Change audiobook narrator to your mom’s voice? Have Oprah read you her latest Book Club title? Want Paul McCartney to read you a bedtime story? Listen to Madonna rather than your history professor? That’s what tech detective hounds claim will be in the iPhone future through these patented inventions. Here’s more from the post on Unwired View:

Despite the restrictions involved in playing back audio files, users of media devices may wish to change the audio output of audio files. A mother, for example, might wish to change the narrator’s voice in a pre-recorded, commercially available audiobook to her own voice, so that her child can listen to the audiobook as narrated in the mother’s voice in her absence. In another scenario, a student listening to a lecture as a podcast file might want to change the audio of certain sections of the lecture to sound like someone else’s voice, so as to emphasize important parts of the lecture.

And you though the Kindle’s Text-to-Speech was a bit too Brave New World…

Hate ripping titles using iTunes? A free download from Apple can help those with Apple computers: Audiobook Builder. Here’s more from the Apple website:

How do you move Audiobooks to your iPod or iPhone? Do you rip to iTunes, then move every imported track to a special playlist before syncing? That means hundreds of confusing track names cluttering iTunes and your iPod or iPhone, with no way to save your place in a track when you take a break, and working with iTunes’ Import settings just gets old.
Now there’s Audiobook Builder, the easy way to import your Audiobook CDs (or tracks that are already on your Mac), organize them, add enhanced chapter markers and output files that your iPod or iPhone will recognize as actual Audiobooks. The results are automatically sent to a special playlist in iTunes – ready for your next iPod or iPhone sync.

Thanks to Kaite Mediatore Stover for the tip!

Public libraries using OverDrive as their download service for audiobooks, eBooks, music, and video just expanded their offerings – and made quite a few patrons much happier. In the past, iPod users were frustrated with the Windows-MP3 device-only compatibility with OverDrive’s file format. But the release of OverDrive’s no-cost Media Console version 3.2 for Windows or version 1.0 for Mac solves many of those issues. If you are wondering if your library offers OverDrive Media, use the OverDrive Digital Media Locator at http://search.overdrive.com I just downloaded the Audie award-winning autobiography The Measure of a Man super-quick and easy to my iPod through my public library’s website. Check out the offerings from your library – and download or take advantage of the “hold” feature to reserve titles for summertime listening!

Here’s more from the OverDrive website:

With OverDrive Media Console v3.2, the vast majority of OverDrive WMA Audiobooks can be transferred to the iPod® and the iPhone™! To ensure quality sound while minimizing file transfer times, Transfer Wizard will prompt you to adjust your iTunes® settings (if desired) before you begin a transfer. If you do adjust your settings, once the transfer is complete, Transfer Wizard displays a recap of your original settings as well as detailed steps on restoring iTunes to its original settings. Additionally, if you’re a fan of iTunes and enjoy OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks, you can now specify iTunes and/or your portable device as a destination in the course of completing a file transfer. Finally, OMC v3.2 offers enhanced support for the iPod shuffle® — with iTunes v8.1 (or newer) installed, you can now use Transfer Wizard to send OverDrive content to most iPod shuffles.

Audies award-winning author & narrator Davis Sedaris signs iPods & more for digital readers. Here’s a quote from Andrew Adam Newman’s New York Times article Kindle Joins a Literary Ritual: Authors Can Autograph It:

Mr. Sedaris wrote in a recent e-mail message that he has actually signed “at least five” Kindles, and “a fair number of iPods as well, these for audio book listeners.” A frequent chronicler of his own eccentricities, the author often encounters his readers’ quirks at the book-signing table.

Bring on the fine-point Sharpies!

Wow – this is exciting! OverDrive announces that a new software upgrade will make the majority of titles from the download service available to iPod, iTouch, and iPhone users. Here’s info from the press release:

Cleveland, OH, May 27, 2009 – OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) today announced that digital audiobook catalogs from leading publishers will be compatible with iPod® and other Apple® devices after a simple upgrade of OverDrive’s free, easy-to-use audiobook software. Starting in mid-June, millions of new and existing users with Windows® PCs will be able to install OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 with enhanced transfer functionality for iPod, iPhone^TM, iPod touch®, and iPod nano®, as well as Zune® and thousands of other portable devices. Participating publishers include Random House Audio, Hachette Audio, Penguin Audio, BBC Audiobooks America, Brilliance Audio, Tantor Media, and many more.

OverDrive Media Console’s enhanced Transfer Wizard will expand the largest selection of iPod-compatible audiobook titles for libraries by making the vast majority of existing audiobook titles on library download websites playable on Apple® devices. Retail customers at Borders.com, www.WHSmith.co.uk, and BooksOnBoard.com will also benefit from the free upgrade. Best sellers such as Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” John Grisham’s “The Appeal,” and Chuck Palahniuk’s “Pygmy” from libraries and retailers in OverDrive’s global network will become iPod-compatible downloads, along with highly-anticipated releases like Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” and Tami Hoag’s “The Trouble with J.J.”

“iPod-compatibility instantly adds value to digital media catalogs powered by OverDrive and further expands the collection to the millions of iPod owners eager to download from the library,” said David Burleigh, director of marketing for OverDrive. “A simple software upgrade is all it takes to allow the transfer of thousands of additional bestsellers to the popular media player.”

Once OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 is installed, most titles in a library’s OverDrive WMA Audiobook collection will instantly become iPod-compatible for users with Windows PCs. The growing collection of iPod-compatible, Mac®-friendly OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks will still be available to help libraries better serve patrons with Apple computers.

OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 provides a superior audiobook listening experience with easy-to-use navigation features and expanded support for direct transfer to iPod, Zune, Creative players, and thousands of other devices. OverDrive music and video downloads from the library are also optimized for use on the OverDrive Media Console. Windows PC users can obtain the new version of the free software when it is released through their library’s download website or at http://overdrive.com/software/omc.

OverDrive provides download services for more than 8,500 libraries, retailers, and schools worldwide with support for PC, Mac, iPod, Sony® Reader, and virtually any MP3 player. To see if your public library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit http://search.overdrive.com. OverDrive also operates the Digital Bookmobile (www.digitalbookmobile.com), a high-tech 18-wheeler traveling North America on behalf of public libraries to raise awareness about free library downloads.

About OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading global digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers serving millions of end users. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.overdrive.com

Take time to read The Booklist Interview: Lisette Lecat by Allison Block. Ms. Lecat is the marvelous narrator of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels, including Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. I love to find out about how master narrators first started in audiobooks – in Ms. Lecat’s instance, by recording for the American Foundation for the Blind’s Talking Books program. Find out more about this unique voice by reading the interview!

Day 1: Raising Readers
hosted by Terry Doherty at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, the Reading Tub blog

• Finding Time at Home – Tricia Stohr-Hunt @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
• Making Time in the Classroom – Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Helping a Reader in Need (remedial readers) – Sandra Stiles guest post on Scrub-a-Dub-Tub
• It’s Bigger than the Book: Building Strong Readers at any Age with a Daily Dose of Read Aloud – Cathy Miller interview on the Share a Story – Shape a Future blog
• Keeping Gifted Readers Engaged – Donalyn Miller @ The Book Whisperer

Day 2: Selecting Reading Material
hosted by Sarah Mulhern at The Reading Zone

• The ABCs of Reading: Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers – Valerie Baartz on The Almost Librarian
• How to Help Emerging Readers – Anastasia Suen @ Easy to Read blog
• Helping Middle Grade Readers – Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Booklists and Read Alikes – Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Using Non-fiction - Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading, hosted by the Stenhouse blog

Day 3: Reading Aloud – It’s Fun, It’s Easy
hosted by Susan Stephenson at the Book Chook blog

• Ten Terrific Tips from Read-aloud Queen, Mem Fox – on the Book Chook blog
• Conquering Stage Fright – Interview with Sarah Mulhern/The Reading Zone @ the Book Chook
• Reading Aloud With Kids: A Dad’s Perspective – hosted by Steven and Brian at Book Dads: Fathers that Read
• Using Technology for Read Alouds – Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• What to Do When the Reading is Done – Aimee Buckner, hosted by the Stenhouse blog
• Reading Aloud with Independent Readers – Donalyn Miller @ The Book Whisperer

Day 5: Technology and Reading – What the Future Holds
is hosted by Elizabeth O. Dulemba at Dulemba.com

• Audiobooks with Bruce Coville of Full Cast Audio and Mary Burkey of Audiobooker
• E-books with Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon and Sheila Ruth of Hornbook
• Podcasts with Andrea Ross of Just One More Book! and Cheryl Rainfield of cherylrainfield.com
• A resource of links to audiobooks, e-books, podcasts and webcasts @ Dulemba.com.

Here’s a quick tip for those of you who use a FM transmitter to listen to audiobooks on your MP3 player, iPod, or Playaway in a car without a line-in jack. Sirius Satellite Radio has a free FM Channel finder that will give you the frequency with the fewest interruptions:

SIRIUS FM Channel Finder is a free resource that you can use any time to find one or more potentially vacant FM frequencies. In most areas, we will give you a choice of up to five frequencies to try, ranked by how far away they are from other radio stations. SIRIUS FM Channel Finder can be used in the 48 contiguous states served by SIRIUS Satellite Radio.

Thanks to Lifehacker for the link! And if you are a total gearhead and have a hankering to get out the soildering iron, Lifehacker suggests this Adding Auxiliary Input to a Car Stereo post from Donn Morrison.