4 ms·

Umano wants to tell you the news, literally

39 points by antonl 14y ago

lanap68 14y ago
I'm a big fan of the app. Highly recommend to ALL not just commuter.
adanto6840 14y ago
Definitely will be checking it out. I've got to guess that the "125k people in the US commute to work" is a typo? Edit for clarity - 125k seems very low to me.
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  I saw this too. Jumped out to me. (Apparently it's 125 million.) Edit: From the comments "Just a quick editorial note, there are close to 125MM commuters per week. Most of those are by car. A smaller percentage take public transportation or walk. As for digital voices vs. human voices and reading of content, we at iHear Network believe that TTS technology will continue to improve and provides a much more robust means of tackling the amount of text created daily online. "
- tankbot 14y ago
  This caught my attention too. 125k people seems low for just the Bay area alone.
- ndonnellan 14y ago
  It's probably a typo; 125MM seems more likely http://www.bts.gov/programs/national_household_travel_survey/daily_travel.html http://www.bts.gov/programs/national_household_travel_survey...
sashazvea 14y ago
Great quality! Articles are read by professional voice actors, so none of that Siri stuff.
moocow01 14y ago
Im going to try to not be overly negative here... but arent there numerous other forms of media that already do this in a pretty crowded market? NPR, radio, podcasts, etc? I guess I dont really get why I would use this in that the audio forms of news that I have to choose from are pretty vast and high quality.
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  The idea is that they're curating content from across the web, and reading actual articles to you. Podcasts and the like have a different style of delivery. Think of this as text-to-speech for articles you would normally read, except done by an actual human so it doesn't sound off-putting. I think it's a fantastic idea, but its success will be determined by the team's ability to scale across a wider gamut of content.
  - moocow01 14y ago
    But isn't this essentially what the radio/podcast form of news essentially is? Each station/organization curates information (in a similar way web-based reporters do) and then reports as much of it as their resources allow via someone reading/talking? I'm not trying to beat up on their idea but I dont understand their competitive angle or what would cause me to use it over the huge amount of content out there.
    - HorizonXP 14y ago
      There are similarities, but there are differences too. Podcasts/radio will usually deliver the content more succinctly. Written articles tend to be more in-depth. Pros and cons to both. Moreover, there is simply more written content than there are podcasts or radio. This can help bridge the gap.
      - jlees 14y ago
        I've never been a big fan of podcasts. Some have done a good job of mixing current topics with in-depth dives into specific areas and a dash of humour/personality (boagworld, for example), but most of the others I've tried out are either long rambles on very specialised topics or ego-stroking interviews. There's also production time delays/weekly (or longer) release cycles. Radio news... I haven't really looked into this since moving to the US, but in the UK, no radio news channel covered technology well and it's difficult, given a finite amount of time, to use that time to listen to exactly what you want. e.g. tuning into the World Service here, I get some very random content which is sometimes interesting, sometimes not. Perhaps NPR is different. I feel Umano addresses both of these - topic freshness/specialisation and good use of finite time - in different ways.
TommyDANGerous 14y ago
About a month ago I was thinking about having an app that would read stuff from your phone to you so that you wouldn't have to look at it while driving or doing something else. Glad they already came up with it.
- deepgill 14y ago
  Thanks! Let me know if there are any other features you would like to see in the app.
doodyhead 14y ago
Strange that a company founded by 3 ex-Googlers would bring out an iPhone app first and there's no sign of an Android version: http://umanoapp.com/ http://umanoapp.com/
- apoorvamehta 14y ago
  In my opinion, this is a great strategic decision. IPhone users are more likely to be early adopters as well as become paying users (that's if the guys want to start charging for usage). Most YC companies focusing on mobile start with this as well.
- deepgill 14y ago
  One thing to note is that all Googlers are not Android addicts. Google not only has Android developers, but also backend, frontend and iPhone engineers.
euskode 14y ago
You really need to get the app to see how big a difference professional voice actors make. Imagine if this became ubiquitous, and we could click on a Umano button right from our favorite outlet's site, switch tabs and listen to the article as you code away!
acgourley 14y ago
Does anyone else care if they are ex-googlers or not? Seems completely irrelevant.
- mhaymo 14y ago
  It caught my eye, but I'm shallow.
- danso 14y ago
  Yes, I think this is absolutely important. Without knowing this, I would assume it was a crazy idea by former news operatives who think only content matters, not the logistics needed to efficiently execute on service. If it's ex-techies, then I wonder if they are misjudging what makes for compelling listening.
danso 14y ago
Ignoring scaling issues, I don't see how they could compete with radio, in terms of informational and artistic value. If their premise is that radio is simply content read out loud, then that is a vast underestimation of the polish and narrative structure that radio producers add to a broadcast. Most radio anchors ARE qualified to be professional voice actors. But a great radio report is not just great writing, but a different form of writing.
- weisser 14y ago
  Have you tried the app? It is so different from radio content that I am a bit confused when people say that radio will be their competition. I have two types of commutes with two very different sets of problems. I drive a car and ride the T (subway) in and around Boston/Cambridge. When driving I (obviously) can't read. When riding the T it is usually a pain to read because there is no reception so the content must be preloaded and on top of that there are often no seats. It is not fun trying to operate an iPad[1] with one hand while holding onto a bar for dear life with the other. Umano solves the car problem by having real humans reading to me and giving me the ability to queue multiple articles in advance. Once the app allows users to preload content it will solve all of my T pain points because I will be able get my news fix aurally without any reception needed. I would gladly pay for that. Also, as others have mentioned, I see this as much more than an app for commuters. This seems perfect for the gym. [1] I don't enjoy reading on the iPhone if I can help it because of the need to constantly scroll.
  - deepgill 14y ago
    @weisser. Yes we imagine Umano being used in many more cases than just commuting including the gym, cooking in the kitchen, walking your dog, etc. Basically anytime you could be listening to music. In terms of preloading content, it will be in our next release ;). Already implemented. Just waiting on Apple. Please let us know at support@sothree.com any pain points you have in the app or anything else you would like to see.
    - danso 14y ago
n00b101 14y ago
Yeah, it's called radio news.
MichaelApproved 14y ago
Copyright violation lawsuits will soon follow. I don't think you can just read someone else's articles without getting prior approval first. It's hard enough producing the audio for this but having to get copyright permission for each article is going to make this a tough project to get off the ground.

39 points by antonl 14y ago

I'm a big fan of the app. Highly recommend to ALL not just commuter.

Definitely will be checking it out. I've got to guess that the "125k people in the US commute to work" is a typo? Edit for clarity - 125k seems very low to me.

HorizonXP 14y ago
I saw this too. Jumped out to me. (Apparently it's 125 million.) Edit: From the comments "Just a quick editorial note, there are close to 125MM commuters per week. Most of those are by car. A smaller percentage take public transportation or walk. As for digital voices vs. human voices and reading of content, we at iHear Network believe that TTS technology will continue to improve and provides a much more robust means of tackling the amount of text created daily online. "
tankbot 14y ago
This caught my attention too. 125k people seems low for just the Bay area alone.
ndonnellan 14y ago
It's probably a typo; 125MM seems more likely http://www.bts.gov/programs/national_household_travel_survey/daily_travel.html http://www.bts.gov/programs/national_household_travel_survey...

sashazvea 14y ago

Great quality! Articles are read by professional voice actors, so none of that Siri stuff.

moocow01 14y ago

Im going to try to not be overly negative here... but arent there numerous other forms of media that already do this in a pretty crowded market? NPR, radio, podcasts, etc? I guess I dont really get why I would use this in that the audio forms of news that I have to choose from are pretty vast and high quality.

HorizonXP 14y ago
The idea is that they're curating content from across the web, and reading actual articles to you. Podcasts and the like have a different style of delivery. Think of this as text-to-speech for articles you would normally read, except done by an actual human so it doesn't sound off-putting. I think it's a fantastic idea, but its success will be determined by the team's ability to scale across a wider gamut of content.
- moocow01 14y ago
  But isn't this essentially what the radio/podcast form of news essentially is? Each station/organization curates information (in a similar way web-based reporters do) and then reports as much of it as their resources allow via someone reading/talking? I'm not trying to beat up on their idea but I dont understand their competitive angle or what would cause me to use it over the huge amount of content out there.
  - HorizonXP 14y ago
    There are similarities, but there are differences too. Podcasts/radio will usually deliver the content more succinctly. Written articles tend to be more in-depth. Pros and cons to both. Moreover, there is simply more written content than there are podcasts or radio. This can help bridge the gap.
    - jlees 14y ago
      I've never been a big fan of podcasts. Some have done a good job of mixing current topics with in-depth dives into specific areas and a dash of humour/personality (boagworld, for example), but most of the others I've tried out are either long rambles on very specialised topics or ego-stroking interviews. There's also production time delays/weekly (or longer) release cycles. Radio news... I haven't really looked into this since moving to the US, but in the UK, no radio news channel covered technology well and it's difficult, given a finite amount of time, to use that time to listen to exactly what you want. e.g. tuning into the World Service here, I get some very random content which is sometimes interesting, sometimes not. Perhaps NPR is different. I feel Umano addresses both of these - topic freshness/specialisation and good use of finite time - in different ways.

TommyDANGerous 14y ago

About a month ago I was thinking about having an app that would read stuff from your phone to you so that you wouldn't have to look at it while driving or doing something else. Glad they already came up with it.

deepgill 14y ago
Thanks! Let me know if there are any other features you would like to see in the app.

doodyhead 14y ago

Strange that a company founded by 3 ex-Googlers would bring out an iPhone app first and there's no sign of an Android version: http://umanoapp.com/ http://umanoapp.com/

apoorvamehta 14y ago
In my opinion, this is a great strategic decision. IPhone users are more likely to be early adopters as well as become paying users (that's if the guys want to start charging for usage). Most YC companies focusing on mobile start with this as well.
deepgill 14y ago
One thing to note is that all Googlers are not Android addicts. Google not only has Android developers, but also backend, frontend and iPhone engineers.

euskode 14y ago

You really need to get the app to see how big a difference professional voice actors make. Imagine if this became ubiquitous, and we could click on a Umano button right from our favorite outlet's site, switch tabs and listen to the article as you code away!

acgourley 14y ago

Does anyone else care if they are ex-googlers or not? Seems completely irrelevant.

mhaymo 14y ago
It caught my eye, but I'm shallow.
danso 14y ago
Yes, I think this is absolutely important. Without knowing this, I would assume it was a crazy idea by former news operatives who think only content matters, not the logistics needed to efficiently execute on service. If it's ex-techies, then I wonder if they are misjudging what makes for compelling listening.

danso 14y ago

Ignoring scaling issues, I don't see how they could compete with radio, in terms of informational and artistic value. If their premise is that radio is simply content read out loud, then that is a vast underestimation of the polish and narrative structure that radio producers add to a broadcast. Most radio anchors ARE qualified to be professional voice actors. But a great radio report is not just great writing, but a different form of writing.

weisser 14y ago
Have you tried the app? It is so different from radio content that I am a bit confused when people say that radio will be their competition. I have two types of commutes with two very different sets of problems. I drive a car and ride the T (subway) in and around Boston/Cambridge. When driving I (obviously) can't read. When riding the T it is usually a pain to read because there is no reception so the content must be preloaded and on top of that there are often no seats. It is not fun trying to operate an iPad[1] with one hand while holding onto a bar for dear life with the other. Umano solves the car problem by having real humans reading to me and giving me the ability to queue multiple articles in advance. Once the app allows users to preload content it will solve all of my T pain points because I will be able get my news fix aurally without any reception needed. I would gladly pay for that. Also, as others have mentioned, I see this as much more than an app for commuters. This seems perfect for the gym. [1] I don't enjoy reading on the iPhone if I can help it because of the need to constantly scroll.
- deepgill 14y ago
  @weisser. Yes we imagine Umano being used in many more cases than just commuting including the gym, cooking in the kitchen, walking your dog, etc. Basically anytime you could be listening to music. In terms of preloading content, it will be in our next release ;). Already implemented. Just waiting on Apple. Please let us know at support@sothree.com any pain points you have in the app or anything else you would like to see.
  - danso 14y ago

n00b101 14y ago

Yeah, it's called radio news.

MichaelApproved 14y ago

Copyright violation lawsuits will soon follow. I don't think you can just read someone else's articles without getting prior approval first. It's hard enough producing the audio for this but having to get copyright permission for each article is going to make this a tough project to get off the ground.