ScanSoft RealSpeak Compact SDK Adds TTS to Automotive and Mobile Applications

PEABODY, MA - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, announced the ScanSoft RealSpeak Compact SDK, the industry's preeminent TTS solution for automotive and mobile applications. RealSpeak Compact allows developers to add human-sounding speech capabilities to applications developed for devices with small processing and memory capabilities, including those based upon Microsoft Windows CE and Linux. The system supports US English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Castilian Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish languages, depending upon SDK configuration.

RealSpeak Compact delivers to small-footprint devices the TTS quality previously reserved for high-end server and telephony applications. RealSpeak Compact is based upon concatenative technology, which combines segments of real human speech to form new words and phrases. This approach is already the standard for phone-based unified messaging, interactive voice response and voice-portal applications.

"The proliferation of mobile devices and speech-enabled automotive applications provides ScanSoft with fertile opportunities for RealSpeak Compact," said Bill Meisel, president of TMA Associates, a speech industry market consulting firm. "By focusing on the right balance of quality and performance, ScanSoft is showing that they understand the formula for success in the mobile and automotive application space."

"Speech is rapidly becoming a standard way to interact with devices and applications, and RealSpeak is rapidly becoming the standard speech solution," said Robert Weideman, vice president of worldwide marketing at ScanSoft. "We believe that we have delivered the winning combination with RealSpeak - top-notch speech quality that is easy to integrate and practical to deploy."