Personica Intelligence and SimpleDevices Launch Platform

LAS VEGAS, NV - Personica IntelligenceTM and SimpleDevicesTM announced the launch of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) software with conversational speech controls that can be embedded into a variety of consumer electronic (CE) devices. The partners are also unveiling a product demonstration using the combined technologies - the iClockTM, an internet-connected alarm clock radio that uses voice control to provide news, weather, sports, traffic and PDA information. This demonstration is happening this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev. "Ever since The Jetsons people have been wanting a better way to interact with the gadgets around them," said Brian Mahony, Personica vice president of marketing. "By partnering with SimpleDevices, we can allow consumer electronics vendors who embed our combined software a way for their devices to more easily connect with each other and be controlled in a more natural way using conversational speech." Products with Personica's and Simple Devices' combined technologies will be available in the third quarter through retailers nationwide. "Our partnership with Personica will allow CE manufacturers to deploy our UPnP software for devices that require limited tactile interactions, such as in the bedroom, through human interfaces which work well there," said Lou Hughes, CEO of SimpleDevices. "As content goes digital, it is crucial to offer consumers a more intuitive human interface for navigating large content databases in a limited interaction environment. We feel that enabling our UPnP device software with Personica's natural speech interface will be the solution that brings viability to many new connected multi-media products in the home."