A Syncing Question

sUnShInE · 02-27-2009, 12:47 PM

Let me preface this post by noting that while I'm an editor here, I've not been terribly active in a while, so I'm not sure if this is the right forum. Forgive me if I got it wrong.

I was talking with my brother yesterday, who says he's becoming quite the ebook fiend, in addition to being a longtime audiobook fiend. He has a Kindle, and I guess he's giddily going to buy the new one.

His gripe was that should he buy both an ebook and an audiobook version of the same text, that there's no reader that syncs the two versions up. If there is, he doesn't know about it -- and he's a pretty tech-savvy guy.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Say you're reading an ebook and then you want to go out to the garden and do some work and continue on with it, but this time you want to listen instead of read.

Sure, you probably could do it by chapter, say; but what he really wants is some mechanism that does it automatically. Basically, a way to sync up the audio and ebook versions in a way that the device can read.

Is this science fiction or even science wishing? Are we at the point where these readers can do this?

In short, are my bro and I totally insane?

(Okay, yea, that last bit is a softball....)

DaleDe · 02-27-2009, 05:04 PM

Readers cannot do this with two different unrelated files but TTS can. The new Kindle supports this.

sUnShInE · 03-05-2009, 01:47 PM

Let me see if I understand: So with the K2, you can use text-to-speech and it will perform the job I detailed above?

DaleDe · 03-05-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sUnShInE

Let me see if I understand: So with the K2, you can use text-to-speech and it will perform the job I detailed above?

Exactly, some people are even using it to do automatic page changes while reading the text on the screen (with the audio turned down). Amazon even advertises this use by stating you are reading an eBook but then need to jump in your car and go somewhere you can continue with the book.

Dale

sUnShInE · 03-09-2009, 12:54 PM

OoOoOoOo. That's cool. Too bad my bro's bday already passed, this is the perfect rig for him then.

Thanks!

dordale · 03-09-2009, 07:23 PM

One word of caution though. Some of the publishers don't like the text-to-speech functioning of the new Kindles, as they feel it infringes on their audio book rights. So they are forcing Amazon to disable this feature on some books. Not sure if there's a way to tell which books Text-to-speech is disabled on.

dordale

Hantra · 03-11-2009, 12:34 AM

I actually do this now. In the car on the way home, I'll let it read to me. Then when I get home I can continue where I left off. Plus, if I get stuck somewhere Kindleless

I can hit the iPod, and go to the same page I was on before!

ChipnDale · 03-12-2009, 01:23 AM

Can you choose the voice that reads to you or not?? [I don't own a Kindle...or live in the US but just curious]

dragonbone · 03-12-2009, 02:11 AM

I'm reading and listening too although it takes a bit of time to find the right places on my reader and later on my iPod. I had the same thought the other day, if ONLY both devices knew where I had left off on the last used device!

DaleDe · 03-12-2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChipnDale

Can you choose the voice that reads to you or not?? [I don't own a Kindle...or live in the US but just curious]

They include a male and a female voice.

Dale

JSWolf · 03-12-2009, 11:33 AM

From what I've heard of differing TTS engines, most of the time, the female voice will sound nicer.

02-27-2009, 12:47 PM	#1
sUnShInE Drama Queen Posts: 784 Karma: 11712 Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: United States Device: Palm Tungsten T\|T3	A Syncing Question Let me preface this post by noting that while I'm an editor here, I've not been terribly active in a while, so I'm not sure if this is the right forum. Forgive me if I got it wrong. I was talking with my brother yesterday, who says he's becoming quite the ebook fiend, in addition to being a longtime audiobook fiend. He has a Kindle, and I guess he's giddily going to buy the new one. His gripe was that should he buy both an ebook and an audiobook version of the same text, that there's no reader that syncs the two versions up. If there is, he doesn't know about it -- and he's a pretty tech-savvy guy. Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Say you're reading an ebook and then you want to go out to the garden and do some work and continue on with it, but this time you want to listen instead of read. Sure, you probably could do it by chapter, say; but what he really wants is some mechanism that does it automatically. Basically, a way to sync up the audio and ebook versions in a way that the device can read. Is this science fiction or even science wishing? Are we at the point where these readers can do this? In short, are my bro and I totally insane? (Okay, yea, that last bit is a softball....)

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02-27-2009, 05:04 PM	#2
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Readers cannot do this with two different unrelated files but TTS can. The new Kindle supports this.

03-05-2009, 01:47 PM	#3
sUnShInE Drama Queen Posts: 784 Karma: 11712 Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: United States Device: Palm Tungsten T\|T3	Let me see if I understand: So with the K2, you can use text-to-speech and it will perform the job I detailed above?

03-09-2009, 12:54 PM	#5
sUnShInE Drama Queen Posts: 784 Karma: 11712 Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: United States Device: Palm Tungsten T\|T3	OoOoOoOo. That's cool. Too bad my bro's bday already passed, this is the perfect rig for him then. Thanks!

03-09-2009, 07:23 PM	#6
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	One word of caution though. Some of the publishers don't like the text-to-speech functioning of the new Kindles, as they feel it infringes on their audio book rights. So they are forcing Amazon to disable this feature on some books. Not sure if there's a way to tell which books Text-to-speech is disabled on. dordale

03-11-2009, 12:34 AM	#7
Hantra Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 18 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle 3	I actually do this now. In the car on the way home, I'll let it read to me. Then when I get home I can continue where I left off. Plus, if I get stuck somewhere Kindleless I can hit the iPod, and go to the same page I was on before!

03-12-2009, 01:23 AM	#8
ChipnDale Rescue Rangers Posts: 109 Karma: 2144082 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Visitor from another planet Device: IPad	Can you choose the voice that reads to you or not?? [I don't own a Kindle...or live in the US but just curious]

03-12-2009, 02:11 AM	#9
dragonbone must love dogs Posts: 480 Karma: 1079 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tokyo Device: Sony PRS-700, iPhone 32GB 3GS, iPad 64GB WiFi	I'm reading and listening too although it takes a bit of time to find the right places on my reader and later on my iPod. I had the same thought the other day, if ONLY both devices knew where I had left off on the last used device!

03-12-2009, 11:33 AM	#11
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	From what I've heard of differing TTS engines, most of the time, the female voice will sound nicer.