Amazon Acquires IVONA to Enhance Kindle Audio Features: Return of Text-to-Speech on eReaders?
While there’s still speculation about whether Amazon is on the verge of acquiring the display company Liquavista, they’ve already made a decisive move in another area. Amazon announced yesterday that it has acquired the Polish company IVONA.
The IVONA Text-To-Speech engine covers 17 languages and 44 voices. During the Blizzard Challenge, an event to assess and measure the progress of synthetic voices, IVONA achieved the highest score of 3.9 points among all participants in 2007. Only texts read by real people scored better, with a rating of 4.7. The overall score is comprised of evaluations from experts, as well as students and volunteers. The engine is certainly among the best available solutions. Anyone who wants to listen to the results themselves can do so on the IVONA homepage.
In addition to the Text-To-Speech function for reading eBooks aloud, the technology is also used as a “Voice Guide” and “Explore by Touch” on Kindle Fire tablets, to simplify or make it possible for people with vision impairments to use the devices.
With this acquisition, it can be speculated that the next Kindle eBook reader will be equipped with an audio function again. This feature was omitted in the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, meaning there is currently no eInk device in the Amazon.de portfolio that includes audio output and Text-To-Speech functionality.
If that is the case, it is also possible that the technology will be more deeply integrated into the system, allowing the reader to be operated solely with audio support. The lack of accessibility in the Kindle Touch was one of the reasons why the reader was not used by the US government in educational centers and libraries following a protest by the American Council of the Blind. Amazon lost 13.4 million euros as the deal fell through. It was intended that the State Department would purchase a total of 35,000 Kindle eBook readers over 5 years, each including 50 eBooks.
Rather than a Kindle Color, a Kindle Paperwhite with audio function can be expected this fall. Another indication of this is the expansion of the Kindle 5 software. The Kindle Touch, which is no longer officially sold, recently received a major software update, bringing it up to the same level functionally and operationally as the Kindle Paperwhite. The fact that this update was provided to a discontinued model could indicate that a future Kindle model will use exactly this software. Besides the basic Text-To-Speech function, the Kindle Touch now also offers the Whispersync for Voice feature, which allows synchronization of eBooks and audiobooks so users can seamlessly switch between the two formats. Further integration of Audible’s audiobook offering could thus also be on Amazon’s agenda.
Both companies naturally comment very positively on Amazon’s acquisition: “IVONA’s exceptional Text-To-Speech technology leads the industry in natural voice quality, accuracy, and user-friendliness,” comments Dave Lamp, VP in the Kindle division, on the acquisition.
“For more than ten years, the IVONA team has focused on creating innovative Text-To-Speech technologies. We are thrilled that Amazon is supporting us in our growth, so we can continue to provide our customers with exceptional voice and speech support,” says Lukasz Osowski, CEO and co-founder of IVONA.
