20/20 Speech's Two-way Speech Interface Tool Available Online

LONDON, UK - 20/20 Speech, the equity venture between NXT and QinetiQ, announces that its two-way speech interface tool, Aurix(r) activator, is available on Handango's Web site. With more than three million unique visits to Handango's site each month, this relationship offers exposure for Aurix activator. The package is downloadable directly to a Microsoft Windows based PDA using a Pocket PC 2002 operating system. The software is also available in a 30-day trial version. Aurix activator combines 20/20 Speech's two core technologies, a speech recognition engine, Aurix(r) asr and the text-to-speech engine, Aurix(r) tts. Aurix activator enables PDA users to access their calendar, messages and tasks by speaking short commands, which are answered in synthesised spoken output. Users are able to reply to emails by activating a new message through a spoken command, then recording a short Wav file, and sending it by voice command to the recipient. According to 20/20 Speech's Managing Director, Ian Brotherston: "The product is a great tool for PDA users on the move, especially for professionals who are constantly on the road in a hands-busy, eyes-busy environment, for example those in the transport and sales industries." Furthermore, Brotherston comments: "The potential market for platforms like Aurix activator is huge with approximately a quarter of the global PDA market utilising the Pocket PC operating system. The market for PDA's is estimated to increase substantially in the next few years, with global shipments of PDAs expected to grow from 12 million in 2002 to 61 million in 2006, which will offer enormous potential for the take up of platforms like Aurix activator."