Hasbro Selects Sensory for Shrek Products
Shrek II hits the theaters on May 19th, and along with it will be plush toy character versions of Shrek and Donkey that can talk and hear. These intelligent interactive figures come by way of toy stores and mass marketers like Walmart and Costco through the work of toy giant Hasbro, and Sensory, Inc., the world leader in embedded speech technologies.Sensory & Hasbro Team Up for Shrek:Sensory has spent the last 10 years creating chips that can talk and hear for embedding into low cost consumer products and toys. Hasbro has extensive experience with speech technologies, and decided it was time to analyze the offerings from all the top speech recognition vendors in a "shoot-out" to find the best vendors for the Shrek and Donkey characters. Hasbro selected Sensory for its low cost, high quality, and the ease and speed of development. "The voice recognition technology from Sensory Inc.
was an ideal application for Hasbro to use when creating the WISE CRACKIN' SHREK and WISE CRACKIN' DONKEY plush toys," said Todd Rywolt, vice president of marketing for Hasbro, Inc. "Sensory's technology allows the funny characterizations of America's favorite ogre SHREK and his hilarious sidekick DONKEY to come to life." The toys retail for about $29.95.How it Works:The Shrek and Donkey characters can be spoken to, and they respond in an intelligent way to a range of predefined questions. The conversation sequence is "triggered" by an opening word that the character is listening for. Say "Hey Shrek", and he replies with a random response. The user can then ask a question like "Are you hungry?", and Shrek burps and says "Better out than in I always say." The characters have the same wisecracking personalities and voices as those on-screen, so the interactivity makes it funny and uncannily realistic at the same time.
Both Shrek and Donkey use Sensory's latest integrated speech chip, the RSC-4128. This chip has everything embedded into it including RAM, ROM, processor, CODEC, and filtering to create a general purpose micro controller that can talk and hear.About Sensory, Inc.Sensory, Inc. is the world leader in embedded speech technologies. Sensory's speech technologies include speech recognition, speaker verification, speech synthesis, and animated speech, and are used in consumer electronics, cell phones, PDA's, internet appliances, interactive toys, automobiles, and other applications where low cost and high quality is essential.
Sensory offers a complete line of integrated circuit and embedded software solutions to customers such as Avon, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, IDT, JVC, Kenwood, Matsushita, Mattel, MGA, Mitsubishi, Radica, Sega, Sharper Image, Sony, Tektronix, Toshiba, Uniden, and VOS.
Sensory was founded in 1994 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
More information is available from Sensory's web site at www.sensoryinc.com..
Bugopolis, LLC, Provider of Open-Source Developer Tools, upgrades Product Offerings with Bugzilla 2.18 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Bugopolis, LLC, provider of open-source developer tools, is pleased to announce the inclusion Bugzilla 2.18 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux in our turn-key defect tracking server appliances and hosting services which carry
no per-seat license fees. These software upgrades, along with a larger selection of hardware offerings, position Bugopolis to better meet the growing demand for open-source products that not only compete with their commercial counterparts but also meet traditional IT department requirements."Bugzilla 2.18 is our best release to date" says Bugzilla.org, an international team working
together for seven years to produce superior defect tracking software with over 100,000 users.
Bugzilla is under very active development and is filled with countless features that even the most expensive solutions lack.
Along with impressive charting and graphing features, Bugzilla 2.18 provides a centralized system for entering bugs, assigning and tracking...
Appliances > Bugopolis, LLC, Provider of Open-Source Developer Tools, upgrades Product Offerings with Bugzilla 2.18 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Breakthrough Technology Brings Realism to Online Home Design
Using real-time 3D technology normally seen only in 3D games, plan3D.com now gives homeowners the ability to design and remodel kitchens in 3D, in real time. For the first time ever, users now see their designs come alive in real-time 3D as they're creating and editing. "Three years ago, when we started this project, no one believed we could create an online 3D design tool for homeowners. Least of all that they'd be able see real furniture, appliances and home improvement products from manufacturers in their plans." laughs Michael Gariepy, co-founder of plan3D.com and ArtToday.com. "We've not only proven it's possible ? it's clearly something consumers have been dying for.
Sales for plan3D have grown 500% since the pay site opened in July."Plan3D gives subscribers the ability to see 3D models of real products from real manufacturers in their plans. Currently, plan3D offers 150 skylights from Velux and has plans to add thousands more 3D models from other manufacturers in the coming...
Breakthrough Technology Brings Realism to Online Home Design
Appliances > Breakthrough Technology Brings Realism to Online Home Design
Fenwal's Applications Lab Expands Into New Markets: Doubles OEM Customer Appliances Served in 2004
Fenwal Controls, Inc., a leading manufacturer of standard and customized automatic gas ignition and temperature controls for commercial and industrial OEM customers, has expanded the capabilities of its Applications Lab."OEMs in commercial cooking, hydronics, HVAC, pool/spa and RV have fast-track new product development timelines and are using Fenwal to optimize their designs and maximize performance and reliability. In 2004 the number of customer appliances under evaluation in Fenwal's applications lab doubled over the previous year, as a higher percentage of manufacturers in emerging markets expressed the need for application development support."Beyond commercial and industrial, we're seeing more projects in residential and municipal markets for automatic ignition of specialty luxury gas appliances," says Jerry Harting, Director of Sales and Marketing, Fenwal Controls. Projects currently under evaluation include customers' gas fireplaces as well as gas lanterns, which have found renewed...
Fenwal's Applications Lab Expands Into New Markets: Doubles OEM Customer Appliances Served in 2004
Appliances > Fenwal's Applications Lab Expands Into New Markets: Doubles OEM Customer Appliances Served in 2004
Remote Controls
Remote controls ? these days we can't seem to function without them. In modern-day living, remote controls have virtually become an extra limb that we cannot do without.
The Germans first began using them during World War I, to control motorboats and airplanes that would destroy ships by crashing into them. The Second World War saw bombs that were controlled by remote devices. In fact, the first use of remotes in our homes began after the war, when remote controlled garage doors started being manufactured.
The T.V. remote followed suit. It was aptly called ?Lazy Bones,' and was made by Zenith Corporation, an American company.
Early remote controls were not wireless, and were in fact attached to cables connecting it to the T.V. Subsequent developments saw the making of Flashmatic, the wireless remote that had to be pointed at the television set.
The next generation of remote controls used high-frequency sound to transmit signals, and only in the...
Remote Controls
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