Voice-enabled RF remote-control development kit

Texas Instruments has developed voice command enabled ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth Smart remote control development kit for consumer electronics applications, mainly as a TV remote control. TI has worked with speech to text expert Nuance in developing this kit. The voice recognition feature is powered by Nuance's Dragon TV. Voice-activated control of TV and set-top boxes makes a lot of different for the user who want to have most relaxing way of controlling the program. There will be more and more voice activated systems unveiled in the market in the coming months. This kit from Texas instruments will be a valuable design aid for developers. Voice will become a key differentiator for marketing smart consumer electronics devices.

"Voice is changing the TV remote experience bringing a new sense of simplicity and instant access to content, shows and features – otherwise hard to navigate with traditional remote controls and program guides," said Michael Thompson, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. "TI's RF4CE and Bluetooth Smart remote control solutions powered by Nuance's Dragon TV bring the connected TV to life and create a compelling and engaging experience."

Based on a single-chip SoC (CC2533 or CC2541 for ZigBee RF4CE or Bluetooth low energy respectively), TI's voice-enabled remote control solutions require just an external ADC and no external DSP is needed for voice compression.

Availability: TI's voice-enabled remote control kits are currently being offered to qualified customers. The RF4CE voice-enabled remote control kit and software are available now. The Bluetooth Smart voice-enabled remote will be available in 4Q.

Editorial product rating: *** ( very good)