PimpMyNews Launches Talking News App For iPhonePimpMyNews Launches Talking News App For iPhone

It's not quite as cool as pimping your ride, but it's close. A startup called PimpMyNews.com launched a "talking" news application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch on Wednesday at Macworld.

The Web-based application, which can be accessed through the iPhone's or iPod Touch's Safari browser, searches the Internet for the latest news and converts text-based stories to audio that mobile users can listen to on the go. The audio versions can be shared with others and posted on social networking sites, including Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and Reddit, according to PimpMyNews.

The free service also allows users to create what PimpMyNews calls a "personalized talking newspaper" as they select text-based news stories and blogs from 59 categories, such as technology, entertainment, and sports. The news is delivered to the iPhone or iPod Touch in a format similar to a podcast, which is constantly updated with new content.

PimpMyNews claims its Internet site features more than 200,000 talking stories, and more than 4,000 stories are added each day.

More than 600 Web apps like PimpMyNews have been developed for the iPhone since Apple launched its online directory in October. The applications are organized in categories, such as most recently viewed, most popular, alphabetical, and staff picks. Some of these Web apps perform conversions, some calculate tips, while others deliver pure entertainment.

In a related development at MacWorld, Apple released firmware update 1.1.3 for the iPhone, which includes a new GPS-like location and navigation capability, a feature for sending text messages to multiple contacts, and the ability to include additional icons on the iPhone's home screen.