Spreadtrum Selects ART to Bring Voice Recognition and Control to Its SC6600 GSM/GPRS Baseband Chipsets

Business Wire, Nov 4, 2004

ATLANTA & SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Adoption of smARTspeak XG by Leading Wireless Semiconductor Firm Is ART's innovative Voice Interface to Recognize Chinese Language

ART Advanced Recognition Technologies, a global leader in voice interface solutions for mobile devices, announced today that Spreadtrum Communications has selected the smARTspeak(R) XG embedded speech interface from ART for its SC6600 family of GSM/GPRS baseband chipsets. Spreadtrum is a major fabless semiconductor developer for wireless communications based in China and the United States.

The new integrated technology marks the first technical association between Spreadtrum and ART and it is the first time that speech recognition has been added to any Spreadtrum chipsets. ART's smARTspeak XG voice interface is designed to recognize the Mandarin Chinese language which is spoken by over 1 billion people.

"With more than 300 million cell phone users, China has become the largest cell phone market in the world," said Yakov Shulman, acting CEO for ART, "and Spreadtrum's innovative IC designs are fast making it one of the world's leading fabless semiconductor companies. We are proud to partner with Spreadtrum and we see an enormous potential to bring speech recognition to this large and important new market."

ART's latest voice interface will be added to Spreadtrum's most advanced family of GSM/GPRS baseband chips. The SC6600 is a compact single baseband chip solution for GSM/GPRS wireless phones, combining all digital, analog, and power management functionalities in a 0.18 um mixed signal, using 1.8V CMOS technology. In addition to its new speaker-independent voice interface, the SC6600 also features fully validated hardware and software reference designs for reduced time-to-market, a high level of integration for reduced parts count and lower final product cost, and reduced power consumption to enhance battery life.

The new smARTspeak XG features the industry's most advanced name-dialing technology for wireless phones and mobile devices. ART's smARTspeak technology introduced the industry to speaker-independent name-dialing. The smARTspeak XG is fully speaker independent, meaning it can be operated by any user with no voice training of the device. It also adds a new voice feedback capability that gives users audio confirmation of spoken names, numbers, and other commands. This is done by "reading" from the phone's 500-name contact list using advanced text-to-speech technology.

"By adding smARTspeak XG to our SC6600 chipsets, we can continue to offer our customers the most advanced GSM/GPRS solution available," said Dr. Ping Wu, President and CEO of Spreadtrum. "ART's advanced architecture is well suited to our fully validated chip designs enabling customers to quickly develop new products and hasten their time to market."

The advanced features of the smARTspeak XG enables users to dial by speaking a person's name or phone number. Giving equally fast and accurate response whether users say "Xiao Wei" or "Dial 1202111002", smARTspeak XG maintains ART's popular out of-the-box, multi-user experience. In addition, the phone will recognize commands such as "contact" and "redial" and offers trainable digit dialing that can be adjusted to a user's accent. When more than one name is available, ART's "Best Match" function presents a short-list of options either as text or voice for extra convenience.

About ART Advanced Recognition Technologies

Established in 1990, ART is the acknowledged market leader in embedded speech and handwriting recognition software for mass-market mobile devices. With a decade of award-winning innovation behind it, ART develops and markets technologically superior solutions for the control and command of mobile devices through the human voice and natural handwriting. The company's proprietary technologies provide next-generation user interface solutions for cellular handsets, smartphones, mobile communicators, PDAs and handhelds, and automotive systems.

Today, ART's embedded software-only solutions are deployed in dozens of product lines from industry leaders such as Motorola, LGE, Xelibri by Siemens, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, NEC, BenQ, Pogo, Logitech, Emblaze mobile, GVC, Capitel, Quanta, Compal, Inventec, Casio, Maxon, RAKS, Siemens Automotive, Franklin, PaceBlade, Hitachi, Sierra Wireless and others. ART has strategic and technological partnerships with industry leaders including: Texas Instruments, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, Freescale, Intel, Infineon, Agere, ADI, TTPCom, DSPG, Ceva, Microsoft, Symbian, UIQ, Series 60, SVOX, Accelent Systems, Renesas, Persay, e-sim, Broadcom, Clarity, Teleca, Pegasus and others.

Based in the United States with sales offices on the East and West Coasts, ART maintains a wholly owned Israeli subsidiary that conducts research and development. Additional information about ART is available at www.artcomp.com.

About Spreadtrum Communications

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. is a leading fabless semiconductor company developing and marketing innovative digital wireless communications products. The company provides 2G, 2.5G, 3G base band chip sets, protocol stack software, application software, and total solution for wireless equipment manufacturers, mobile terminal vendors, and semiconductor companies. Spreadtrum leverages its expertise in mix signal design, software and software application, and wireless data communication to deliver customers with high performance, low power consumption, cost effective, and flexible and highly integrated turn-key solutions. Additional information is available at http://www.spreadtrum.com.