FonixTalk TTS 6.0 Promises Voice Clarity
According to John Shepherd, sales director for Fonix Speech, Inc., Casio’s new dictionary will deliver a “much improved, more natural sounding female voice in 2008.” Shepherd says that the company has worked on the sounds, accents, and intonations of the voice in its efforts to improve on previous versions. Customers, he says, should easily be able to hear the difference.
Casio’s Use of FonixTalk
Casio’s Spring 2008 products include 16 new models for Japan, 2 for Korea, and 2 for the Chinese market. At present, FonixTalk TTS 6.0 software is used in Casio electronic dictionaries for French, German, Italian, Spanish, and U.S. English. The company also has devices for Mandarin Chinese and Korean languages.
Casio’s marketing strategy does not leave behind high school students. The XD-SP4800 model, which contains the latest dictionaries and reference materials, can be useful for students taking university entrance examinations.
Fonix Speech: The Company
Fonix Speech, Inc., headquartered in Momochi, Japan, specializes in embedded speech interface technology for mobile devices, video game consoles, handheld electronic products, database systems and processors, toys and appliances, and computer telephony systems.
With demand for translating devices increasing around the globe, Fonix wants to start supplying its TTS solutions to more Asia based manufacturers. The company is already a market leader in selling electronic dictionaries in Japan.
Growth of the Speech Technology Market
According to data released in a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., the global speech technology market is expected to grow by 36% per annum. Speech recognition technology is used in a number of products and industries, including automobiles, telecommunications, banking, finance, and travel.
The global speech technology market is expected to grow to $7.8 billion by 2010. The speech recognition telephony software is mainly utilized in call-center applications and business portals.
Some of the top companies in speech recognition technology include Active Voice, AT&T Labs, IBM Voice Systems, Intel Corporation, and Nortel Networks Corporation.
