The text-to-speech technology behind Kindle 2’s “Read to Me” is provided by Nuance technology. KindleBoards member ArtsAndHistoryFan – who worked at one time for a Berkeley speech technologies firm – posts that a recently-enhanced Nuance text speaker dubbed “Tom” seems to be the voice used in the new Kindle.

You can hear Tom by clicking on this link. (It’s about a 3MB .wav file.)

This is impressive speech technology! I especially enjoy how he clears his throat towards the end.

To compare Tom to the Kindle 2’s digitized voice, check out minute 9 of this Kindle 2 announcement video.

Kindle’s Read-to-Me feature has variable speed settings. ArtsAndHistoryFan simulates that for us, with the following samples: Tom sped up by 8% and Tom sped up by 20%.

Tell us what you think! And how do you like Tom’s chuckling at the end of the sample?

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Tags: Text-to-Speech