This probably won’t come as too big of a surprise, but it was just announced this morning that Amazon has (finally!) acquired the 10-year-old text-to-speech software company IVONA Software for an undisclosed sum. (Not quite as exciting as the Zappos acquisition, but still … )
The company currently offers voice and language proficiency in 44 voices and in 17 languages; it’s already utilized by Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets. Aside from its text-to-speech capabilities, IVONA also provides the ‘Voice Guide’ and ‘Explore by Touch’ features for the Kindle Fire.
“IVONA’s exceptional text-to-speech technology leads the industry in natural voice quality, accuracy and ease of use,” said Dave Limp, VP, Amazon Kindle, in a release. “IVONA is already instrumental in helping us deliver excellent accessibility features on Kindle Fire. The IVONA team shares our passion for innovation and customer obsession, and we look forward to building great products to deliver world-class solutions to customers around the world.”
On IVONA’s website, the company is now labeling themselves as “An Amazon Company.” Ivona also offers text-to-speech software for Android OS and Windows OS, developers, businesses, and for the blind.
