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CLEMMONS, NC - With a job that combines solitude with days of notoriously long hours on the road, truck drivers often fill that drive time with music, talk radio, or books on tape. Now, thanks to today's technological advances, text to speech software programs like NextUp's TextAloud (www.NextUp.com) are providing another option for truckers, enabling anyone to easily and affordably export books, magazine articles, web content, even e-mails, into spoken audio. An award-winning program that seamlessly converts text into spoken audio for listening on a PC or laptop, TextAloud can also save text to audio files for playback on portables like the iPod® , PocketPC®, and a wide range of other players and devices. Inexpensively priced and simple for anyone with a PC, TextAloud is proving to be a popular product for truck drivers -- especially long-haul drivers with many hours to fill.

One such user is Los Angeles-based Mary M., a truck driver who routinely uses TextAloud to "read" to her as she drives. With extremely long drive times common to her work schedule, Mary tried books on tape, but soon discovered TextAloud as an even better alternative to keep alert, entertained, and informed, even on the road.

"I love to read, but am often too tired to do my reading at night," comments longtime truck driver Mary M. "When I discovered TextAloud, I was practically in tears, as it enabled me to still enjoy my reading with the freedom of listening to the books read aloud, on the road. It soon became routine for me to scan whole books into TextAloud for me to listen to as I drive -- everything from classics, to modern literature." She adds, "I especially like having the ability to import text files, and then play them for hours and hours, reducing the effects of long-distance commuting."

Mary uses her laptop to play her files, setting it up on the passenger seat next to her during her commutes, and connecting it to her truck's stereo system for higher-quality listening. There's also no lack of material for her to listen to, as many classic books are in the public domain and are free to download. As most big truck stops have wireless internet, Mary can easily download new reading material for TextAloud to read to her in minutes.

Mary also likes to listen to some scientific nonfiction books, as well, and was surprised at how well the TextAloud premium voices handled the pronunciation. "The voices seem to be so real!" she raves. "I'm currently using the NeoSpeech 'Kate' voice, and love the fact that her voice offers pitch control. The voices are all great quality, and really elevate the entire listening experience.

"With drives of ten to twelve hours per day, TextAloud takes away the tedium and gives me back the reading time I'd missed."

About TextAloud

Business people, students, educators, writers, lawyers, homemakers and busy people from all walks of life find TextAloud to be an essential tool they use every day. TextAloud provides improved reading comprehension and speed, the ability to listen to text away from the computer, and a number of utilities, from audio proofreading, to word highlighting for dyslexics. It's been featured in The New York Times, PC Magazine, Writer's Digest, on CNN, and more. Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows (R) 98, NT, 2000 and XP. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.NextUp.com.

About NextUp.com

NextUp.com, a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC, provides award-winning Text to Speech software for consumers, business customers, educators, and those with visual or vocal impairment, or learning disabilities.

In addition to TextAloud, NextUp.com markets other innovative Windows software designed to save time and deliver vital information. NewsAloud™ is a talking personal "news agent" that finds the stories users want, and then reads them aloud or to portable audio files. WeatherAloud™ is a weather application that lets users select and listen to personalized weather forecasts, while StocksAloud™ reads stock updates and related news headlines aloud for specific companies of interest. NextUp Talker is an easy and affordable program that allows people who have lost their voices to use the latest in high-quality computer voices to communicate with others. Information on NextUp Talker is available at TalkForMe.com Most recently, NextUp introduced a new text reader, AbleReader, available with the AT&T Natural Voices™ for use on Mac computers. Information on AbleReader is available at AbleReader.com

Note to Editors:

Evaluation copies of TextAloud are currently available upon request. To receive a review copy, or for more information on NextUp.com or TextAloud, please contact publicist Angela Mitchell at (904) 982-8043.

All companies and products referenced in this press release are the trademarks of their respective owners.