The best thing that has come out of the current Web 2.0 hype is the way people now use the term “beta” to describe anything that is generally available, but has flaws and will never be finished. If I only would have known that back in my school days, my grades might have been much better if I had just put “beta” on my test results.

With that in mind, we have introduced a new service on the ViodiTV BETA web site that converts text to speech.The Odiogo service automatically translates text into a synthesized voice. This allows people to download automatically the articles that reside on the ViodiTV web site to their iPods or other MP3 players.This feature could be useful for people who have a great deal of windshield time or those who are suffering from insomnia.

The voice quality is amazing, although it does stumble on some words, especially acronyms. Odiogo provides tips on how to optimize one’s writing for their service (tips, I haven’t yet consciously followed).Advertising inserted into the audio stream seems to be the basis for Odiogo’s business model, although I have not noticed any advertisements other than Odiogo’s entry jingle.

Let’s try this for an advertisement. Come to a Viodi Local Content Workshop – learn more at viodi.com/local or call us at 408 551 0320.

I have noticed that it sometimes does not always play when a posting is new. It also will not convert text from Club Viodi articles into audio (sorry Club Viodi members).Ironically, it is skipping past paragraphs in this post, such as the one promoting the Local Content Workshop. This is the first I have seen this error. Despite these minor inconveniences, it is definitely worth trying, at least in the context of a “beta” site.To subscribe to the Odiogo audio feed for ViodiTV, please click on the following icon or link:

Click here to subscribe to Audio-Text RSS Feed

As usual, we are interested in any feedback, so please comment below.