Mail.com Reads Your Mail Out Loud

By Geoff Duncan Published August 22, 2006

For years, Web-based email services have been trying to match the flexibility and feature sets of dedicate email applications, rather than trying to explore new and innovative services. (Well, other than integrating ads in your messages.). Today, Web-based email service Mail.com today unveiled Audio Webmail, a new beta feature which enables users to have their message read aloud to them in over 11 languages, directly within a Web browser without installing additional software. The service is available for free to all Mail.com users on the company’s beta site.

Audio Webmail currently supports U.S. and U.K. English, German, Italian, French, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Portuguese, and Dutch, and plans to add support for additional languages in the future. Audio Webmail has been developed in conjunction with mammoth email hosting/processing service Outblaze and ReadSpeaker, a leading developer of text-to-speech and speech synthesis technology explicitly intended for use over the Internet.

Recommended Videos

Mail.com spokesperson Jo-Anne Timothy said in a statement: “Audio Webmail is appealing because it allows users to have email read to them while focusing on something else. Additionally, the convenient ‘podmail’ capability allows you to catch up on the day’s emails while exercising, commuting, or doing any other activity that requires you to be away from your computer.”

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

Watch Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot helping out at Michelin

watch boston dynamics spot robot helping out at michelin

Spot at Michelin | Boston Dynamics

It’s been four years since the robot wizards at Boston Dynamics declared their dog-like Spot robot ready for the workplace.

Computing

Best 2-in-1 laptop deals: Turn your laptop into a tablet for $349

Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 Gen 7 laptop sits on a small desk folded like a tent.

2-in-1 laptops are a great option for those who want something a bit more portable and similar in experience to a laptop but who still don't want to give up a traditional laptop experience. Luckily, quite a lot of 2-in-1 laptops come with a lot of great specs under the hood, and some of them even show up on lists of the best laptops on the market, so you're not giving up on specs if you don't want to.Of course, some of the best 2-in-1 laptops can get quite expensive, especially when you're buying them from some of the best laptop brands out there.
That's why we've gone out and looked for our favorite 2-in-1 laptop deals to help save you some effort. We've pulled from HP laptop deals, Dell laptop deals, the classic 2-in-1 Surface Pro deals, and more.

Asus Chromebook Plus 2-in-1 14 -- $349 $400 13% off

Computing

Turns out your standing desk may not be so healthy for you after all

Somneone using the Amazon Basics Single Computer Monitor Stand at a desk.

We often point to standing desks as an answer to the health problems with sedentary life. But a new study from the University of Sydney, conducted with 83,000 U.K. adults, reveals that standing all day may not reduce the risk of health problems such as circulatory disease after all.

Even worse -- there are other diseases that may actually be caused by standing up too long, including blood clots in the deep veins and increased circulatory issues.