Fonix Speech Interfaces Implemented on Renesas Platform

Fonix, a provider of speech solutions for devices and systems, announced its speech interfaces have been implemented and are shipping on Renesas Technology's Biscayne development platform for vehicle telematics systems. The Biscayne platform with speech interfaces is available for tier-one automotive suppliers and automotive manufacturers through the Renesas Community Enabling Telematics (COMET) partnership program. Fonix has received licensing and NRE fees for collaborative work to date and expects future unit royalty fees as vehicle manufacturers incorporate the solution into 2004-2005 production models. Since October, Fonix has been one of eight founding partners in the Renesas COMET partnership program, originally established by Hitachi Semiconductor America Inc., which is now part of Renesas Technology. This cooperative association was designed to promote vehicle telematics and multimedia systems based on the SuperH (SH-4 series) RISC processors and semiconductor chipsets. "The COMET program speeds up the time-to-market rate for tier-one suppliers and automotive manufacturers by providing one of the most innovative new technologies for the vehicle telematics industry," said Tatsuo Yamamoto, vice president of the system solution business unit at Renesas Technology America, a U.S. subsidiary of the semiconductor joint venture of Hitachi, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. "Renesas Technology provides cutting-edge technologies to our partners and OEMs, and we offer Fonix speech on our standard development platform." Fonix is working with Japanese and other auto manufacturers who are utilizing the SH-4 processor, which features Fonix speech interfaces for voice interaction inside the vehicle. "Fonix is pleased to be one of the founding members of the Renesas COMET program," said D. Lynn Shepherd, vice president, Fonix Product Development. "Fonix is expanding our offerings on the SH-4 chips to include a set of standard components that can be easily integrated by OEMs. These components, which include navigation, multimedia, mobile phone and in-vehicle environment control speech interfaces, will greatly reduce time-to-market for the automotive manufacturers." Also from Fonix

Fonix Partners With a-technic to Provide DECtalk Text-to-Speech Technology to Disabled Technology Users

Fonix announced a cooperative technology partnership with a-technic, a non-profit research and development charity, to promote Fonix DECtalk(tm) text-to-speech (TTS) as a speech technology solution to clients and partners. a-technic researches and develops products for blind, low-vision and disabled technology users, then makes that technology available to other organizations to market and sell end-user products. "a-technic needs a compact, intelligible, flexible and stable TTS solution for development of our low-cost, easy-to-use talking computer appliances for blind users," said John Batty, a-technic CTO. "Fonix DECTalk is clearly the best product on the market for meeting these requirements."