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Nuance Unveils New Embedded Speech Solution; Elevates Speech Output for Mobile Applications to a N PDF Print E-mail

Breakthrough New Text-to-Speech Solution Improves Speech on Mobile Phones; Small Footprint Opens New Business Categories for Mobile Speech

CTIA Wireless 2007, Orlando, Fla., March 27, 2007 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, today launched Nuance® Vocalizer™ for Mobile, a new text-to-speech (TTS) solution that dramatically improves the sound and quality of automated speech on mobile handsets. Nuance will demonstrate the new technology in booth #4179 at the CTIA Wireless 2007 conference, being held this week in Orlando, Fla.

Nuance Vocalizer for Mobile produces highly natural, intelligible, and smooth speech output to support true hands-free, eyes-free user interaction with mobile devices. Applications for the technology range from SMS or email readout to spoken caller ID or verbal turn-by-turn directions for phone-based navigation applications, or screen readers for the blind and the animation of avatars.

Until now, the mobile industry has lacked a TTS solution capable of handling the complex requirements involved in providing high-quality, natural and intelligible speech output at a sufficiently small footprint for embedded mobile applications. Nuance established itself as the leader in TTS quality with its flagship RealSpeak® for Mobile HQ solution, but now pushes the envelope with a new generation of TTS technology. Building on its unmatched experience in speech synthesis and modeling, along with its 30-plus patents in the TTS domain, Nuance has created an entirely new embedded speech solution that requires only a fraction of the footprint of competitive TTS solutions.

“Nuance continues to deliver innovations in the speech industry that have the potential to impact the lives of everyone who uses a mobile phone,” said Craig Peddie, vice president, embedded speech solutions, Nuance. “Our previous embedded technology was state of the art, but Nuance Vocalizer brings the quality of speech output to an entirely new level. The program itself is less than one megabyte – the size of a photo. Such a small footprint is opening new opportunities for Nuance embedded speech solutions, previously untapped due to the space constraints on mobile devices. We believe this technology will have a tremendous impact when it comes to market later this year.”

Nuance Vocalizer for Mobile is a complete TTS system that can speak out any text within a mobile application. The new TTS solution boasts significantly better speech quality, with more human voice traits such as a natural and flexible tone with smooth, expressive speech output. The system’s unparalleled quality / footprint ratio represents a breakthrough for the mobile market. In listening tests, Vocalizer was shown to be preferred over competitive systems that require nearly 10 times larger footprints.

Parameters of the Nuance Vocalizer for Mobile voices can be adjusted in real time. This flexibility for changing speaking rate, pitch, and voice characteristics gives end-users the option to quickly create their own uniquely sounding voices. Such voice customization and personalization enhances the overall user experience by adapting to individual preferences.

Availability

Applications powered by Nuance Vocalizer and running on a suite of Nokia devices will be launched in May 2007. The new TTS technology is available today in eight voices for four different languages, and will be available in 35 voices for a total of 24 languages before the end of the year.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for business and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications, and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share, and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Nuance, the Nuance logo, Vocalizer and RealSpeak are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

 
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