As rumors float around about the iPad3 and iPhone5 hitting the Apple market, tech-savvy students are designing new products that could potentially enter the application stores. University alumnus Jose Sanchez, who graduated this past May, started developing “audiobrowser,” an application for iOS devices, his sophomore year of college. The application would convert the text on websites to audible speech, so people can listen and control what they hear, bookmark their favorite websites and receive suggestions on what Web pages would interest them. With 55 days remaining, Sanchez plans to raise $30,000 in monetary support so that his app can hit the market.

“Every single day at the U of I, I would either be reading an article on my iPhone or listening to my iPod. The problem is, I would run into students, cars and fire hydrants as I scrolled through my screen,” Sanchez said. “I always used the text-to-speech function on my computer to check over e-mail and my papers, and I decided it would definitely be useful to have a voice that read articles to me, especially while I’m walking or driving.”

The application audiobrowser is a text-to-speech Web browser that gives the Web a voice. Sanchez said it is a hands-free function that reduces the hassle of reading the actual screen and allows users of iOS devices to download this application and listen to what is written on any website. He said the app will be available in over 30 languages with 60 voices to choose from.

One core function of this audiobrowser app is the ability to not only read aloud Web pages, but also PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Pages, Numbers, Keynote and .txt formats.

Although Sanchez has received offers ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 from investors, he said he did not want to limit his application to being sold as a product to other companies. Rather, he said he wanted his application to be endorsed in the education system. Sanchez said he spoke with two principals in Chicago Public Schools who were very interested in the app.

“The Chicago Public Schools were one of the first to get iPads into the classroom,” Sanchez said. “They’re interested in getting the app into the schools. When kids use iPads, their reading and math improved a lot.”

He added that he’s trying to raise $30,000, so he can design the final version that he can dispatch to schools and regular consumers.

“At U of I, they started converting textbooks into e-books,” Sanchez said. “So I thought it’d be a huge thing if students could listen to the books they’re reading. But the target audience is anyone who uses a Web browser.”

The app will feature a WebRadio function, which is similar to Pandora Radio in that it can share its bookmarks over a network and creates a station of bookmarks that users can save even while offline. There will be a way to display only articles that users rate highly on a five-star scale. Moreover, the app resembles an iPod-like player called the WebPlayer, which works in sync with the bookmark function and the WebRadio feature.

Sanchez currently has placed his app idea on kickstarter.com. He said it is an all-or-nothing bid where he must reach his goal of raising $30,000 in order for the app to be marketed.

If that is successful, he said the app could launch as early as January 2012. He added that he wanted to make his app available to PC users as well.

“We’re just going to do a plug-in and add-on for Mac users using Safari,” Sanchez said. “But we want anyone who uses a Web browser to be able to use it.”

Sanchez said if he cannot reach is goal in 55 days, he is going to put his idea back up on kickstarter.com at some point in the future.

“It’s either hit-or-miss,” Sanchez said. “I’m going to see what I did wrong, improve it and put it back up. If not, I’m going to look for more angel investors. I already received the offers, so I can always go back to them.”