# Talking Inboxes iLane Helps E-Mail-Obsessed Individuals Multitask By wang fangqing/ Frances Wang | Published 2009-03-22 | Tech Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/talk-to-our-inbox-the-new-black-box-from-ilane References: [iht](http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/19/technology/19pogue.php?page=2) & [ilane](http://www.ilane.com) iLane, the small black box introduced by Waterloo, Ontario-based [Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc.](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/intelligent-knowledge), is designed for people who can’t live without their e-mails and spend most of their lives in all kinds of transition. Gadgets reading text aloud is not something new, but it sure has been attracting a lot of attention recently. We have the [Amazon](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/rayneo-ar-smart-glasses) Kindle 2, which reads your books, and the latest iPod shuffle, which speaks your song’s titles aloud. Now iLane, working only with [Blackberry](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/beepberry) at the moment, gives you an idea of what’s going on in your inbox through a wireless Bluetooth earphone. The good thing about iLane is it will not convert your spoken message into garbled text after you tell it to reply; instead, your voice will be sent just as you’ve recorded it via an MP3 attachment. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 1.0/10 - Popularity: 5% | Activity: 16% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Tech](https://www.trendhunter.com/tech) > [Gadgets](https://www.trendhunter.com/gadgets) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **E-mail Multitasking:** Developing technologies that enable people to multitask with e-mails while on the move presents opportunities for productivity-enhancing tools and apps. - **Smart Text-to-speech Devices:** The trend of text-to-speech devices is growing and presents opportunities for the development of new devices that combine text-to-speech and voice recognition technology. - **Hands-free Technologies:** The demand for hands-free technologies is growing, creating opportunities for innovation and new applications across different industries. ### Where This Applies - **Mobile Technology Industry:** iLane's Bluetooth earphone technology presents a new opportunity for mobile device manufacturers to create gadgets that provide hands-free on-the-go email reading and communication. - **Wearable Technology Industry:** The trend towards creating smart wearable devices presents opportunities for new headphones that enable hands-free emailing and communication while on-the-go. - **Healthcare Industry:** The demand for hands-free devices to improve safety and productivity in healthcare environments represents an opportunity for the development of voice-activated communication devices for healthcare professionals. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Audio Newsletters](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/audio-newsletter.md) - [Summarized Personal Podcast Solutions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/jellypod.md) - [Inbox Managing AI](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/inboxly.md) - [Productivity-Focused AI Earbuds](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ai-earbuds.md) - [Portable Audio Readings](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/runread.md) - [Unread Message Consolidation Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/briefinbox.md) - [Speech-Converting AI Wearables](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bling-by-braindeck.md) - [AI Audio Readings](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/elevenreader-by-elevenlabs.md) - [Language-Assistance Travel Devices](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/fluentalk.md)