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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
August 13, 2007
Mobile Speech-to-Text Technologies Innovator TravellingWave Launches, Gets Venture Capital
By Patrick Barnard TMCnet Contributing Editor
With a fresh infusion of Series A capital financing now at its disposal, mobile speech-to-text technology upstart TravellingWave announced its official launch today.
Founded by Dr. Ashwin Rao, an expert in speech recognition who has held research positions at AT&T (News - Alert) Bell-Labs and Dragon Systems (now Nuance), TravellingWave has developed a patent-pending “predictive speech-to-text” technology which allows users to quickly input text on their mobile devices using a “multi-mode” system that combines both voice recognition and predictive text. With the software is installed, a user simply speaks a word while depressing a key on their phone, types in a letter or two of that word, and the word automatically appears on the screen. This type of predictive speech to text technology means users no longer have to type out whole words when texting or emailing from their mobile devices – i.e., the software can actually “predict” what the user is trying to type.
This technology is being viewed as critical to the success of mobile computing, as users tend to be confined to tiny keypads on their mobile devices, making things like Web search, writing emails and sending text messages more tedious and time consuming. According to analyst firm Informa, worldwide SMS (short-message service) traffic grew by about 50% last year, to more than 620 billion messages in the first quarter of 2007. In the same time, SMS revenues rose 23%, bringing total data revenues to $34.3 billion, the highest ever. As mobile marketing and advertising gain greater traction in the market, improved mobile device input will enable more fluid communication and response. TravellingWave claims its software, which recently completed trials, “is poised to deploy with mobile carriers and handset manufacturers in the coming year.”
TravellingWave’s Series A round of financing was led by Jim Judson, a partner at Seattle law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Judson has reportedly had prior associations with McCaw Cellular, Nextel International and China Unicom (News - Alert). Other participating investors include Geoff Entress, a principal with Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group; Bill Miller, formerly with OVP Ventures and a former general manager of Microsoft’s Advertising Business Unit, and Colin Wong, founder of investment firm Prosperati and formerly with Google (News - Alert). The amount of the investment was undisclosed.
“The mobile marketing industry is finding its voice, and now mobile text input is answering this clarion call with more user-friendly technologies,” Rao said in a press release. “TravellingWave was founded on the premise of revolutionizing the way people interface with their handsets. Our investors represent some of the most experienced individuals in the mobile industry, and they have seized the opportunity to forge a new direction for the third screen.”
TravellingWave has twice been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation SBIR grant. The company has reportedly built an international research, development, and sales team.
For more information, visit www.travellingwave.com.
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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and Assignment Editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
Founded by Dr. Ashwin Rao, an expert in speech recognition who has held research positions at AT&T (News - Alert) Bell-Labs and Dragon Systems (now Nuance), TravellingWave has developed a patent-pending “predictive speech-to-text” technology which allows users to quickly input text on their mobile devices using a “multi-mode” system that combines both voice recognition and predictive text. With the software is installed, a user simply speaks a word while depressing a key on their phone, types in a letter or two of that word, and the word automatically appears on the screen. This type of predictive speech to text technology means users no longer have to type out whole words when texting or emailing from their mobile devices – i.e., the software can actually “predict” what the user is trying to type.
This technology is being viewed as critical to the success of mobile computing, as users tend to be confined to tiny keypads on their mobile devices, making things like Web search, writing emails and sending text messages more tedious and time consuming. According to analyst firm Informa, worldwide SMS (short-message service) traffic grew by about 50% last year, to more than 620 billion messages in the first quarter of 2007. In the same time, SMS revenues rose 23%, bringing total data revenues to $34.3 billion, the highest ever. As mobile marketing and advertising gain greater traction in the market, improved mobile device input will enable more fluid communication and response. TravellingWave claims its software, which recently completed trials, “is poised to deploy with mobile carriers and handset manufacturers in the coming year.”
TravellingWave’s Series A round of financing was led by Jim Judson, a partner at Seattle law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Judson has reportedly had prior associations with McCaw Cellular, Nextel International and China Unicom (News - Alert). Other participating investors include Geoff Entress, a principal with Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group; Bill Miller, formerly with OVP Ventures and a former general manager of Microsoft’s Advertising Business Unit, and Colin Wong, founder of investment firm Prosperati and formerly with Google (News - Alert). The amount of the investment was undisclosed.
“The mobile marketing industry is finding its voice, and now mobile text input is answering this clarion call with more user-friendly technologies,” Rao said in a press release. “TravellingWave was founded on the premise of revolutionizing the way people interface with their handsets. Our investors represent some of the most experienced individuals in the mobile industry, and they have seized the opportunity to forge a new direction for the third screen.”
TravellingWave has twice been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation SBIR grant. The company has reportedly built an international research, development, and sales team.
For more information, visit www.travellingwave.com.
-----------
Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and Assignment Editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
