NextUp.com Finds iPods® Aren’t Just for Music Anymore!
New survey results clearly show that portable devices such as iPods and other MP3/CD players are increasingly popular for listening to text, not music.
Clemmons, NC (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) January 27, 2005 -- NextUp.com (www.NextUp.com), a leader in providing quality Text-to-Speech
(TTS) software, today announced the results of its latest Customer Survey,
designed to take the pulse of the portable device market and aimed at customers
for its popular TextAloud™ product. TextAloud uses the power of voice synthesis
to "speak aloud" documents, web pages, e-mail and more, with text seamlessly
converted into spoken audio you can hear on your PC, or save to MP3/Windows
Media files for easy playback on portables like the iPod®, Rio®, iRiver®,
PocketPC®, and dozens more.
Conducted over a two-week period in late
November 2004, the NextUp Customer Survey provides an intriguing look at the way
Text-to-Speech software is changing the way people work, study, drive, and
relax. TextAloud enables NextUp customers to listen to everything from eBooks,
to study materials, work notes, web sites, e-mails or articles -- "on the go,"
and from the convenience of their portable devices.
"iPods are really hot
in some surprising areas, ranging from students learning away from class, to
lawyers proofreading documents during their commutes," comments Ken White, CEO
of NextUp.com. "Music and leisure may be driving the iPod explosion, but we
won't be surprised if ambition and work ethic are what sustains it."
With this in mind, NextUp conducted a series of online surveys with its
TextAloud customers in order to gather feedback on their use of TextAloud with
their portable devices, and to discover ways in which the company could continue
to make the product more useful and accessible to this exciting and rapidly
growing marketplace.
Survey Results at a Glance
The 2004 Survey of
Portable Customers covered users' answers to questions about TextAloud, its use
with Portable Devices, customers' portable brand preferences, their preferred
locations for listening to text on the go, and much more -- with some surprising
results:
• Perhaps one of the most surprising results of the survey was
the fact that most TextAloud users -- nearly 70 percent -- purchased their
portables solely for text use! eBooks, study, and news proved to be the most
popular activities (at 40, 26 and 15 percent respectively), with TextAloud
increasing information retention and providing a unique way to ‘read' for
enjoyment's sake across the boards.
• With iPod® in a slight lead, a
rich array of portable brands like Rio®, iRiver®, IPAQ®, and many more help
TextAloud users get more out of their day.
• Also surprising was the fact
that more than 65% of all portable users who responded to NextUp's survey use
their MP3 players for significant listening to text-to-speech documents --
nearly 20% doing so a whopping 81 to 100% of the time!
• Portable
TextAloud users certainly love their cars! Survey results clearly show that
today's portable users are always seeking to maximize their time, to listen to
their text while they drive (over 57%), work out, or get out of the house (over
22%).
The results are clear: MP3 players aren't just for music anymore!
About TextAloud 2.0
TextAloud is a full-featured Text-to-Speech tool
offering direct support for Word, PDF and HTML formats, as well as advanced
pronunciation tools, an Internet Explorer Plug-In for easy listening of favorite
web pages -- and more.
Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is
priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows® 98, NT,
2000 and XP. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.NextUp.com.
NextUp.com also offers TextAloud with optional premium voices from
AT&T Natural Voices™, NeoSpeech and Cepstral® for the most natural-sounding
computer speech anywhere.
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 impairment or
learning disabilities.
In addition to TextAloud, NextUp.com markets
other innovative Windows software designed to save time and deliver vital
information. NewsAloud™ is a talking personal "news agent" that finds the
stories users want, and then reads them aloud or to portable MP3 files.
WeatherAloud™ is a weather application that lets users select and listen to
personalized weather forecasts, while StocksAloud™ reads stock updates and
related news headlines aloud for specific companies of interest.
Note to
Editors: Evaluation copies of TextAloud 2.0 -- as well as limited packages
including a portable audio player presented to reporters for their reviewing
convenience -- are currently available upon request. To receive a review copy,
or for more information on NextUp.com or TextAloud, please contact Rick Ellis
via www.NextUp.com.
Meanwhile, for images, logos, box shots, or other information or artwork
on TextAloud 2.0, please contact publicist Angela Mitchell at (904) 982-8043.
All companies and products referenced in this press release, including
TextAloud™, iPod®, Rio®, iRiver®, Windows®, and more are the trademarks of their
respective owners.
Media Contacts:
Rick Ellis
NextUp.com
e-mail
protected from spam bots or (336) 998-1882
Angela Mitchell
Paranoid
PR
e-mail protected from spam bots or (904) 982-8043
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb202449.htm