Teblog

ReadSpeaker turns International Herald Tribune into podcasts

Earlier this year, I was honoured to be chosen by Chris Shipley to be a mentor to some startups at Innovate!Europe. I worked with some excellent fellow mentors and met a whole bunch of innovators during the event. One of the companies was Sweden's ReadSpeaker.

Well, it's now turned up as the engine behind International Herald Tribune's news podcasts. Text to speech really, but made easy to stream or download to an iPod or whatever.

The job is done automatically, so you get an English (well, I did - maybe it depends on the subscriber's country) voice reading the news with curious intonation. It seems to guess at where the voice should rise, fall and stress and, a lot of the time, gets it wrong. But that's computers for you. Quite brainless really, compared with humans.

However, if you want to enjoy the news on your daily commute, you can subscribe to the newspaper departments of interest, jump in the car, bus, train or aeroplane and arrive at your destination all newsed up.

(Disclosure 1: I sold International Herald Tribune and New York Times International on the streets of Paris in 1965.)

(Disclosure 2: While true, the previous disclosure was meant light-heartedly.)

Innovate!Europe and mobile stuff

Over at Information World Review, I see my column has appeared about some of the companies at Innovate!Europe. It starts:

While not the only game in town, mobile phones and other handheld gizmos grabbed plenty of attention at Innovate! Europe in mid-May...

Not all the links in the article are 'hot', so here's a list:

Zaragoza
Ryanair
Digislide
Socialtext
vpod.tv
Kewego
ReadSpeaker
Otodio
Clicmobile
Navx
Mobease
Google

The Innovate!Europe mentors

On Sunday 14th May, just prior to the Innovate!Europe conference/showcase, a group of start-ups met a group of mentors, me included, at a "Pitch Camp". None of us had worked together before, yet under the skilled guidance of Robert Norum, we immediately started working as a team.

Each mentor had been chosen by Chris Shipley and the Innovate!Europe team, so I guess they had a pretty good idea that the chemistry would work, but I was astonished at exactly how well it worked. We even sought each others' company outside of the official Innovate!Europe sessions.

Between us, we shepherded six companies through a rigorous self-examination and preparation for their pitches  to a mix of entrepreneurs, influencers, early adopters, venture capitalists and fellow start-ups. One of 'my' startups wanted publicity and ended up in TechCrunch. Another wanted an angel investor and was approached by one at the final rehearsal. I'm certain the other mentors can report similar successes.

It's been a while since the event (I have been madly busy teaching media skills, writing and even helping another startup) but I really want to introduce you to my fellow mentors just in case you are looking for a source of decent advice. Broadly, we split into PR/Media, Business and Investment advisors. A lot of overlap, clearly. The tasks at hand were elevator and company pitches. The aim of each was to secure the interest of the target audience and get them to drill deeper.

We each have a wealth of international experience which we apply to helping organisations of all sizes make their way in the world. Here we are:

Paul Doran is a media and marketing communications specialist who helps companies understand who they are and how they should go to market. Company: Switch

Marc Goldberg is managing partner of an investment firm which supports the local European innovation community. Company: Occam Capital

Susan Lucas-Conwell specialises in international business development, market assessments and strategic partnerships in the TransAtlantic arena. Company: Clear Day   (Update: From July 1, she will be executive director of SDforum - "the oldest and largest organization of professionals in emerging technologies related to software in the valley." With international ambitions...)

Robert Norum offers independent marketing optimisation to hi-tech companies, helping them position themselves and their brands. Company: Opportunitas

Lucie-Anne Radimsky represents a PR firm that provides International public relations for technology companies. Company: Ballou PR

David Tebbutt specialises in message development and communication skills. Company: Press Here

Susan A. Thomas specialises in positioning and messaging and developing thought leadership programs. Company: Ajasat

With the exception of me, of course, I can personally vouch for each person on this list.