On Tuesday, November 7, 2023, it was announced that Elevenlabs, a company renowned for its voice synthesis technology, has acquired the open-source application Omnivore. Originally designed to facilitate saving and organizing web content for later reading, Omnivore also included features such as document annotations and RSS feed integration. Notably, Omnivore's text-to-speech function was powered by Elevenlabs' expertise.

A New Chapter: Elevenreader With the acquisition, users of Omnivore are invited to transition to a new application called Elevenreader, which is available for both Android and iOS platforms. Unlike Omnivore, Elevenreader currently lacks browser plugin capabilities. Users can transfer their stored data from Omnivore to Elevenreader until November 15, 2023. After this date, any remaining data on Omnivore’s servers will be deleted. Alternatively, users may download their data before this cutoff if they choose not to move to Elevenreader.

The Future of Omnivore's Code Although Omnivore as a service will cease to exist, its open-source code will remain accessible. This opens the possibility for developers to create a successor application catering to users who prefer the Omnivore framework.

Language Features and Future Prospects Elevenreader, like its predecessor, is initially offered for free. However, as Elevenlabs has indicated, a premium version is anticipated in the future, although a generous free-tier plan will continue. The application’s text-to-speech feature supports 32 languages, with regional accents available for several, including Bavarian German and Canadian English. This multilingual support underscores Elevenlabs’ international scope, with roots tracing back to its founding by two Polish entrepreneurs in New York just two years ago.

Following significant investment, Elevenlabs has carved a niche in creating perfected voice models that have even challenged banking security systems utilizing voice identifiers. With Elevenreader, the fusion of advanced voice technology with a new reading tool aims to capture a global audience.

For more details on this transition, refer to Heise Online.