Fonix released version 5.0 of its premier Fonix DECtalk text-to-speech (TTS) technology. Fonix DECtalk offers the smallest memory footprint for a full-featured, multilanguage, full-dictionary TTS engine and is ideal for embedded applications.
"With this release, Fonix DECtalk expands its technical leadership for the embedded and assistive markets," said John Oelfke, vice president of Fonix Everyday Speech Solutions. "Fonix DECtalk provides a standard of intelligibility and naturalness in a small footprint that surpasses competitive offerings."
Applications for Fonix DECtalk include PDAs, mobile phones, automotive applications, talking devices like translators and devices to assist people with disabilities. "These applications are typical of Fonix's current and growing customer base, and their sales make Fonix one of the leaders in the growing embedded speech market. We work with multiple OEMs, developers and integrators that generate NRE fees, run-time license fees and unit royalty fees," said Oelfke.
Fonix DECtalk 5.0 marks the first step toward integrating Formant and Concatenated TTS technologies and is based on an improved vocal tract technology. Version 5.0 supports a wide array of hardware platforms (such as ARM 9 and XScale) and operating systems (such as Linux and Pocket PC). DECtalk offers nine voices and six languages (U.S. and U.K. English, Castilian and Latin American Spanish, and significantly improved German and French). Version 5.0 is compatible with previous DECtalk releases.
Another unique characteristic of DECtalk 5.0 is the Unified Phoneme Set, which allows speaking in one language, switching to another language to speak one or more words and returning to the selected language without changing language modes. It produces clear, correct pronunciation of single characters, phrases and proper names. Fonix DECtalk technology allows the developer to create unique voices through its extensive set of user controls, which ensure optimum performance in real-world applications.
Fonix DECtalk 5.0 is available for 30-day delivery. It will be adopted by most of Fonix's current account base and will be available in the market within the next quarter.
Fonix provides speech interface solutions for mobile/wireless devices, computer telephony systems, the assistive market, vehicle telematics and everyday consumer devices. Manufacturers and developers incorporate Fonix technology to provide their customers with an easy, convenient, reliable user experience.