It Speaks! – a smart language application designed by Traduko – uses Acapela
speech synthesis to turn words and phrases in 11 languages into natural voices
with perfect accents, and works both online and offline.
The application has recently been awarded in the Excitera Mobile Cup, the
world’s largest platform-independent competition for mobile services, where the
theme this year was "mobile services that will change the world".
It Speaks! is a great tool when travelling abroad, giving access to more than
1200 words and 300 phrases. The application includes a number of different
phrases for different situations, such as at a restaurant, when you need medical
help, making conversation or finding your way. At any time, the user listens to
a natural voice that reads words and phrases instantly. It Speaks! is currently
available in 11 languages: English, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, French, German,
Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, with more to come. And all
combinations of languages are possible.
‘Providing text to speech for mobile applications and services is an
increasingly important and rapidly growing part of Acapela’s business. The
limited screen size of the mobile device makes a speech interface the optimal
solution. In the case of language learning it has of course a particularly
important role. We are delighted that Traduko has chosen Acapela voices for It
Speaks!, which is a very innovative and useful app’, says Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group.
‘Choosing to use Acapela voices was an easy decision. The Acapela SDK
(Software Development Kit) for iPhone is both well written and very quickly
integrated. We are also very happy being able to offer a large selection of
voices. Today we have 41 different voices but this is only the beginning’,
comments Erik Olsson, CEO of Traduko and creator of
It Speaks!
The It Speaks! app for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (iPhone OS 3.0 upwards) is
available on the Apple AppStore. The basic application is free of charge while
each text to speech voice costs 15 SEK (1.59 euro). For most languages the user can select among
different male and female voices.
