Sporting plain white vestments and a cross, and opting for plain dark shoes rather than red ones, Pope Francis spoke in Italian during Friday's meeting, occasionally breaking off from the prepared text to speak off the cuff.

BBC: Pope Francis calls for evangelism drive

But the Egyptian text messages speak to a more serious quandary mobile operators might face under similar circumstances.

WSJ: Egypt Intrudes on Mobile Operators

The essence of good Shakespearean acting is an ability to speak the text.

WSJ: Word Craft: Sir Antony Sher on Acting Shakespeare

In addition, it allows your PC to speak the text as you scan it, and can also read hand-written numerals.

CNN: Pen scanner reads, translates

And if I can speak to them and I have time, I always text back.

CNN: Flo Rida answers the call

This isn't just another text-to-speech demo though, StorEbook uses the impressive and appropriately named library of sampled phonemes to speak in unique, realistic voices for each character.

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