Swiss provider of embedded speech solutions, SVOX, yesterday announced the release of SVOX Pico, a small-footprint Text-to-Speech system, according to CEO Volker Jantzen.

SVOX customers now have access to SVOX Pico SDK and can start integrating the new system into their products. The SVOX Pico engine requires less than 400 KB ROM, with an additional 400 KB for each extra language and 500 KB for each extra voice. To run SVOX Pico, a device needs less than 250 KB RAM and an ARM9 or equivalent processor. In its initial release SVOX Pico supports British English and German; additional languages can be quickly added as needed.

“We expect the first product featuring SVOX Pico to hit the market in 2009,” said Martin Reber, COO at SVOX.