To bring even more intelligibility to driver's users talking car navigators, speech technology provider, Loquendo (News - Alert) has partnered with TomTom for their latest GPS device, the TomTom ONE XL•S.

 

For the new device, Loquendo integrated their multi-lingual Automotive Text-to-Speech Solution to bring drivers a more expressive and more intelligible car navigator offering. The solution currently supports 21 languages with 53 voices and includes Emotional TTS capabilities.

 

“TTS has now become an essential feature in navigation devices, as proven in the field, and we are particularly proud that TomTom has decided to extend its availability to the ONE XL•S model,” said Paolo Coppo, VP Marketing and Business Development at Loquendo in a statement to the press.

 

Loquendo's Automotive Solution is also already integrated into the TomTom GO920, TomTom GO 720, TomTom GO 520 and TomTom GO 910 portable navigation devices.

 

“Loquendo TTS Automotive Solution guarantees the highest quality on any hardware platform, thanks to its efficiency and storage optimization,” also commented Coppo.

 

Along with embedded text-to-speech software, drivers are also provided with pre-recorded prompts that are natural sounding and in the language of their choice. Loquendo TTS also reads aloud text messages and makes use of the Emotional TTS feature so messages sound even more personal and realistic.

 

Loquendo  announced yesterday the addition of Leshing, a new female Mandarin Chinese voice to their growing family of TTS voices. With the Chinese voice offering, Loquendo is able to make its way into the large Mandarin-speaking communities within Singapore, Malaysia and others.