was here that TextAloud became truly indispensable.
http://www.nextup.com/press/081607.html

New Article Updates

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:43:19 -0400

Updated our Press Articles page to include new stories and mentions about TextAloud and its many uses at
http://www.nextup.com/press/articles.html

Latest NextUp.com Newsletter

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:42:28 -0400

NextUp.com Newsletter August 2007
Hello from NextUp.com!

Congratulations to Mike N., winner of the NextUp.com golf shirt for last month's newsletter prize. This month one lucky winner will receive a SanDisk Sansa 1GB MP3 Player, so be sure to read on for details on how you can enter. Thanks for staying tuned!

In This Issue
TextAloud Advanced FAQ
Special Offer - Sale On Voices
Partner Products from Acoustica
Monthly Drawing - Back To School With TextAloud
TextAloud Advanced FAQ
TextAloud Advanced FAQAs most of you know, we offer fantastic email support, probably the fastest responses on the net. But we've also built up some good documentation to help you get the most out of TextAloud. One of the great resources is the TextAloud manual at

http://www.nextup.com/manual.html

Also, we long ago learned that most of our users are smarter than us, and for really complex questions, users often come up with better solutions than we do, so we invite you all to drop by our online User Forum at

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/index.php

One additional resource is our Advanced FAQ, which is part of the forum
system where we answer some of the tougher questions we get, and reveal some really advanced features of TextAloud that most users do not know about. The Advanced FAQ is at

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11

We thought this month we'd highlight some of the more interesting items there that you might find helpful.

Common problems with getting HotKeys to work with other Windows Programs

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3461

Forcing upper-case words to be spelled instead of pronounced

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3348

How to backup pronunciation edits

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1507

Older free voices not showing up in TextAloud

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3284

How to suppress numbers in text from being spoken

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3269

Skipping comments or certain text

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3146

Using TextAloud to repeat the same text over and over

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3048

Using TextAloud to read emails in TextAloud or Internet Mail

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2818

Not speaking numbers at the start of lines

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2202

How to transfer TextAloud audio files to Itunes/Ipod

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2009

Common problems when reading PDF Files

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1778

Information on SAPI5 Speech control tags

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1694

Pausing automatically at certain punctuation or carriage returns
http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1526

How to embed speed and volume tags within text

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1515

Reading Microsoft Reader .lit files in TextAloud

http://nextup.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1514

We hope these and the other online resources we provide help you get
more out of Textaloud. As always if you have any questions or
suggestions for us, let us know.
Special Offer - Sale On Voices
Voices
It's our 8th year now with TextAloud and providing great voices to our customers, so we decided to celebrate with a sale. This special offer will only last for one week, so don't delay if you want to get a great deal on some outstanding voices.

Act now and you can purchase three high quality English voices for TextAloud for only $75. Normally the cost would be between $105 and $135, depending on which three voices you purchased, but for one week only if you buy three of these voices you will get them for only $25 each.

Go to the following page for complete details on this special offer and how you can order now

http://nextup.com/sale.html

This deal is available only to TextAloud users and voices are for use with TextAloud and our other products. If you don't already have TextAloud, you'll be given a chance to buy it on the order page. The $75 price is for download only and a high speed Internet connection is required for that, or you can choose to pay extra charges for CD/shipping if you need that instead. If you want to substitute voices in languages other than English, we can do that but it is done manually and the cost is $85 for 3 voices. Details on all these things are on the above web page.

Partner Products from Acoustica
Acoustica Software
We've partnered with Acoustica, a leader in audio related software, to offer 4 unique products that may fit how you use audio you create in TextAloud. Free demo versions are available for download so if any of these sound like they might help you, please check them out at

http://www.nextup.com/acoustica.html

Acoustica MP3 CD Burner 4.5 - Burn Audio CDs or MP3 CDs with TextAloud audio files or music files.

Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - Easy audio file conversion with
right-click explorer integration to convert between MP3, WAV, WMA, CDA, or OGG files.

Acoustica MP3 Audio Mixer - Mix audio files to add background music to
TTS files, or speed up/slow down spoken audio files.

Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker - Make attractive labels for your custom
created CDs.

Acoustica is a company we trust to treat our customers right, and we
invite you to try these products at

http://nextup.com/acoustica.html

Monthly Drawing - Back To School With TextAloud

We have tons of people enjoying the benefits of using TextAloud in combination with a portable audio device like the iPod, a PocketPC, flash memory MP3 players, or CD players. Students especially find TextAloud to be a great study tool that helps them deal with large amounts of reading, prepare for quizzes, and even improve their writing by serving as a proofreading aid.

It's back to school time so for this month's contest we're asking you to help us get the word out to students (and parents). The prize this month is a SanDisk Sansa 1GB MP3 Player. This is a neat little player with 1 GB of storage capacity, an FM tuner, voice recording and custom playback options. All you have to do to enter is tell a student or parent you know about TextAloud and direct them to the following page for more details

http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/school.html

then for your entry, send us an email to

newsletterdrawing@nextup.com

We'll draw a winner from entries received by Friday, August 31 to win a SanDisk Sansa 1GB MP3 Player. Thanks and best of luck!
If you find our products useful, please share the news with your friends and at your place of business. We offer Volume Pricing with Site Licensing available to schools, organizations and businesses. If you'd like more information on this or have questions about any of our products, please don't hesitate to contact us at

support@nextup.com

Thank you for your interest in our company & products.

The NextUp.com Team
NextUp.com
The Power of Spoken Audio
http://www.NextUp.com

A Division of NextUp Technologies, LLC

NextUp.com Logo

Special Offer
Voices
It's our 8th year now for TextAloud and providing great voices to our customers, so we decided to celebrate with a sale. This special offer will only last for one week, so don't delay if you want to get a great deal on some outstanding voices. Get the details in our newsletter at left, or just click on the voice sale link below.

Spell Checker added to NextUp Talker

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:53:51 -0400

The latest version of NextUp Talker, our product for those who can no longer speak, includes a spell checker. Options->Spell Checker gives you settings for this new feature.
http://www.talkforme.com/downloads.html

Press Release: TextAloud and iPhone

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:53:00 -0400

With the recent release of the next generation of portables like Apple's enormously popular iPhone (TM), there's never been a better time for people to discover the power of Text to Speech products like NextUp.com's software TextAloud.
http://www.nextup.com/press/071207.html

New Partner products from Acoustica

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:10:27 -0400

We've launched some new partner products including Audio Editing and Mixing, CD Burning, and CD/DVD Label Making
http://www.nextup.com/acoustica.html

Update on NextUp.com Newsletters

Fri, 25 May 2007 09:55:05 -0400

We haven't been real regular about sending out Newsletters so far this year. As in past years, our goal is to send out Newsletters once a month. Between lots of development work and helping a lot of customers, we just haven't kept up a good schedule. We hope to get back to that soon. We've are also making a change from using Microsoft's ListBuilder service to do the subscription and mailings, to a new company, ConstantContact. We'll send out one last newsletter soon through ListBuilder, and in it we'll also let you know details on how to make sure our newsletters make it through your spam filters after our change to the new service.

TextAloud 2.246 Update

Fri, 25 May 2007 09:54:46 -0400

We are constantly updating TextAloud. You can always download the latest verson of TextAloud at
http://nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

and the ReleaseNotes, showing what has changed are also linked to on that page.

NewsAloud 1.30 Released for Vista

Fri, 25 May 2007 09:54:20 -0400

NewsAloud has been updated to be completely compatible with Windows Vista. You can download the latest version at
http://nextup.com/NewsAloud/download.html

WeatherAloud 1.82 Released

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:46:40 -0400

WeatherAloud version 1.82 now available. This version makes WeatherAloud completely Vista Ready and also fixes a bug where the program would forget its registration code.
http://www.nextup.com/WeatherAloud/download.html

Launch of new Text To Speech Related Blog

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:55:35 -0400

Launch of new Text To Speech Related Blog. Read more at

http://nextuptts.blogspot.com/

Acclaimed Musician Joey Stuckey Chooses TextAloud to Read, Work, Produce, and More

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:16:43 -0400

One of the most popular products in the NextUp.com software line, TextAloud continues to find rapidly growing popularity among the blind and visually impaired for its ease of use and superb voice quality. Most recently, famed blind musician, producer, and radio personality Joey Stuckey has discovered TextAloud, and is now an official and enthusiastic endorser.

TextAloud a Vital Resource for Those with Aging Parents

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:16:20 -0400

TextAloud most recently proved its usefulness to Warren Scharbert and his father, Don Scharbert of Joliet, Illinois. Don Scharbert is an active and knowledgeable longtime computer user with macular degeneration in one eye and a detached retina in the other. This leaves him with limited vision, and with screen magnifiers and other tools an increasingly necessary, frustrating part of life -- pages that might take seconds or minutes for sighted viewers, may take Don hours to read by magnifier. His son sought a better solution for him -- and found TextAloud, which not only integrated flawlessly with his father's existing PC programs, but quickly proved itself to be an invaluable support for Don's love of computing, bringing the web, e-mail, and more into spoken audio.
http://www.nextup.com/press/021507.html

Four new RealSpeak Voices, including Greek

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:15:56 -0400

We are pleased to announce 4 additional Nuance RealSpeak voices are now available, including Alexandros, our first Greek voice.
Samantha US English Female 22khz Voice Sample **New**

MP3 File WMA File WAV File

Sangeeta Indian Accent English 22khz Voice Sample **New**

MP3 File WMA File WAV File

Yannick German Male 22khz Voice Sample **New**

MP3 File WMA File WAV File

Alexandros Greek Male 22khz Voice Sample **New**

MP3 File WMA File WAV File

Purchase is via
http://www.nextup.com/scansoft.html

New TTS Blog

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 10:56:46 -0400

We've started a new blog on TTS related topics at
http://nextuptts.blogspot.com/

NextUp Talker Updated to support Windows Vista

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 10:56:29 -0400

Version 1.012 of NextUp Talker has been released with full support for Windows Vista
http://www.talkforme.com

TextAloud Supports Windows Vista

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 10:56:12 -0400

Version 2.228 has been released which has full Windows Vista Support
http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

ReadPal Reading Assistant

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:02:00 -0400

New affiliate partner ReadPal. Great little product that helps you read faster, with less eye strain, and with better comprehension. More details at
http://nextup.com/readpal.html

Cepstral Callie Download Available

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:49:00 -0400

Callie is Cepstral's newest and best sounding US English Voice. We are happy to finally make a demo version of the voice available for download. The voice is fully functional and works great in TextAloud. Download and install here today.
Download Callie

Three New Nuance RealSpeak English Voices

Tue, 7 Nov 2006 11:08:28 -0400

We are happy to announce availability of 3 new Nuance RealSpeak voices for TextAloud. They are US English Tom and Jill, and British English Emily. Samples and purchase at
http://www.nextup.com/scansoft.html

Added FireFox 2.0 Support to TextAloud

Wed, 1 Nov 2006 09:48:06 -0400

Added FireFox 2.0 Support to TextAloud

Version 2.218 of TextAloud released to add support for FireFox 2.0 toolbar/plugin.
http://nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

NextUp User Forums are 3 years old

Tue, 3 Oct 2006 11:21:52 -0400

While we've been around for many years, our online user forums are celebrating their 3rd anniversary. Thanks to all of our customers who have become friends by helping us and others in the forum. You are the smartest group of users around. If you haven't checked out our forums yet, it is worth a visit at
http://nextup.com/phpBB2/index.php

New WeatherAloud available

Fri, 1 Sep 2006 15:40:04 -0400

Version 1.62 of WeatherAloud adds support for Acapela voices and fixes problem with program forgetting registration codes
http://nextup.com/WeatherAloud/download.html

NewsAloud version 1.09 available

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 08:30:30 -0400

NewsAloud version 1.09 available

Adds support for Acapela voices, several misc. bug fixes.
http://nextup.com/NewsAloud/download.html

NextUp.com Newsletter #56 Available

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:09:57 -0400

Acapela Voices and TextAloud enhancement ideas
http://www.nextup.com/newsletter56.html

PR: Lawyers find Technology helps with Reading Load

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:09:30 -0400

TextAloud Proves to be an Industry Asset for Legal Pros
http://www.nextup.com/press/072706.html

TextAloud Update for Frames Support in Internet Explorer

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:09:03 -0400

Version 2.194 of TextAloud available with improved Internet Explorer Toolbar. Adds support for web sites with frames
http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

Acapela Voices now available through European Reseller

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:08:42 -0400

For those in Europe buying through methods other than credit card, ShareIT, our European ecommerce company handles many European payment methods better than US companies. Acapela voices are now available there via
http://www.shareit.com/product.html?cart=1&productid=300086770&cookies=1&noquickbuy=1

New Cepstral (R) Voices Now Offered With TextAloud

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:02:50 -0400

Popular Text to Speech Software Adds More New Voices

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.
CLEMMONS, NC (PRWEB) June 13, 2006 -- NextUp.com (www.NextUp.com), developer of TextAloud software, today announced the availability of an engaging new Cepstral (R) U.S. female voice, 'Callie', as well as some fun new novelty voices like 'Shouty' and 'Whispery'. TextAloud lets users convert text into spoken audio for easy listening, study, and comprehension. Text can also be converted to audio files for easy playback on portables like the iPod (R), PocketPC (R), and a wide range of portable devices.

"Many of our TextAloud users tell us they enjoy the natural-sounding speech, ease of download and small installation footprint with the Cepstral (R) voices," says NextUp CEO Ken White. "The 'Callie' voice is outstanding and is proving to be popular with our users. The novelty voices also add more fun and variety to the listening experience."

These new voice offerings compliment 'David', 'Amy', and more Cepstral (R) U.S. English voices, as well as several voices in U.K. English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Canadian French. These high-quality voices are also extremely fast when creating audio files, one of TextAloud's most used features.

About TextAloud

Business people, students, educators, writers, lawyers, homemakers and busy people from all walks of life find TextAloud to be an essential tool they use every day. TextAloud provides improved reading comprehension and speed, the ability to listen to text away from the computer, and a number of utilities, from audio proofreading, to word highlighting for dyslexics. It's been featured in The New York Times, PC Magazine, Writer's Digest, on CNN, and more. Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows (R) 98, NT, 2000 and XP. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.NextUp.com.

About NextUp.com

NextUp.com, a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC, provides award-winning Text to Speech software for consumers, business customers, educators, and those with visual or vocal impairment, or learning disabilities.

In addition to TextAloud, NextUp.com markets other innovative Windows software designed to save time and deliver vital information. NewsAloud (TM) is a talking personal "news agent" that finds the stories users want, and then reads them aloud or to portable audio files. WeatherAloud (TM) is a weather application that lets users select and listen to personalized weather forecasts, while StocksAloud (TM) reads stock updates and related news headlines aloud for specific companies of interest. Most recently, NextUp released NextUp Talker, an easy and affordable program that allows people who have lost their voices to use the latest in high-quality computer voices to communicate with others.

About Cepstral LLC

Cepstral is a speech technology company based in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, which provides customizable Text To Speech (TTS) voices and technologies for server, desktop and hand-held platforms on any operating system. Cepstral: We Build Voices (TM). For more information about the Company, please visit www.Cepstral.com or call (412) 432-0400.

Note to Editors:

Evaluation copies of TextAloud are currently available upon request. To receive a review copy, or for more information on NextUp.com or TextAloud, please contact publicist Angela Mitchell at (904) 982-8043.

All companies and products referenced in this press release are the trademarks of their respective owners.

AT&T Natural Voices available for Mac

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:23:20 -0400

We've launched a new simple TTS program with AT&T Natural Voices for Mac OS X. Now available at
http://www.ablereader.com

Exciting new voices for TextAloud from Acapela Group

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:15:04 -0400

Exciting new voices for TextAloud from Acapela Group

We are happy to announce availability of some fantastic new voices for TextAloud from new partners, Acapela Group. 20 new voices in 10 adds new natural sounding possibilities to your TextAloud use.
http://nextup.com/acapela.html

Added New Pages for ordering methods other than online

Fri, 9 Jun 2006 19:37:08 -0400

Added New Pages for ordering methods other than online

If you'd like to order NextUp products via methods other than credit card online, we've added the following pages:

PayPal
http://www.nextup.com/paypalorder.html

Credit Card over the Phone
http://www.nextup.com/phoneorder.html

Check or Money Order
http://www.nextup.com/mailorder.html

Keeping up with What's New with TextAloud and NextUp.com

Wed, 31 May 2006 13:36:11 -0400

We often get emails asking about the latest version of TextAloud, what has changed, and what else new we have available.

You can find out what version of TextAloud you have by choosing Help->About from the main menu. The version number is near the top of the window.

Our most current version of TextAloud is always available at

http://nextup.com/TextAloud/download.html

The version number is listed on that page, and you'll also find there a link to the TextAloud release notes. They are at

http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/ReleaseNotes.txt

It isn't interesting reading for most people and sometimes gets a little technical, but it may help you decide whether you want to download the latest version. While you don't need to download every version, at times new features or bug fixes that could be affecting you will be added.

To upgrade, if your current version of TextAloud is 2.xxx (anything starting with 2), you can simply exit TextAloud via File->Exit, then download and install the new version directly over the old version.

If your current version is 1.xxx, then while the upgrade isn't free, you should contact us for details on what version 2 can do for you and for information on how to upgrade.

We also frequently have other news including new voices available, new features, and other news we think you may find useful. This information will be listed on our What's New Page at

http://nextup.com/whats_new.html

For those who use RSS Readers, the same information is available in your RSS Reader via

http://www.nextup.com/nextup.xml

TextAloud Tip of the Month - Better Comprehension using a Variety of Voices

Wed, 31 May 2006 13:35:42 -0400

It is often easier to comprehend and remember things you've heard versus what you read. With the new high-quality Text To Speech voices we've introduced over the last few years, listening and understanding continues to become easier. But listening to a single voice, no matter how natural it is, can become monotonous and easy to tune out.

We've built in to TextAloud features that make using a variety of voices easy. By changing voices frequently, you are more likely to pay attention and retain the information.

Within TextAloud, if you choose Options->Voice and File Options from the main menu, all of the voices available on your system are listed. Top level folders are the voice type, then the individual voice names are under that. By selecting a voice, you can click the Enable/Disable button on the right to choose which voices you want available to TextAloud. Once you enable multiple voices that you like, click OK. Next, choose Options->TextAloud Options on the main menu. Under the section labeled "Multi-Article Options" you'll find the setting for Voice Selection. The Options are:

Default - Every new article added will use only the voice you've chosen as your default voice.

Random - When a new article is added, it will be assigned a random voice from your enabled voices.

Round Robin - Each new article added will be assigned a different voice from your enabled list. Once you've cycled through all available voices, the process starts again from the top of the enabled voice list.

By using either of these methods, you'll hear a wide variety of voices as you listen to articles or audio files.

TextAloud also has the ability to switch voices within the middle of an article. This is one of the features that is only available when TextAloud is set to use SAPI5 Voices Only. To do that, click Options->Voices and File Options->Engines/Voices, then select either 'Use Sapi5 Only' or 'Use Both'. After this is done, you can right-click at any spot within the text and choose Insert Voice Change (or choose Edit->Insert Voice Change) and TextAloud will insert a special voice change TAG. You can have multiple voice switches within an article. This allows you to simulate multiple people speaking the text, for special cases such as reading a script or simply creating variety within an article.

NextUp.com offers optional premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices (TM), NeoSpeech (R), Nuance/ScanSoft RealSpeak (R) and Cepstral (R) for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Click on the link below for samples and more information:

http://nextup.com/TextAloud/SpeechEngine/voices.html

Available languages include U.S. English, U.K. English, Indian Accent English, Scottish Accent English, French, Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, Castilian (European) Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Korean, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Belgian Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, and Arabic.