newtons speaking

[Info-Mac]

Download: http://archive.info-mac.org/nwt/dev/sound-to-slurp.hqx

Apple didn't release its speech synthesis in the mp2000, but did release voice
recording. My program and recommended hardware will get you some of the features
of the new mp2000 in case you are waiting for the 2010 with more speech
recognition like I am. I made a little program to make all the newton message
pads be able to talk just a little (I may work out a crude phonetics newtonscript
plugin later). You may recall they didn't support pict 2's and after I did they
came up with newton press which I enjoyed pict 2's in. I hope I maybe inspire
them again. My tiny program takes a system 7 file, the kind you get by dragging
an alert from the system or convert from a simplesound recording with freeware
SoundApp 2.2.3, and turns it into a slurpee file that can be put into the newton
sound soup with newton running slurpee. To see that the sound works, you might
use bitsound, freeware available on Steve Weyer's pages. Well, now I've gotten
"line in" for <$1000. What about lineout? Used radio shack telephone pickup on
tiny newton speaker (Radio Shack Cat. No. 44-533 B with 1/8 " miniplug). About
$6. Radio Shack also has $10 tiny amplifier-speaker for phone pickups that works
admirably with above (if you set the volume down a bit to miss processor noise),
trimble scoutmaster connecting with NMEA sentences. Few people own such an
expensive gps unit, so I am, so far, my only beta tester. Speech recognition and
synthesis will go nicely with my program.