TTS software to be updated?

[iampiti]

Hi. Onyx europe just posted this on their facebook page today:

BOOX devices are state-of-the-art e-reading solution loved by all users looking for comfort of traditional book in a digital form. It’s main purpose is to create a suitable reading environment.

However we have decided to take e-reading experience one step further and put the powerful hardware of BOOX e-reader into good use. Digital text gives unique opportunity to be transformed in to speech directly, that turns any e-book into audiobook.

We have upgraded our current TTS solution to the Worlds best TTS engine IVONA.
Now every single BOOX device can speak with natural human, pleasent voice.

Try samples in English and German (volume up!) at https://www.onyx-boox.com/store/onyx...92-black-pearl

Booxtor, do you know something about this? In which firmware it's going to be?
Thanks!

[Mono]

Booxtor might know more.

From info presented by Booxtor in past times it seems to me that TTS IVONA was installed for Onyxes marketed in Polland. And Onyx-boox.com quite recently has became Polish owned company. And so IVONA might be available internationaly. Who knows, if it is only for Onyxes distributed by Onyx-boox.com or all Onyxes...

As Booxtor explained in past, Onyx probably will not concentrate on TTS, because there will be models without audio output... But maybe, the situation has changed and IVONA will find it way to every Onyx reader....

[FrancoisL]

I am very interested in improved TTS for the M92. I would definitely PAY to get a better TTS engine and a few voices.

I hope that Onyx-Boox.com will offer the TTS engine to all owners of M92s.

[Booxtor]

Originally Posted by FrancoisL

I am very interested in improved TTS for the M92. I would definitely PAY to get a better TTS engine and a few voices.

I hope that Onyx-Boox.com will offer the TTS engine to all owners of M92s.

Onyx-boox.com is a promoting and distributing channell of Arta Tech (Polish company).
IVONA is also a Polish company. Thus it is easier for them to collaborate.

As you can see Onyx-boox.com is also selling M92 Black Pearl with IVONA licence at a quite higher price (333 EUR for device plus 39 EUR for cover - 372 EUR), than ereader-store.de does (348 EUR incl.that cover). This might be because of those licence additional costs. I don't know. But I dont think the customers were really glad to see price increasing of M92 because of some third party licences.

We are in contact to IVONA and are looking for a solution now, but they don't seem to be very cooperative. We have offered to IVONA to get that plugin for free and if someone needs TTS - he could just buy a voice he likes by IVONA directly. I hope it works somehow. (This business model could working with SVOX right now but I like voices of IVONA much better).

The biggest client of Onyx in Russia is selling M92 without audio hardware now. So Onyx is actually not that much interested in developing TTS at the moment.

[iampiti]

So its specific to some m92 units. I don't really don't care much about TTS but it'd be nice if this new voice plugin was available to all m92 readers.
Thanks for the info Booxtor!

[FrancoisL]

Tx Booxtor. This makes sense.

If the IVONA management feels that they will not make money, they will not feel that this is important. At the moment, on Windows, they sell each voice for €39. If they sell 100 voices on the M92, it is €3900. This is probably a small amount for them.

Still, I wish they would do it. I like their voices a lot (the German Hans and French Mathieu voices are very good).

Booxtor, I wish you luck! You have the right idea.

[Booxtor]

We are currently in contact and negotiating with Acapela. Their offer is quite good and their voices are at least as good as Ivona voices. Additionaly they support much more languages than Ivona. I am pretty sure the next TTS on Onyx will be from Acapela.

[janek]

Originally Posted by Booxtor

We are currently in contact and negotiating with Acapela. Their offer is quite good and their voices are at least as good as Ivona voices. Additionaly they support much more languages than Ivona. I am pretty sure the next TTS on Onyx will be from Acapela.

This would be great. The quality of speech this software produces is really high and that in all five languages I happen to understand... I'd love to see this TTS software on Boox and would definitely pay for it or the voices, whatever the scheme will be.

[guidol]

Originally Posted by janek

I'd love to see this TTS software on Boox and would definitely pay for it or the voices, whatever the scheme will be.

I would also pay for a fine english and german voice
I heard the Pocketbook 903 in a test against the Onyx M92 and would like to have such a voice on the M92, because on the most topics I did find the M92 better, so I ordered the M92

But I like TTS very much (at most the DECtalk engine = DEC DTC01/DTC08 or the Emic2....but that all Hardware-TTS).

[elkm]

Hi guys,

About the TTS on other languages, on my kindle there's a hack that allows to use any TTS, this tread shows how "https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153107"

can't us do something to install it on the m92, since both are Linux?

can't someone develop a way to do it? Don't need to be official!!

[Hopelessone]

Is there any news with this yet, would like to install other more natural voices than the standard robot ones..

Thanks,

[janek]

Yeah, and I'm still willing to pay.