IVO Software, a developer of software speaking with a human voice, has launched the newest version of Expressivo, software capable of reading any text with a human voice. Expressivo version 1.3 is the first application of its type to be fully integrated with iPods.
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The Expressivo application has been integrated with iTunes, thus generating support for the iPod. iTunes is the commonly available freeware for iPods and any text read by Expressivo is automatically added to iTunes library as an audio file.

While in iTunes, the Expressivo-read text can be stored or copied to the player. Expressivo 1.3 takes just one click of the mouse to make it easier to create audiobooks as it offers new functions that accelerate the audio file creation process.

Expressivo’s integration with iPod is great news for the more than 100 million users of the popular potable music player, not to mention the nearly one million iPhone (News - Alert) users. Expressivo allows these users to always have with them their favorite book or even a library and listen to it anytime.

Expressivo is also positioned as helping iPod and iPhone owners with work, such as reading out e-mails, RSS news or planned events from the planner; and study, including reading out lectures or facilitating the learning of a foreign language.

Texts that are read by Expressivo can be played on other MP3 players, cell phones and palmtops. Consumers can also test Expressivo “virtual voices” in the free Text To Speech Service: http://say.expressivo.com. The visitor enters any text in the appropriate window and then selects the voice to read the text. Four voices are available, speaking English, Polish or Romanian.

Once the voice message is created, it can be sent to friends via e-mail or it can be published on the Web, in the form of a blog, for instance.

The Expressivo Text Reader is powered by IVONA Text-To-Speech (TTS). The speech generation technology developed by IVO Software is regarded as one of the best. In fact, at this year’s international Blizzard Challenge, IVONA won acclaim, confirming its success from 2006 when 135 experts chose IVONA as offering the best voice quality.

The demand for voice applications is expected to continue to grow, especially as consumers continue on the path to increased mobility. As speech technology continues to improve and offer applications that advance workflows and deliver solutions once only imagined, solutions such as Expressivo will gain in popularity, thus driving its own demand.