Nuance Communications, Inc., announced a series of new solutions at CTIA this week. The company introduced Nuance Vocalizer for Mobile, a text-to-speech (TTS) solution designed to improve the sound and quality of automated speech on mobile handsets.

 

The solution is essentially a follow-on to Nuance’s RealSpeak TTS (text-to-speech) offering. According to the company, applications for the technology range from SMS or e-mail 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.

 

“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.

 

Nuance Vocalizer will be launched in May 2007 and will be available on a suite of Nokia devices. The solution will be available in 35 voices for a total of 24 languages before the end of the year.

 

Nuance also announced the launch of Nuance Mobile Messaging, an application based on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9, their flagship desktop dictation software. Nuance Mobile Messaging is designed to enable users to compose messages on mobile devices up to six times faster than typing.

 

The service allows users to speak instead of type to compose SMS, instant messages and mobile e-mail using speech recognition technology.

 

From where I sit, I would love to leverage this technology to speak my blog entries. Take it from me… I’m not the best typist in the world!

 

Nuance Mobile Messaging is currently in trials with carriers worldwide, and it’s expected that several carriers will make Nuance Mobile Messaging available to consumers before the end of the year.