Audience Announces the First Voice Processor to Optimize Mobile Speech Recognition Services

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Audience, Inc. a global provider of advanced voice and audio processing technology, today announced the latest addition to its family of intelligent voice processors for mobile phones, the A1028 chip.  Featuring the company's EarSmart™ technology that replicates the functions of human hearing to enhance sound quality and suppress noise, the A1028 voice processor is the first in the industry to offer processing capabilities that improve mobile speech recognition performance in noisy environments.  The voice processor also extends Audience's non-stationary noise suppression solution to support handheld speakerphone mode in mobile devices.

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Engineered to imitate the complex processing that occurs from the inner ear to the brain, EarSmart technology distinguishes and interprets sounds as people do naturally, to isolate and enhance the primary voice signal and filter out unwanted background noise.  The result is clear communications, allowing mobile users to hear and be heard, nearly anywhere.  Advancing on earlier Audience processors, the A1028 system-on-chip processor is further improving the mobile voice experience.  It suppresses noise interference for speech recognition applications, including voice search, speech-to-text, voice commands, voice dialing, navigation, and more, to improve accuracy and performance.

The A1028 chip also offers processing capabilities to deliver call clarity by providing non-stationary noise suppression to block ambient sounds when using handheld speakerphone mode on mobile devices.  As a result, mobile users can use handheld speakerphone capabilities wherever they go, and receive clear communications for video calling, voice memos, or to multi-task, continuing a phone conversation while accessing handset data features, from contact information to the mobile Web.  With Audience's A1028 voice processor and EarSmart technology, mobile phones can now deliver a clear voice experience across more handset functions, in any environment.

"With the introduction of the A1028 processor, Audience is again advancing its leadership in auditory technology, and applying our voice processing expertise to improve the experience for mobile customers," said Peter Santos, president and chief executive officer, Audience.  "We're continuing to innovate ways to support speech recognition services, while also bringing noise suppression and voice enhancement to other important modes on mobile handsets.  The new capabilities offered by the A1028, demonstrate our commitment to provide the world's most intelligent voice processors to improve products that benefit our everyday lives."

"Several of the leading smartphones and advanced feature phones launched this year have placed an increasing importance on enhancing voice quality and supporting voice-enabled technologies," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group.  "The voice processing capability offered by Audience is helping to drive this trend.  Technology that can reduce the effect of noise in mobile environments is critical to improving the usability of voice-driven applications."

Handsets offering Audience's A1028 voice processor will be launching in the first half of 2011.  

A1028 Key Features

• Powerful Processing:  the A1028 chip includes a low-power, high-performance custom digital signal processor (DSP) core to provide industry-leading stationary and non-stationary noise suppression for transmit and receive, acoustic echo cancellation (AEC), and programmable voice equalization (VEQ) algorithms, and now provides noise suppression for handheld speakerphone mode and automatic speech recognition (ASR) applications.
• Customizable Features:  the A1028 processor includes customizable voice quality tuning capabilities, a post-equalization filter for voice color tuning and to allow handset manufacturers to manage frequency response, and a multi-band compander (MBC) to improve audio quality and reduce distortion for end-users when receiving communication, or using the phone's speakerphone function.
• Easy Integration:  Audience has also introduced a new graphical design tool, AuViD 1.0, to support the design and integration process with mobile equipment manufacturers.  AuViD 1.0 provides visually-guided tools allowing handset manufacturers to easily tune and customize the audio features of their handset models.  The A1028 chip is provided in a highly compact 2.7mm x 3.5mm, 40-pin WLCSP (0.5mm pitch) package that can fit any handset style or design to support all existing mobile phone architectures.

About Audience

Audience is a leading global provider of intelligent voice and audio processors for the mobile marketplace, based on pioneering work to reverse-engineer human hearing.  The company's technology is redefining the mobile voice experience by enhancing call quality, and suppressing noise to enable clear communications in any environment and optimizing performance of speech-based applications.  Audience technology is featured in mobile handsets from leading manufacturers in markets across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the U.S.  The company was the Silver Winner in the 2008 Wall Street Journal "Technology Innovation Awards" and the Winner of the Semiconductor category.  It was also selected as the Most Innovative True Mobile Start-Up for the "2008 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards." Audience is one of 34 founding member companies of the Open Handset Alliance and the only one with advanced noise suppression technology.  Investors in Audience include Vulcan Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Tallwood Venture Capital and VentureTech Alliance. The company is based in Mountain View, California.  www.audience.com

SOURCE Audience, Inc.