A voice-powered RSS newsreader is now available for immediate try-out from NextUp.com. This is version 1.0 of its NewsAloud software that is designed to automatically retrieve news stories from any RSS source you may select. NewsAloud uses Voice Synthesis (Text To Speech or TTS) to read these news stories aloud on a PC (while converting them to MP3 if you like to!). NewsAloud’s automatic audio file creation can also keep the 100 most recent stories available as MP3 or Windows Media files ready for playback on your iPod, PocketPC, or even on your TV with Tivo’s Home Media Option. Optional premium voices are offered for a range of available speech including US, British, and Indian accent English as well as Spanish, German, and French voices. NewsAloud costs $19.95 and is available for Windows 98, NT, 2000 and XP. A full try-out is immediately accessible online. While there are a few corners to be refined, and the voices have still much of the limitations of computer generated speech, this tool shows that RSS is further making inroads, and that there are great ways yet untapped to further facilitate end user access to this ocean of information channels.