DSP Group and ART Announce Availability of Advanced Speech Recognition Capabilities for SmartCores™
SANTA CLARA, California and ATLANTA, Georgia; February 19, 2002
-- DSP Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DSPG), the world leader in the development
and licensing of Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) cores, and ART, Advanced
Recognition Technologies Inc., the world's leading independent producer of
speech and handwriting recognition technologies for the mobile world,
announced today the availability of ART's smARTspeak NG
speech recognition capabilities for DSP Group's SmartCoresTM family of
licensable IP cores.
The DSP-based solution addresses the intensive processing-power
challenges of today's mass-market mobile devices in a cost-effective
manner. ART's smARTspeak NG speech recognition technology
will be initially implemented on DSP Group's TeakLite® DSP core. The
TeakLite core is a 16-bit general-purpose DSP core targeted for
applications requiring low power consumption, low bandwidth and high
processing volume such as 2G and 2.5G wireless communication, as well as
Internet Audio formats including MP3 and WMA, and Voice Over IP phones.
ART's unique smARTspeak NG is the first product to
successfully combine all the speech recognition functions usually found
separately on either speaker-independent or speaker-dependent systems.
"DSP Group believes in the importance of adding to its existing large
group of technology partners in order to leverage its SmartCores family of
licensable IP cores and provide its customers with complementary solutions
including applications, tools and design services," said Bat-Sheva Ovadia,
VP of marketing and business development of DSP Group's Technology
Licensing Division. "With ART's all-in-one speech recognition technology
bundled with our DSP core, we are offering another attractive solution to
our customers."
"After more than a decade at the forefront of speech and handwriting
recognition, ART's solutions are increasingly being integrated into
leading core technologies for mass market mobile devices - resulting in
smaller development resource and shorter time to market for
manufacturers," says Eran Aharonson, President of ART. "Being chosen to
support DSP Group's highly innovative SmartCores family is a development
which will greatly benefit both OEM's and end users."
About SmartCores
DSP Group's SmartCores
family of low-power fixed-point licensable DSP cores offer range of
performance, price and power consumption balances, addressing a wide range
of applications, from low-end, high-volume applications, such as digital
answering machines, hard disk controllers, low speed modems and Voice over
IP terminals, to high performance applications such as third generation
(3G) cellular communications, broadband modems, consumer multimedia and
Voice over IP gateways.
SmartCores licensees benefit from a fully
synthesizable soft core, that allows porting to any process or foundry.
Low power consumption challenges are addressed at various stages of
development from the architecture definition phase through to the final
implementation. Our DSP Cores are designed to meet the high code density
requirements, thereby reducing the overall chip cost. The SmartCores
family of programmable DSPs offers various levels of performance including
single-MAC architecture (OakDSPCore® and TeakLite), dual-MAC (Teak®) and
dual-MAC with Instruction Level Parallelism (PalmDSPCore®). Code
compatibility enables the reuse of legacy code and significantly shortens
time to market.
About smARTspeak NG
First to successfully combine all Voice Dialing and Control functions
for speaker independent and speaker dependent systems,
smARTspeak NG is an all-in-one speech recognition algorithm
that allows OEMs to customize required functions onto single mass produced
models instead of having to choose between technologies for deployment on
new devices.
Combining ART's award-winning technologies, smARTspeak NG
offers voice-enabled features such as name dialing, continuous digit
dialing, menu navigation and device control, and it includes ART's latest
innovation: a Speaker Independent Digit Dialing function with adaptation
possibility for heavily accented International English - or any other
language spoken with dialect. This simple 30-second adaptation allows
further personalization according to the needs of each user.
About DSP Group, Inc.
DSP Group, Inc., is a global leader in the
development and marketing of high-performance, cost-effective, licensable
DSP cores. The company's family of DSP cores provides ideal solutions for
low-power, cost-effective applications, such as cellular, broadband
communications, VoIP, multimedia, advanced telecommunications systems,
disk-drive controllers, and other types of embedded-control applications.
By combining its DSP core technologies with its proprietary, advanced
speech-processing algorithms, DSP Group also delivers a wide range of
enabling, application-specific integrated circuits for full-featured,
integrated-telephony products and applications, including spread spectrum
wireless technologies. DSP Group maintains an international presence with
offices located around the globe. More information about DSP Group is
available on its Web site at www.dspg.com.
Statements contained in
this release relating to the proposed merger of our core licensing
business with Parthus Technologies plc, the trend toward open DSP
architecture and growing deman for complete platform level IP solutions
are forward looking statements. They involve risks and uncertainties, most
importantly whether and if so when the proposed merger will occur and
whether the anticipated benefits of that merger will be realized. All
forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These factors and
other factors which may effect future operating results or our stock price
are discussed under "RISK FACTORS" in our report on form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2001, which has been filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and is also available on our Web site (www.dspg.com)
under Investor Relations.
About ART, Advanced Recognition Technologies
Inc.
Established in 1990, ART is the acknowledged pioneer
and market leader in Natural User systems of embedded Speech and
Handwriting Recognition for mobile devices. Having generated a decade of
software innovation, today it develops and markets technologically
superior solutions such as smARTspeak NG, simpliWrite and
smARTwriter for the control and command of mobile devices by the human
voice and natural handwriting. Through its range of proprietary
technologies based on unique, signal-processing algorithms, ART provides
next-generation human user interface solutions for cellular handsets,
smartphones, mobile communicators, PDAs and handhelds, and automotive
systems.ART's embedded software-only solutions are deployed in dozens of
product lines from industry leaders such as Acer, Agere Systems, A.T.
Cross, Casio, Franklin, GVC, Hitachi, Hutel, Konka, LGE, Maxon, Microsoft,
Mitsubishi, Motorola, NeoPoint, OTM Technologies, Panasonic, Philips,
Quanta, Samsung, Siemens Automotive, Texas Instruments and TTPCom.
Based in the United States, with sales offices on the East and West
Coasts, ART maintains a wholly owned Israeli subsidiary - ART Ltd. - where
research and development are conducted. ART is active in the US, European,
and Asian markets. For more about ART see:
http://www.artcomp.com.
This press release contains statements
that may constitute "forward-looking statements'' under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements made by Ms.
Ovadia regarding the expected benefits of delivering speech recognition
functionality on the TeakLite DSP Core, as well as statements made by Mr.
Aharonson regarding the advantages of combining DSP Group's and ART's
technologies. These statements are based on current expectations and DSP
Group assumes no obligation to update this information. In addition, the
events described in these forward-looking statements may not actually
arise. DSP Group's expectations and perceptions about the advantages of
speech recognition technology could differ materially from actual results
due to certain risk factors, including the market acceptance of the new
technology by existing and potential customers, the timing of product
deliveries, DSP Group's ability to further develop and enhance the new
technology at competitive costs and in a timely manner, and the
introduction of competing products and technologies. These factors and
other factors which may effect future operating results or stock price of
DSP Group are discussed under "RISK FACTORS" in the company's report on
form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, which has been filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is also available on the
company's Web site (www.dspg.com) under Investor
Relations.
smARTspeak NG™ and simpliWrite™ are
trademarks, and smARTwriter® a registered trademark of ART, Advanced
Recognition Technologies Inc. PalmDSPCore, Teak, TeakLite and OakDSPCore
are registered trademarks and SmartCores is a trademark of DSP Group, Inc.
Other brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.