Pediaphon is a free web based service that allows you to listen to Wikipedia articles by converting text to voice using speech synthesis. The service is operated at the University of Hagen, Germany. These files can be played immediately in the web browser or be downloaded in the form of a podcast for offline listening in a MP3 Player.

Apart from the web based interface, Pediaphone also features two other useful and portable means of accessing this service via a mobile phone– WAP and SMS.

SMS: Users can send an SMS text message with the following syntax to a predefined number:

“pedia” {space} “en” {lower case} “keyword”

After two minutes, you can dial a phone number and listen to the complete article online. Currently, the phone numbers are restricted to Germany. USA and UK inquiry numbers are in the pipeline. For more details, click here.

WAP: For those who cannot send an international SMS to Germany, they can still use the WAP based interface of the service. After a minute or two, you will get a download link to the trancribed MP3 file containing the Wiki article. But beware that the size of the MP3 file can go more than 5 to 10 MB, depending on the article you searched for.

Click here to access the Pediaphon WAP