IN-DEPTH

The main article is focused on the impact of standards on speech recognition and the advantages of the adoption and promotion of standards for speech application development.
Loquendo strongly believes that standards will become an important driving factor in scaling up the size and impact of speech application over the coming years.

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STANDARDS CORNER

• W3C Moves Forward on New Extensions for Voice Technologies and the Web
  December 6, 2005
  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced new work on extensions to components of the Speech Interface Framework which will both extend Speech Synthesis Markup Language to Asian and other languages, and include speaker verification features in the next version of VoiceXML, version 3.0. Addressing both areas expands both the reach and functionality of the framework.
  
  
• VoiceXML Forum Applauds W3C's Decision to Include Speaker Identification and Verification in VoiceXML 3.0
  December 6, 2005
  The VoiceXML Forum announced its support for the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) decision to include speaker identification and verification (SIV) in the next version of the Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML). The decision was the result of cooperation between the VoiceXML Forum’s Speaker Biometrics Committee and the W3C, the standards organization responsible for the technological evolution of VoiceXML and related speech technologies.
  
  
• World Wide Web Consortium Releases SMIL 2.1 as a W3C Recommendation
  December 13, 2005
  The World Wide Web Consortium announces the publication of Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.1) as a W3C Recommendation. Thanks to enhancements in SMIL 2.1, W3C is well on the way to making multimedia presentations on mobile devices a reality - SMIL is already adopted by 3G mobile vendors. The new version 2.1 is modularized to promote profiling, reuse, and implementation.
  
  
• IETF Released a New Draft for MRCP version 2
  December 9, 2005
  The Speech Services Control Working Group (SpeechSC) of IETF has released an update of the Media Resource Control Protocol Version 2 (MRCPv2). This protocol allows the standard integration of speech resources (speech synthesizers, recognizers, verifiers and identifiers) in a VoiceXML compliant platform. This new draft is another important step in allowing the seamless extension of speech platforms and applications to new languages.
  
  

LOQUENDO Products

• New Loquendo ASR 7.0 Boosts Recognition Performance
  December 14, 2005
  Loquendo announces the release of Loquendo ASR 7.0. This new release for Loquendo Automatic Speech Recognition offers exciting new possibilities, representing a significant step forward in terms of automatic speech interaction.
  New features supported by Loquendo ASR 7.0 are: new integration capabilities, Acoustic Model Composition to simultaneously recognise on different Acoustic Models, improvements in the voice recognition performance for the German language, and full support of W3C SGRS and SISR standards.
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• Loquendo Extends VoxNauta Platform 7.0 Providing New product Capabilities
  December 7, 2005
  Loquendo announced the availability of news capabilities in VoxNauta Platform 7.0. The standard-based platform optimised for speech automated services provides an extended set of transfer call options and outbound call functionalities both on VoIP SIP/RTP interface and on ISDN/analog telephone interfaces.
  Providing support to CCXML 1.0, in addition to VoiceXML 2.0 and 2.1 standards, and leveraging on Loquendo's ASR and TTS high quality technologies, Loquendo is one of the first market players to offer integrators a voice platform fully compliant with W3C and IETF standards. The platform allows the creation of ever more sophisticated yet friendly voice and call control applications and at the same time the reduction of development and deployment costs.
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Clients & Partners

• Loquendo Partners with Proside to Deliver Innovative Speech Technology Solutions
  December 12, 2005
  Loquendo and Proside, the innovative Portuguese systems integrator, today announced that Proside has incorporated Loquendo's state of the art speech technologies into its flagship solutions.
  Proside has consolidated a rich expertise and customer base in the areas of systems integration for Web Portals and Virtual Contact Centre Automation. The first deployment of Proside's Powered by Loquendo applications was developed for Cemensa -a key player in the Angolan private healthcare sector.
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• Voxpilot Incorporates Loquendo's Leading Edge Speech Technology
  November 29, 2005
  Loquendo and Voxpilot, a leader in VoiceXML IVR platforms, today announced that Loquendo's multilingual TTS and ASR engines are now integrated with Voxpilot's flagship product, the Voxpilot Open Media Platform v2.5.
  Voxpilot Open Media Platform customers benefit from the power of Loquendo speech technology, including Loquendo TTS - the high quality, natural-sounding synthetic speech engine, and Loquendo ASR - the high accuracy automatic speech recognition engine, which has been integrated using MRCPv1 protocol.
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• Loquendo Text To Speech finds Home in Real Estate Industry
  October 31, 2005
  Loquendo and Showcase Technologies, the developer of real estate marketing products, announced that Showcase Technologies has selected Loquendo TTS text-to-speech technology to enhance the company’s online real estate viewing experience.
  The narrated tours can be viewed by visiting www.realtourlive.com. A friendly synthetic voice will instantly explain the technology and visitors can experience the narrated tour interface. The tours also incorporate maps and satellite imagery, along with several other useful tools for prospective home buyers.
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EVENTS

• SpeechTEK WEST 2006,
  San Francisco, CA, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, 5 Embarcadero Center, January 30 - February 1, 2006.
  BOOTH #137
  
  
• 3 GSM World Congress 2006,
  Barcelona, Fira de Barcelona, 13 - 16 February 2006.
  
  
• Aculab communication exchange - ACE 2006,
  Budapest, 4th - 7th April 2006,
  San Francisco, 8th - 11th May 2006.