OCR software need not be expensive and can be the quickest way to transfer huge amounts of text in an article or publication to editable text.

TopOCR is completely free and designed to be simple and user-friendly enough for use with a digital camera or smartphone. The aim is to make it easy to acquire documents and texts from business cards, newspapers, books and magazines without having to carry around a bulky notebook computer and scanner. OCR is surprisingly accurate and the developers claim it has up to a 99.8% accuracy rate with a 3 Megapixel camera. There are no page limits and no extra downloads or components needed. It can handle images with mixed text and graphics and it can even tolerate skew and uneven lighting. In terms of output formats, you have searchable PDF and HTML formats that are able to read 11 different languages. In addition, Smartphone owners will find it indispensable with full support for them including a useful (although not very accurate) Text-To-Speech software. This means that you can record thoughts, minutes and dictations and play them back later for TopOCR to print out.

This is a hugely comprehensive and generally accurate OCR package and best of all, it's entirely free.

Download TopOCR 3.0 in Softonic

There are a few utilities out there which can make your life so much easier, you wouldn't contemplate living without them. As someone who works on the web, I'm taking screenshots all the time and SnagIt is the only tool I'd use for this vital element of my job.

In its latest incarnation, SnagIt has added a lot of new features and a jazzed-up interface. While the old familiar 'big red button' remains, much of the UI (particularly in the Editor window) has been completely overhauled. Gone is the XP blue of previous versions, replaced with a Vista-friendly charcoal look which works pretty well.

The program's key features (taking and editing screenshots) remain pretty much unchanged. You still have a huge amount of power of just what type of screenshot you can take, with timers, cursor settings and profiles all still playing a major role. I was pleased to see that my profiles from the last version of SnagIt were kept as it would have been a real nuisance to have to re-program them.

The biggest improvements to this new version are certainly connected to the Editor window. For example: whereas previously, you had to take a capture, work on it, save it and then take your next one; now you can take as many screenshots as you like, using whichever profiles, and work on them all as you wish. This is a huge time-saver and a very welcome addition to the program.

Another feature that has been added is of less obvious use. SnagIt now supports meta-tagging and labeling of captured images. The idea behind this feature is that you start to use SnagIt to categorize your images as well as capture them. I can understand the thinking behind this addition but I'm not sure if it's really much more than feature-creep. I can't see myself changing my workflow to fit with SnagIt, nor do I want to lose the capability of moving image files around at will (if you use Windows Explorer to move tagged images, the tags and labels are lost).

SnagIt 9 represents a big step forward for a great utility. While some of the new functionality may not appeal, the most significant changes are major improvements to what was already a very good piece of software. Strongly recommended.

Download SnagIt 9.0.0.351 in Softonic

Text2Speech is a simple application that can read any text pasted or written into the special editor provided. There is just one voice available, 'Microsoft Sam', of which you can choose speed rate and volume.

It would have been such a useful program for many different purposes, if only it really worked properly. In fact, many people would be able to have their documents as MP3 files and listen to them while travelling, without having to carry printed papers which can be difficult to handle on the move. Even people with reading difficulties might have benefited from having a text to speech synthesizer.

Unfortunately, the voice in this application is neither natural nor clear. Its quality is the same of the artificial voice you could get on a PC in the late 80s. One would expect the general standard of synthesizers to have improved in nearly twenty years, but instead of that it's basically like having Robocop reading you a fairy tale. Not the most appealing setting I can think of.

If you can handle a rather metallic, ‘Microsoft Sam’ voice, try Text2Speech to have your written documents in vocal form and save them as either MP3 or Wave files, for a listening on the go.

Download Text2Speech 1.0.2.1 in Softonic

LingvoSoft Talking Dictionary 2008 German-Spanish for Windows is part of a unique suite of language learning applications for your PC. It provides bidirectional word translation and advanced synthesis of German and Spanish speech.

The dictionary is easy to install and use on your desktop computer. It translates in both directions between German and Spanish and pronounces the translation aloud! The ability to pronounce German and Spanish words is the distinguishing feature of this software translator. And it does so using the most advanced BST Text-to-Speech synthesis available anywhere! Now you never need to check transcriptions: simply select a word and with one click have the dictionary pronounce it for you.

As part of a complete suite of language solutions, this dictionary is also capable of full integration with the LingvoSoft FlashCards and LingvoSoft Talking PhraseBook applications for added effectiveness.

LingvoSoft Talking Dictionary 2008 German-Spanish for Windows features:

General features:

• English, French, German, Spanish and Russian interfaces
• Overview of all the dictionary entries in the Main Window
• All translations of the selected word displayed in the Translation Window
• Quick search function: enter a few letters and words starting with these letters (and translations) are displayed
• Search function for any sequence of characters entered in the input line
• Quick back translation for proof of correct understanding
• Customizable interface, toolbar and typefaces
• Full text-editing functions: paste, copy and cut, as well as import/export texts to/from other applications
• Full integration with LingvoSoft FlashCards and PhraseBook applications

Special features:

• Pronunciation of all listed German and Spanish words based on the latest BST Text-to-Speech technology
• User vocabulary: a personal dictionary can be created by adding and editing dictionary entries
• Instant translation
• Quick paste function: merely select a word for import from another application and it automatically displays the most relevant dictionary entry.
• Part of speech filter lets the dictionary process only translations belonging to the designated part of speech you select (i.e. verbs, adjectives, etc.)

Download LingvoSoft Talking Dictionary 2008 German-Spanish 4.1.29 in Softonic

Write stories, screenplays, poems or mail using a virtual typewriter. Create authentic looking documents from a selection of stationery and enjoy the romantic writing experience of days long gone. Using Visual Typewriter is not only fun, it is inspiring. Publish your manuscript as an e-book in pdf or html format, create a weblog or send it as an e-mail message. You can even use the integrated spellchecker to help you correct typos or let the text-to-speech convertor read-out your pages.

Download Visual Typewriter 1.5 in Softonic

For those of us whose sights are trained on a computer screen all day long, reading in-depth articles on our favourite blogs or sifting through long emails is the last thing we want to do at the end of a day at the office. Imagine our delight then when we came across a program that promised to read all this text for us as we give our eyes a well-earned rest.

The beauty of TextAloud is that it not only reads out anything you copy and paste into the voice window but also allows you to save the resulting speech as an audio file. Effectively this means you can transform any web page, email or text document into a podcast to download to your MP3 player and listen to at your leisure. File sizes are kept to a minimum so it's possible to save entire novels as an audio file of less than 1Mb.

Having tried similar text-to-voice applications before, we were sceptical about how monotone the speech would sound. Sure enough, the one preset voice in the free download sounds like the boring brother of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey and before too long you want to rip your earphones out to escape his ceaseless drone. Although you can change the pitch and speed of the voice, this proves no less robotic.

Before we reached for our reading glasses again we thought we'd try an upgrade to the full version of TextAloud, which incorporates the use of AT&T's Natural Voice technology as an alternative to the free Microsoft voice tones. With a wide range of different voices to choose from including, UK English, Indian English, and Spanish, the speech is seamless and almost as convincing as having someone sitting next to you. We particularly enjoyed being able to download a 150-page book from the net then sitting on the train listening to the dulcet tones of a softly-spoken English lady recite the tale to us.

The novelty of a text-to speech system is initially amusing but the voice in the freeware version soon becomes irritating. However, paying for the upgrade to more natural voices turns the application into a genuinely useful piece of kit that frees your eyes from the shackles of your computer screen.

Download TextAloud 2.274 in Softonic

Creating video tutorials is a great way of demonstrating how to use your piece of software or providing friends and colleagues with details of a particular function within an application. ALLCapture is designed to make the process of producing your own videocasts all the easier - and it doesn't do badly at all. You simply need to specify the part of the screen you wish to record before starting the recording process. After the desired actions on the screen are captured, ALLCapture opens the video in a standard digital editor. You can then quickly chop and change unwanted passages or alter the sequence of the transmission. Audio comments or mood music can be added using the software with just one click.

In addition you can buff up the video tutorial with ALLCapture. Through the use of speech bubbles or digital notes you can tie more succinct explanations to your clips. Special tools like the so-called Rubber Band or Spotlight effect can also be used to emphasize certain cutouts graphically. Exporting the file as a video is a simple process and although it doesn't support a huge range of movie formats, you can output the file as an executable.

ALLCapture proves to be a very useful assistant for the creation of video tutorials and clips of what's happening on the screen. The software is clear enough to be used for beginners, who can achieve great looking results with minimum brainwork.

Download ALLCapture 2.0 in Softonic

ABC Amber Nokia Converter transforms messages (GMV) in Nokia phones into different file formats. The operation can be done individually or with all files at once. Thus, in a few seconds you will have all of your messages in MS Outlook, in text documents, HTML, PDF, etc. It can even converts text files to voice whenever you install Microsoft's text-to-speech tool.

ABC Amber Nokia Converter is fully compatible with most major text editing programs. For a small program, it packs in an amazing number of features including the reading of VMG files,
exporting selected messages to a single file of any document format i.e. PDF format (Adobe Acrobat doesn't need to be installed), RTF format (also doesn't require MS Word to be installed), hypertext HTML format, text format, MS DOC format, popular CHM format, HLP format, email EML format, and many more.

It can even generate content with with bookmarks and hyperlinks in the output file and can be run from the command line prompt if needed.

If you're a compulsive texter, then you'll find this program a superb way to archive your favourite and most precious texts.

Download ABC Amber Nokia Converter 3.04 in Softonic

Sometimes it's nice to hear your e-mails or written projects read back to you to see how it sounds. If you can't afford a personal secretary, then the next best thing is TTSReader which is is a fully-featured, text-to speech software package that allows you to read text aloud as well as save them to WAV or MP3 files.

TTSReader has a very simple interface which consists of a text box where you can type or paste text. As it reads, it highlights text with a blue cursor square. If you want to save the reading for listening on an external device or share with someone else, you can save the file to WAV or MP3 format. MP3 is recommended as it's much smaller and features more options for adjusting the volume.

If you only want TTS to read certain paragraphs, you can instruct it to skip sentences and paragraphs while reading. You can also saved read segments to a clipboard so you can go back to it later. If you get bored of the several voices included in the program - for which you can alter the pitch, volume and speed - you can download more from the developer website. Even if you don't use this for serious purposes, you'll have a lot of fun just hearing your computer swear.

Download TTSReader 1.00 in Softonic

Alarm Master Plus is a multifunctional personal organizer including alarm clock, scheduler, timer and calendar. The program supports skins. Alarm Master Plus is the same as Alarm Master but it additional supports a lot of media formats (WAV, MP3, MPG, AVI and many other), text to speech function and astrological zodiac calendar.

The alarm clock can remind you about important events by playing your favorite music, showing and talking a notification message, opening a document, or starting the program you like. Alarm clock mode allows to set alarm for the current day or any forthcoming date. Number of alarms is almost unlimited.

Besides, there are special templates for setting the daily, weekly, monthly or single day alarms for certain time. This feature allows you to organize your schedule of course attending, schedule of monthly bill payments, calendar of birthdays, etc.

Download Alarm Master Plus 4.18 in Softonic

DSpeech is a TTS (Text To Speech) program with functionality of ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) integrated. It is able to to read aloud the written text and choose the sentences to be pronounced upon the vocal answers of the user.

Features:

• Save the output as a Wav or Mp3 file.
• Select quickly different voices and combine them
• Integrates vocal recognition system
• Configure the voices in an independent way
• Dynamically change speed, volume and frequency of the voices during reproduction
• Capture and reproduce the content of the ClipBoard
• Compatible with all modern vocal engines SAPI 5 compliant

Download DSpeech 1.53 in Softonic

Digital Diary is a tool to write your diaries every day without needing to write your stuff in text files (ie. Notepad). Also it comes with new features which help you to organize your time and minimize your effort.

This is what Digital Diary has to offer:

• Create your account to start recording your diaries
• Read the latest news with Digital Diary RSS
• Record your friends' info with Digital Diary Contacts
• Send e-mails using Digital Diary Mailer
• Create your photo gallery with Digital Diary Gallery, and make it secured from being viewed by others
• Use Digital Diary Reminder to remember your appointments and meetings.
• You can add the important text which is in your clipboard to Digital Diary by using HyperClipboard feature
• A high security system which protect your diaries from being stolen. After you finish working on the program, your pages automatically encrypted
• Digital Diary helps you in making topics for your diaries so you can explore your diaries fast, also you can delete, rename and put a description and icon for each content
• You can search in your diary by using advanced search engine or by exploring the index of your diary
• Organize your diary by changing your fonts, colours and size, add emotions and images to your diary
• You can write your diaries by your voice using Speech Recognition Feature

Download Digital Diary 4.0 in Softonic

Talking Translator Pro is an easy to use 4 in 1 language utility which can translate text between 8 languages with 23 language sets, Find meanings of words, Read the contents of files and clipboard. It can also read the translations in its native language with proper accent using the in-built text-to-speech feature. You can easily edit and saves your translations and meanings in multiple formats. Also, text-to-speech engines in 12 languages are provided free.

Download Talking Translator Pro 1.8 in Softonic

DKMessenger is a peer-to-peer, messenger application with video phone, audio, text chat, file sharing and much, much more! DKMessenger allows real-time communications with one or more of your friends. If you have a microphone and a camera hooked up to your PC, you can create a video conference! If no microphone is available, Text to Speech (TTS) synthesis speaks the messenger text typed by your buddies.

DKMessenger has several key features that set it apart from the rest of the messengers out there. Peer-to-Peer communications provides fast and efficient data transfer. Multi-user videoconferencing once restricted to expensive software and hardware configurations is now available from the desktop. The collaborative DKMessenger AppExchange and Whiteboard features let users present and share ideas with other users easily in real time. Groups and encryption are used to provide privacy and security.

Download DKMessenger 4.5.9 in Softonic

MonkeyKing Chinese is for people who are serious about learning the Chinese language. It's a simple, efficient, and comprehensive tool designed for beginners and senior learners to pick up not only some Chinese language but also some culture.

Features:

• English-Chinese double language Dictionary
• Lessons and sense dialogues
• Text To Speech available in simplified Chinese
• Chinese input method
• Chinese lunar calendar and more useful tools

Download MonkeyKing Chinese 1.5 in Softonic

Converts any text into spoken words or MP3/WAVE audio files! 2nd Speech Center is an award-winning text-to-speech player that lets you listen to documents, e-mails or web pages instead of reading on screen. In addition to text, 2nd Speech Center also allows you to convert text to MP3 or WAVE files for listening later with your portable MP3 player.

2nd Speech Center can directly open Plain Text files (TXT), Microsoft Word files (DOC), PDF files (PDF), EMail files (EML), Rich Text files (RTF), HTML files. For Microsoft Internet Explorer users, 2nd Speech Center supplies a handy toolbar plug-in for Internet Explorer. 2nd Speech Center supports dozens of male, female and robotic voices for over 11 languages. 2nd Speech Center can monitor the Windows Clipboard and automatically process its contents. This feature makes it easy to read web pages, e-mail messages, documents and much more.

Additionally, 2nd Speech Center is integrated with many useful and timesaving features, such as talking alarm clock, talking reminder and powerful command lines for advanced users. And don't worry, the intuitive VCR style user interface is very easy to use.

Download 2nd Speech Center 3.0 in Softonic

This popular e-mail client is designed to fulfill just about any need you might have in trying to keep up with e-mail. Eudora includes support for LDAP, automatic configuration, and support for graphics within messages. Eudora also allows regular expressions in filters and features an automatic spelling checker, as well as a speech option that will even read your e-mail out loud. Other features include IMAP support, the ability to display animated GIFs in HTML messages, and automatic mail retrieval in the background.

SpamWatch

SpamWatch is a powerful tool in Eudora 6 and higher to help you stop Spam.

ScamWatch

This new feature combats "phishing" schemes that use disguised URL's to gather personal information. Eudora now detects if the URL in the link differs suspiciously from the host name and warns you to exercise caution before making the connection.

OpenSSL

The state-of-the art standard in email security and encryption.

Improved IMAP

Improved functionality to synchronize and access email from multiple computers and locations.

Emoticons

24 new originally designed emoticons (not in Light mode).

WebWords

WebWords combines email and web searching.

Content Concentrator

Content Concentrator is a new tool in Eudora 6 to help make messages more readable.

Contextual Filing advanced matching

Select a word (or words) within a message and, with one click, you can file it in a folder or mailbox of the same name or one containing that word.

Mac OS X importer and address book sync

Simple import for Apple Mail into Eudora. Eudora now takes advantage of the Apple address book to provide the best of all email and address functionality.

IMAP mailbox sync

Eudora allows users to specify which IMAP mailboxes should be synced on mail checks. A menu item provides a toggle so that users can "Sync on Mail Check" or not.

Mailbox Drawer

Convenient access to all mailboxes from any mailbox window.

New Toolbar Icons

In Eudora 6, upgrade to the new icon look. Or, if preferred, the option to maintain the classic look is also provided.

Fast, Powerful Search

Search through thousands of messages in seconds, using multiple search criteria.

Enhanced Filters

Thousands of combinations available for sorting and organizing your mail box contents.

Virus Protection

Eudora doesn't allow anything to run from your mail unless you want it to, stopping viruses and trojan horses cold. Eudora also warns users about opening emails with potentially dangerous content.

Drag and Drop Attachments

Drag attachments from an email onto your desktop or from your desktop into an email.

Formatting and Styles

You can generate styled text (font, color, size, style, margins, etc.) from the Text menu. You can also paste in styled text. Styles are maintained when included in replies and forwarded messages.

In-line spell checking

Eudora highlights the misspelled words in your message. You can review, override and add words to your dictionary.

Color Labeling

Assign colors to sort your mail either manually or automatically using filters.

Customize your Toolbar

Arrange the toolbar layout, add or remove function keys.

Mail Sort

Sort the contents of a mailbox by clicking on a column header. You can choose to sort by Sender, Date, Subject, Label color, etc.

Import

Easy import from other common email clients.

Kerberos V Authentication

One-time security login for site licensees.

Eudora Sharing Protocol (ESP)

Automatically sync and share files with family, friends and co-workers. No need for a separate server or resending large attachments.

Powerful Address Book

Automatic email address listings. Enter custom fields and multiple nicknames. Drag and drop nicknames to the toolbar for quick new message creation. Integrated VCard support (VCard support is Mac only).

MoodWatch

Lets you know about the flame content in incoming and outgoing emails.

Email Usage Stats

Offers private, personal and interesting insight to a user's day-to-day email activity and patterns.

Multi-tasking

Compose, receive and send mail simultaneously. By checking and sending mail as a background operation, Eudora lets you work in other applications while your email is transferring.

Automatic Name and Address Completion

Eudora automatically completes the recipient name you are typing using information from your Address Book.

Task Progress Window

Monitor task activity progress when sending or checking mail.

Personalities

You can create various names from which you send and receive email with the Personalities settings. As an example, you might use one personality (email address name) for friends and family and another personality for business correspondence.

Animated GIF Images

Turn on this feature in the Fonts & Display Setting to view animated GIF images.

IMAP

Internet Message Access Protocol allows you to access email stored on a remote server. Using IMAP you can switch from computer to computer and still see the same Eudora interface from multiple locations.

LDAP Directory Services

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) allows you to look up contacts using LDAP servers such as WhoWhere.

User choice

Choose Paid, Sponsored or Light mode version of Eudora.

SSL

Secure Socket Layer support

Download Eudora 7.1.0.9 in Softonic

Cute Translator is a powerful handy program to translate text, documents between 12 major languages. Supported languages are English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, with new languages being added all the time.

Features:

• Translate documents of popular formats
• Translate email, chat
• Copy and paste or type anything and get translated
• Perform any to any translation in 12 languages
• Read aloud translations in American English, British English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Korean, Russian with Microsoft Text-To-Speech engine
• Cartoon characters, Merlin, Robby, Peedy, and Genie, who serve you as Assistant powered by Microsoft Agent technology
• Software interface in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch
• Conversion between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
• Swap source & target language with a mouse click
• Easy-to-use built-in editor to edit translations
• Send translations to printer
• Automatically download required components such as Microsoft Text-To-Speech engines, cartoon characters direct from Cute Translator web site
• Various options such as copy result to clipboard after translation, read aloud result after translation
• Live updater to detect new version available on this web site

Download Cute Translator 3.01 in Softonic

Speaker is a program that lets people with a speech impediment or those who would like to learn English, generate a voice to say whatever they want. Using the text box, you can type your message and hit the talk button or use any of the pre-defined command to quickly say common phrases.

Download Speaker 2.3.1 in Softonic

SkypeAttendant is a virtual attendant to automatically answer your SkypeIn or Skype to Skype calls. Callers simply say the name of the person they are calling and SkypeAttendant automatically transfers the Skype call to that person. SkypeAttendant uses text to speech technology which means you can quickly customize all voice prompts using a simple text editor.

Download SkypeAttendant 1.0 in Softonic