QCassidy352 said:
Heh, I can just imagine on the subway:
"Now playing: Paris Hilton..."
...and the whole subway car evacuates.
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Upcoming Talking iPod?
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Heh, I can just imagine on the subway:
"Now playing: Paris Hilton..."
...and the whole subway car evacuates.
A new shutdown glitch for voiced iPods
"Next song: Britney Spe...
Oh, come on now. You don't really want to listen to that. I'm going to ignore your playlist and pick out what I want.
Wait... look at this crap. There's nothing worth playing!
I'm shutting down"
"Next song: Britney Spe...
Oh, come on now. You don't really want to listen to that. I'm going to ignore your playlist and pick out what I want.
Wait... look at this crap. There's nothing worth playing!
I'm shutting down"
If this is true I am 100% sure this will only be an option and not a constant function. Calm down people...
**sigh**
For the life of me, I can't imagine why this article was written except that they new it would garner attention for the author and the paper.
Apple files a ton of patent applications on things that never make it into their products. This patent application was filed in November 2004...it became public over two months ago as the 18-month embargo expired with nary a word.
Now all of a sudden this reporter is using the application as the sole basis for an article claiming that Apple's next-generation iPod will contain this technology.
They jump all over the concept of "celebrity voice talent" when it's really a very small piece of the description in the patent application making no mention of any sort of celebrity involvement that simply describes that you could use pre-recorded audio samples.
Unbelievable.
For the life of me, I can't imagine why this article was written except that they new it would garner attention for the author and the paper.
Apple files a ton of patent applications on things that never make it into their products. This patent application was filed in November 2004...it became public over two months ago as the 18-month embargo expired with nary a word.
Now all of a sudden this reporter is using the application as the sole basis for an article claiming that Apple's next-generation iPod will contain this technology.
They jump all over the concept of "celebrity voice talent" when it's really a very small piece of the description in the patent application making no mention of any sort of celebrity involvement that simply describes that you could use pre-recorded audio samples.
Unbelievable.
bluebomberman said:
Well obviously the tts would only come through the headphones. If you're walking around the subway with speakers plugged into your ipod - then you're already evacuating subways.
I could see it being functional. Scroll through your albums, pause on something for 1 second and it starts reading the name to you - nah, the album you want starts with a T and this is an O - so you scroll down more until you narrow your choices down. And scrolling will stop the current voice from speaking (do you honestly think apple would force you to hear the entire album title?) so you can scroll to the next song. I'd use it because I have been known to run off onto the shoulder while changing songs.
i think it's a great idea for car use. and apple wouldn't be so stupid as to leave it as an "always on" feature - it'd be like the clicker. on or off.
i have to pull over or get the passenger to change tracks on my ipod when i'm driving, and it's annoying. very much so.
i have to pull over or get the passenger to change tracks on my ipod when i'm driving, and it's annoying. very much so.
cruci said:
The computer does the text-to-speech conversion and then loads the speech onto the iPod. Based on user inputs, the iPod will select the appropriate speech file to play. But the actual speech encoding would be done beforehand by the computer.
This would be awesome and very useful for the iPod shuffle provided that it doesn't slow it down. But for a regular iPod? No way.
If it's couple with a 16:9 video screen, my credit card is at the ready. Otherwise I'l stay with my "retro" 3G iPOD.
Nope... can't see them wasting processor/battery power on this when there are things like bigger screens, better battery life etc to work on.
If it's for driving, then add it into a processor dock in the car.
If it's for driving, then add it into a processor dock in the car.
Wow. This would be so cool. You guys have no idea. I never go anywhere in my car without my iPod.
WildCowboy said:**sigh**
For the life of me, I can't imagine why this article was written except that they new it would garner attention for the author and the paper.
Apple files a ton of patent applications on things that never make it into their products. This patent application was filed in November 2004...it became public over two months ago as the 18-month embargo expired with nary a word.......
Unbelievable.
Well, WildCowboy is right about this: this is not "new" news. I scanned through all the posts and I can't believe eveyone is jumping all over this like it's something unheard of... This "text-to-speech" feature is already available on iPod nanos. Just go buy the Nike+iPod solution. This patent became public two months ago because apple was about to release a product where the iPod talked to you regarding pace and mileage of your run.
I see where the Scotsman could speculate that this might be used in telling you the name of the song that's playing, and that could be a desirable feature for some people. But the existence of this patent does not signify anything more than Apple wanted to protect the existing technology used in it's Nike+ partnership.
makkystyle said:
Not true. This patent application became public two months ago all patent applications are REQUIRED to be made public 18 months after filing.
There are a few minor exceptions to this (if you attest that you will not file a foreign patent application for the same invention, etc.), but the vast majority of patent applications are made public at the 18-month mark.
crees! said:
There's still a power demand associated with calling up the proper sound file to be played at the proper time, as well as the actual playing of the sound, even when the actual text-to-speech encoding is done on the computer. How much of a demand I don't know, but there would be some effect.
crees! said:
How so ?
I meant no disrespect..My mother was blind before she died.
If a blind person wants to navigate through the menu it would help to have text to speach..
As for the "limits" you speak of..Text to speach isn't very good to begin with..And I never said it was limited to the Blind.
Just an opinion buddy..
We all have them.
I'm not buying it for the simple reason that auto-read voices for text still sucks.
Try putting this in Text Edit and having the voice read it.
Next Up - My Balls, Your Chin by Snot.
Try putting this in Text Edit and having the voice read it.
Next Up - My Balls, Your Chin by Snot.
Peace said:
No offense but referencing your mother doesn't correct your statement. You mentioned that
All the "blind" person has to do is scroll all the way down to the bottom of the main menu and select Shuffle Songs. Then the "blind" person is now listening to what's on the iPod. Blind in quotes because I can do the same without looking at the iPod.
The phatbox http://phatnoise.com/ in my car talks to me. It tells me what album or playlist is up. I think that's fine. If Apple wants to make my iPod do that? Okay. Fine. Just don't tell me what the heck songs are coming. My playlists are generally albums on the phatbox. I don't want the freaking iPod interjecting its voice into the experience of listening to the album from the first note to the last.
The thing that's nice is that I just scroll up and down through the playlists/albums on the phatbox hard drive. I don't have to read a thing. It's all audible. Of course, the voice is 2003 technology, and it sounds silly, mispronouncing things here and there, but I bet what is out there now is pretty good, probably the latest version of what I have which is AT&T-developed.
I think it's a great feature to have in the car. One could scroll through artists, playlists, albums, etc. Hit an up arrow or a down arrow on the steering wheel. Turn the wheel on your Audi MMI, or BMW iDrive, or whatever other company's interface. Let it tell you where you are, and you won't have to look at a damn thing except the road.
The thing that's nice is that I just scroll up and down through the playlists/albums on the phatbox hard drive. I don't have to read a thing. It's all audible. Of course, the voice is 2003 technology, and it sounds silly, mispronouncing things here and there, but I bet what is out there now is pretty good, probably the latest version of what I have which is AT&T-developed.
I think it's a great feature to have in the car. One could scroll through artists, playlists, albums, etc. Hit an up arrow or a down arrow on the steering wheel. Turn the wheel on your Audi MMI, or BMW iDrive, or whatever other company's interface. Let it tell you where you are, and you won't have to look at a damn thing except the road.