[AssistiveWare News] PR: GhostReader 1.5 takes Mac text-to-speech to the next level

[AssistiveWare Support]

Press release: GhostReader 1.5 takes Mac text-to-speech to the next  
level

*** This press release is also available at: http://www.convenienceware.com/pr.php

Amsterdam - 14 May 2008 - ConvenienceWare(TM) / AssistiveWare(R) today  
announced the release of GhostReader(TM) 1.5, which adds new voices,  
enhanced iPhone/iPod export, a pronunciation editor and much more.  
GhostReader is a powerful, yet easy to use multilingual text-to-speech  
solution for Mac OS X that reads aloud PDF, Word and other documents  
as well as selected text in any application. It can also convert any  
text to audio files, MP3s, or bookmarkable audiobooks for playback on  
iPhone and iPod. Sit back and relax while GhostReader reads for you!

GhostReader 1.5 is a major update with the following new features and  
enhancements:
- Adds new natural sounding voices for Czech, Polish, Swedish and  
Finnish while existing voices have been enhanced.
- Adds a pronunciation editor, which can be used to modify the way a  
word is pronounced or to add new abbreviations.
- Adds direct export to iTunes of documents and selected text for  
playback on iPhone or iPod.
- Adds user-selectable encoding for export to iTunes (AAC, MP3, WAV,  
AIFF, Apple Lossless).
- In Leopard now also reads DOCX and ODT documents.
- Export to iTunes now runs in the background.
- Enhanced responsiveness when speaking selected text or text below  
the cursor.
- Speaking selected text now also works in floating windows such as  
those of the Leopard Help Viewer.
- Speak Text Below the Cursor now speaks the alt. tags for images and  
buttons in web pages, Mail and widgets.
- Speak Text Below the Cursor now also speaks just the paragraph below  
the cursor in Mail, TextEdit and Pages 2008.
- Many other enhancements and fixes.

GhostReader can be used by anyone who prefers to listen to text rather  
then read it. Many professionals, writers, educators and students use  
it on a daily basis to save time, to proof read their own writing or  
to learn the pronunciation of foreign languages or to improve their  
reading and listening comprehension.

GhostReader 1.5 is a free update for existing users. It is a Universal  
Binary requiring Mac OS X 10.4 or later and provides full Leopard  
compatibility. Voices are currently available for the following  
languages: American English, British English, Czech, Finnish, French,  
Canadian French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish,  
Spanish, American Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese,  
Norwegian, Turkish and Swedish. GhostReader itself is localized in  
English, French and German.

Pricing for GhostReader starts at 39.95 Euro/USD excluding VAT for a  
single-user monolingual version (includes all voices for a language of  
choice). Multilingual licenses, household licenses, classroom licenses  
and school licenses are also available. GhostReader is also available  
as a bundle with Infovox iVox for system-wide high quality voices that  
can be used with practically all Speech Manager compatible Mac OS X  
applications. Pricing for this bundle starts at 109 Euro/USD excluding  
VAT for a single user license.

A boxed edition of GhostReader is distributed in Europe through  
Application Systems Heidelberg and available in selected European  
countries from Apple Stores, FNAC, Amazon and many Apple Resellers  
throughout the continent.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to  
listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page:

GhostReader: http://www.convenienceware.com/ghostreader.php

Listen to samples: http://www.convenienceware.com/voices.php

AssistiveWare (http://www.assistiveware.com/) is the worldwide leader  
in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X that gives  
people back their lives. This includes award-winning KeyStrokes(R) and  
TouchStrokes(R) virtual keyboards, SwitchXS(R) scanning on-screen  
keyboard, LayoutKitchen(R) panel editor, and Proloquo(R) multi-purpose  
speech solution. The ConvenienceWare product line (http://www.convenienceware.com 
) makes the advanced technologies developed by AssistiveWare available  
in cool and convenient applications that can make the life of Mac  
users easier.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or  
registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. VisioVoice, SwitchXS,  
KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, GhostReader and Proloquo are  
trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox  
is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties  
of their respective owners.
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