OTTAWA, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 01/07/13 — , a global leader in software platforms for in-car electronics, has announced a powerful new framework that will allow speech recognition systems in cars to understand a speaker-s intent. The framework extracts meaning from the driver-s spoken words, enabling in-car systems to create calendar appointments, dictate email or text messages, set complex navigation destinations, and even perform general Internet searches.
The framework, which is a component of the , allows in-car applications to access AT&T Watson(SM) speech recognition technology. AT&T Watson(SM) is AT&T-s pioneering speech services platform, which enables the development of next-generation technologies that go beyond speech to power more advanced natural language understanding and automatic speech recognition, among other capabilities. The multimodal and multilingual speech engine runs on a cloud-based server to provide extremely high-quality recognition with low latency.
Determination of the intent behind the driver-s speech starts on the server, where the AT&T Watson speech engine begins to analyze words and fits them to known patterns. The results are then handed from the cloud to the car, where the in-vehicle intent engine from QNX Software Systems performs the remainder of the speech analysis to determine how to act.
“Sharing the workload across client and server offers automotive manufacturers and end-users the best of both worlds,” said Andy Gryc, automotive product marketing manager, QNX Software Systems. “The server-side analysis, provided by AT&T Watson, is optimized for complex scenarios, such as a navigation application in which the driver may verbalize destinations in hundreds of different ways. The QNX client-side analysis grants car makers greater flexibility, enabling them to adapt the AT&T Watson results for a variety of in-car applications, regional aspects, or personal tastes.”
“For many of us, the most natural way to communicate is with our voice. By working with QNX and opening access to our rich set of speech technologies developed at our labs, we-re making it possible for more people to use the power of their voice to stay safely connected in their vehicles,” said Mazin Gilbert, assistant vice president of technical research, AT&T Labs. “Delivering this type of next-generation virtual assistant applications for the connected car is especially important as we look at how technology can help drivers keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.”
The intent system from QNX Software Systems is dynamically pluggable, which allows the recognized vocabulary to change depending on what applications are active, and to support new apps that are downloaded to the car.
“Enabling natural, intuitive, user experiences is fundamental to our vision of the connected vehicle, and providing our automotive customers with the tools to create those experiences is fundamental to our product strategy,” said Linda Campbell, director of strategic alliances, QNX Software Systems. “By providing a framework that enables our customers to take greater advantage of AT&T-s phenomenal speech engine, the new intent system should help accelerate the adoption of speech recognition across a broad range of vehicles.”
The QNX CAR application platform from QNX Software Systems is a comprehensive, pre-integrated software stack designed to help automotive companies reduce the time and effort of building highly sophisticated and connected infotainment systems.
QNX Software Systems has licensed its software technology for millions of in-vehicle systems worldwide, including digital instrument clusters, hands-free systems, multimedia head units, connectivity modules, and 3D navigation systems.
Developed at , AT&T Watson(SM)has been powering advanced speech services in the marketplace for years. The technology reflects more than one million hours of research and development in speech technologies that has led to more than 600 U.S. patents and patent applications.
Availability
The intent system will be offered as a component of the QNX CAR application platform in 2013. Release 2.0 of the platform will be available to the automotive community this month. Separate licensing from AT&T will be required to use AT&T Watson components.
Panel participation at AT&T Developer Summit
Today, at the , Andrew Poliak, director of automotive business development at QNX Software Systems, will participate in the panel “Navigating the Connected Vehicle Vision.” The session will be held from 3:00 to 3:45 pm, at the Palms Casino Resort.
About QNX Software Systems
QNX Software Systems Limited, a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM), is a leading vendor of operating systems, development tools, and professional services for connected embedded systems. Global leaders such as Audi, Cisco, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens depend on QNX technology for vehicle infotainment units, network routers, medical devices, industrial automation systems, security and defense systems, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems Limited is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada; its products are distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide. Visit and , and follow on Twitter. For more information on the company-s automotive work, visit and follow .
©2012 QNX Software Systems Limited. QNX, QNX CAR, Momentics, Neutrino, and Aviage are trademarks of QNX Software Systems Limited, which are registered trademarks and/or used in certain jurisdictions. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
QNX Software Systems Limited (QSS) is a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM). Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “intend,” “believe”, and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by QSS in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that QSS believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause QSS-s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of RIM-s Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at or ). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on QSS-s forward-looking statements. RIM and QSS have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. QSS is not responsible for and assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation, warranty, endorsement, or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third-party products or services.
Contacts:
Devan Gillick
Breakaway Communications
+1 530-591-3194 (mobile)
+1 415-358-2487
Paul Leroux
QNX Software Systems
+1 613-591-0931
You must be logged in to post a comment Login