No time to read? Check out SoundGecko version 2.0, which is now live in the Windows Phone Store

We’ve covered SoundGecko before, the media project that Long Zheng is a part of and veteran Windows Phone users will familiar with. The app and service allows users to “flag” articles to be converted into audio format, perfect for those of you who want to “read” while driving or who’s eyes are just too tired. What’s more, the service in its basic form is free (though there is a paid option with more features) and it launched with a fancy Windows Phone app.

Now we’re excited to announce that version 2.0 is live in the Store. So what’s new? The app now features “stations” for easier content discovery. Basically, you can now follow specific topics of your choosing or even specific brands and websites (or a combo).

In addition, Windows Phone users now get the ability to pin stations directly to their Start screen, new Live Tiles that show the latest images from their article feed and Toast notifications for new articles that have been added to their feed. In our opinion, it’s a gorgeous “Metro” app, well designed and it fills a unique, niche area for media consumers.

Users can of course still use the free Chrome plugin, which will allow them to sync articles on the web from the PCs to their phone’s for audio transcription—perfect for their morning commute. Interestingly, version 2.0 of SoundGecko recently launched on iOS with outstanding results, including users doubling their listening time from the previous version.

You can pick up SoundGecko v2.0 for Windows Phone 7.x and 8 here in the Store.  You can also watch the above video to get an idea of how it all works together.

Head to the site www.soundgecko.com for more info and let us know in comments what you think of version 2.0!

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

12 Comments
  • But I don't speak British!
  • But you write British
  • +1
  • I can write in British!?!? I better add that to my résumé!
  • I listen British, but poop American.
  • Wow I really don't have any time to read this right now, have to go to work :P
  • Nice. I loved this app and service but went down in my usage list because of too low limit for free users. Trying again now and hope everyone does as well. They're one of the companies who have supported Windows Phone from the start even though there are not much users for the app in WP.
  • So does this mean people who never read anything but headlines on here can actually know what the article there commenting on is about ... I'd like to use a British voice and pretend it's our own Jay Bennett reading to me
  • British? I prefer to just be called English lol
  • Could be of good use when relaxing...
  • Ain't nobody got time for that!
  • Did this really get updated a month or so after iOS and BEFORE android? Interesting indeed...