Talking Ad Shows Off TI's New Speech-Synthesis Chip
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Texas Instruments has found a unique way to show off its latest
speech-synthesis chip: a "talking" magazine ad. Certain editions
of the October 20 Business Week include a 4-page insert. When you
open the insert and remove a label covering a white button, you
hear a 15-second message of a male voice speaking the ad copy
printed on the page. The electronic message is delivered by a
credit-card-size module, the brains of which is TI's new TSP50C10
chip. A 1-inch piezoelectric speaker is embedded in the module.
Three calculator-type batteries will power the ad for about 650
replays.
 
Just another marketing gimmick? Not exactly. TI expects its new
50C10 chip to "launch a new category of talking product," namely,
the talking ad. As TI sees it, the low-priced 50C10 is the ideal
communications tool for magazine advertising, direct mail, and
point-of-sale displays. Talking ads could become cost-effective,
TI says, because the new chip costs buyers less than $2 each in
high volume (1-million piece quantities). Also, TI expects the
50C10 to be used in more traditional speech applications, such as
toys. According to TI spokesperson Martha Brounoff, several toy,
learning aid, and answering machine manufacturers currently are
designing the 50C10 chip into new products. She declined to name
specific companies.
 
The 50C10 CMOS chip offers better sound quality, uses less
energy, costs less, and is some 40 precent smaller than TI's ear-
lier speech chip, the 50C40, TI claims. The 50C10 can perform 61
instructions and offers RAM storage with a capacity of sixteen
12-bit words and 112 bytes. It synthesizes speech at an 8- or
10-kilohertz sample rate. The chip has 8K of ROM for storing
program instructions and speech data. The integrated design of
the 50C10 reduces the area required to fabricate the chip and
minimizes the cost, according to the company.
 
TI thinks the $2 price of the 50C10 will enable OEMs to add
speech capabilities to products that retail for as little as $10.
 
Contact: Texas Instruments, Semiconductor Group, PO Box 809066,
Dallas, TX 75380-9066; (800) 232-3200.
 
                              --- Jeffrey Bertolucci
 
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