Convert your Text to Speech in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

Converting text to speech does not only help the children in Kindergarten, but it is also beneficial for variety of domains. In this tutorial, I'd let you know how to build a text-to-speech sample using Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) with Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). This application will allow you to browse a text file, open it in a RichTextBox control, set the volume and rate of the speech.

So first of all, let me give you a brief introduction about this latest Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) version 5.3. It is a managed API that allows developers to write speech enable applications in .NET Framework 3.0 and it is already integrated with Windows Vista. Physically, this API resides in System.Speech.Dll assembly.

Please read the full article at Redmond Pie.

Touchless

Touchless enables touch without touching by using a webcam to track color based markers.

Touchless includes two parts:

• Touchless Demo is an open source application that anyone with a webcam can use to experience multi-touch, no geekiness required. There are 4 fun demos: Snake - where you control a snake with a marker, Defender - up to 4 player version of a pong-like game, Map - where you can rotate, zoom, and move a map using 2 markers, and Draw - the marker is used to guess what.... draw!
• Touchless SDK is an open source SDK that enables developers to create multi-touch based applications using a webcam for input, geekiness recommended.

This project is an Office Labs community project. So you can also download it's SDK, try the application or watch demo video from the source.

Firefox knows where your computer is located

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has released technology that helps websites detect the physical location of computers.

The system will allow users, for instance, to find local restaurants when they travel to a new town.

The Geode project is an experimental add-on ahead of a full blown launch of geolocation technology in version 3.1 of Firefox. Users will have control over how much location information they give. It uses technology from a firm called Skyhook which works out a computer's location from nearby wireless networks.

Its so-called Loki system can determine location within seconds with an accuracy of about 10 to 20 metres.

PTCL offers free internet services from October 18

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to offer free internet services to all its customers, effective from October 18, 2008.

Dr Sadik Al-Jadir, Senior Executive Vice President SEVP Commercial stated, "With this perspective, PTCL, the largest IP service provider in Pakistan now brings a revolutionary offer for all its landline subscribers, which is unmatched anywhere in the world.

Sadik said that PTCL landline subscribers could now experience the best dial up speeds with unlimited internet usage during night hours from 10:00 pm to 07:00 am and they could avail up to 100 hours of free dialup internet on monthly basis from 07:00 am to 10:00 pm every day. He further said that to access the internet subscriber should simply dial 131-7777 with "ptcl" as login and password.

From October 18th, PTCL customers availing unlimited dialup internet package of Rs 199/month will not be charge anymore. However, customer exceeding 100 hr of free internet during day time will be charged as per existing tariff of PTCL dial up internet of Rs 6/h. in addition, PTCL is also shifting customers of value plus (Rs 75/month for 20 hrs of dial up internet) to basic plus, which has no additional charges effective from November 1, 2008, he added.

In this connection, this Free Internet offer has replaced their limited time (3 months) free local calls promotion allowing free local calls between 11pm to 6am, which has ended in October.

Microsoft's Oslo on the move

Microsoft plans to give developers their first crack at its new Oslo modeling technology later this month when it releases an early test version of the software at the company's semiannual Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft announced Friday.

The company is calling the release a community technology preview

Model-driven software development seeks to impose rule-based structure and workflow on applications in order to make software development more efficient and the software itself more stable and better suited to the needs of users. Oslo itself includes three pieces: a new programming language to help architects and developers describe models, a visual modeling tool, and a repository for storing different models in a database [...]

GeoEye releases high resolution earth photo album

GeoEye has just unveiled new high resolution images of Pennsylvania's Kutztown University from 423 miles above the 326-acre campus to depict it's new, highly accurate sattelite can be helpful for Google Earth.

GeoEye-1's main client is the U.S. Defense Department's mapping arm, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, but Google has exclusive commercial rights to its images.

Google has not said when it plans to use the images for Google Maps as well as Google Earth.

"Though the satellite collects imagery at 0.41-meter ground resolution, due to U.S. licensing restrictions, commercial customers will only get access to imagery that has been processed to half-meter ground resolution," GeoEye says.

Why did GeoEye shoot Kutztown University?

"When we opened the camera door at noon on Oct. 7 and looked down on the earth 423 miles below, the school was underneath us," GeoEye Vice President for Communications and Marketing Mark Brender told The Washington Post. "It is truly our first image."

Motorola to hire 300 Google's Android developers

Google's Android is starting to see more industry support. Motorola recently announced plans, despite hardships within the company, to hire 300 Android developers.

A quick search of Motorola's job openings suggests that, indeed, Android is set to become a permanent fixture at Motorola, which has long built Linux-based phones but hitherto used MontaVista's Mobilinux.

The goal? Move from an internal development pool of 50 Android-savvy developers to 350. Motorola, recognizing that most developers won't have deep experience with Google Android, is looking for a somewhat general skillset. Although Java and Google Android programming experience is listed as "highly desirable," but not required.

Microsoft provides first look at Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0

Microsoft Corp. today provided the first look at the next version of its developer tools and platform, which will be named Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0. Microsoft described the next release through the following five focus areas: riding the next-generation platform wave, inspiring developer delight, powering breakthrough departmental applications, enabling emerging trends such as cloud computing, and democratizing application life-cycle management (ALM).

Today’s announcement included an in-depth look at how Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) 2010 (code-named “Rosario”) will help democratize ALM with a unique solution that brings all the members of a development organization into the application development life cycle, and removes many of the existing barriers to integration. Additional details on the other focus areas will be disclosed over the product development cycle.

You can check out the Norman Guadagno, the Director of Product Management for Visual Studio Team System video from channel9.

Hyper-V Server 2008 available for download

Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, as a role, plus flexible licensing policies, it's now easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization through Windows Server 2008. This enables you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single physical machine and also efficiently run multiple different operating systems—Windows, Linux, and others—in parallel, on a single server, and fully leverage the power of x64 computing.

You can download it from Microsoft Downloads site.

Windows Cloud: Microsoft's forthcoming OS

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed a few details on Wednesday of a forthcoming operating system that will help developers write Internet-based applications.

Within a month, Microsoft will unveil what Ballmer called "Windows Cloud." The OS, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer, speaking in London to an auditorium of IT managers at a Microsoft-sponsored conference. Cloud computing is a term often applied to programs that are presented in a Web browser, but the actual computing is performed at a distant datacenter.

Ballmer was short on details, saying more information would spoil the announcement. Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, the OS Microsoft is developing to succeed Windows Vista.

Companies such as Google and Salesforce.com have embraced the concept of delivering software over the Internet, as it can mean lower costs and less maintenance for those who use the applications.

Microsoft, which has built its fortunes on desktop-based software, has been anxious to show it also has plans for adapting its software for the Internet.