MagneticTime MT1 review

If you get an avalanche of emails and documents every day and find it hard to read them all, MagneticTime's MT1 could be just what you're looking for.

This handy tool turns ordinary text documents into speech, so you can listen to them rather than having to read them.

The software works with manually imported Word documents and, using a rule that installs with the software, Outlook emails. The rule copies all received emails automatically into a MagneticTime email folder, although you can modify it manually so that it selects only the emails you're interested in.

Once you've imported your documents into MT1, there's no way of viewing the text. Instead, double-clicking an email opens the player application. We would have liked the option to view them normally. What's more, the system doesn't deal with attachments, so you have to open each one manually and choose to convert it to speech.

You can use your PC to play back documents and emails if you like, but more useful is the ability to convert them to MP3 format. This enables you to play the recordings on almost any device. Three versions of the product are available, for iTunes, PDA and Mobile Phone. We tested the iPod version, which copies the audio files to your iTunes music directory and adds them to the library and a playlist. Adding a playlist makes it quick and easy to find the file you want on your iPod. However, there's no way of marking the emails to which you wish to reply.

MT1 is supplied with MagneticTime's Platinum voice, which you can hear on the website. It's very clear and sounds like a female voice with a mild American accent. The quality of the voice and translation is high, but we think tighter email integration and better support for attachments would make this a more attractive proposition.

Author: David Ludlow