iHear Network app Debuts on Android
Well would you take a look at that! It’s not every day you hear that Android will be getting a third-party application before Apple’s iOS, but it looks like we’ve won this one. iHear Network, which takes the reading out of twitter, is out now on Android with iOS to get it sometime before the end of the year.
It turns out that iOS doesn’t have a proper Text-to-Speech (TTS) API that would work with the service, so until they get that updated it looks like they will be the ones waiting. This application takes local tweets to your area, or the area you specify, and plays them back to you to get a feel of whats going on in the area.
Why iHear Network app for Android?
With social networks booming the way they are iHead Network will be a welcome app to the Market. Off the top of my head it could be a way to find out about the next great local band, restaurant, etc. Check out the press release below and you can get the app in the Android market here. If iHear Network is something you would like to use, or you have used it and it helped you find something fun, let us know in the comments!
Full iHear Network app Press Release Follows
SEATTLE, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Are you tired of your iPhone-toting friends downloading the hottest mobile apps while you wait in vain for an Android version? Wait no longer – finally, a game-changing app tackles Android first.
iHear Network, launching in advance of the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, offers a unique auditory experience exclusively on Android. When you tune into iHear Network, you hear what people are saying in your community as local tweets are converted into speech in real-time. Additionally, you can see the location of each tweet on a map as it is read aloud. You’re not constrained to listening in on your neighborhood either, since you can virtually visit, or “teleport,” to any place on earth.
This innovative entertainment offering relies on the Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology that comes with smartphones running Android 1.6 and up. Meanwhile, iPhone, which lacks a native TTS package, is still struggling to find its voice. “Before starting on this project, we had to decide which platform to target first,” says iHear Network CEO Geoffrey Simons. “After some research, we discovered that iOS currently lacks the tools needed to build TTS applications, so we picked Android to start. Anyway, isn’t the iPhone for hipsters?”
Beyond entertainment, iHear Network is useful for gauging public sentiment at a given point in time. Tune in before going out on the town, during televised live events like the Oscars, on road trips, or when extreme weather hits. The app is great at conferences too, such as SXSW.
To get started, simply download iHear Network from Android Market, turn it on, and go. It’s free, and no sign-up or account is required. If you show off iHear Network to your non-Android friends, though, be prepared to explain to them that they’ll have to patiently wait for it to become available on iPhone later this year.
Contact: iHear Network Matt Fitzsimmons [email protected] http://www.ihearnetwork.com/