Now Mac users can have their laptops or desktops speak to them in one of eight distinctive "real" voices - for an endless array of personal and professional communications. "Whispery," "Belle," "Dallas," "Lawrence" and others bring personality to your laptop or desk Mac. Tired of vanilla voices? Demo these fun personalities at VoicesForMac.com.

Ceptral's VoiceForge (www.VoiceForge.com) proven TTS translation technology enables Bizmosis to rapidly, cost-effectively, and constantly deliver breakthrough iPhone and iPad apps, including (left to right), iTranslate, Ringtone Creator, and NewsButler.

World's Largest Catalog of TTS Voices Now Speak for Virtual World Avatars

Article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Cepstral LLC, the largest privately-held text-to-speech (TTS) company in North America, today announced successful integration of their TTS engine with enabling technology from Aculab, a leading provider of media processing hardware and software.

Voxpilot Partners with Cepstral to Offer Affordable Quality Text-to-Speech Voices

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC today announced that it has reached a milestone of 40 English Text-to-Speech voices and that the entire catalog is now generally available online as Software as a Service (SaaS) through its VoiceForge property. Developers can now access a simple API to convert any text or web page into platform-independent audio without the need for client software. VoiceForge is differentiated as the only service to offer 30 entertaining novelty voices in addition to 20 traditional "enterprise" voices - 50 in all.

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC, in partnership with IMVU developer Cassiopeian Ltd, today announced the release of imVoices, a new widget for the IMVU Virtual World (www.imvu.com). imVoices leverages Cepstral's VoiceForge service to bring entertaining character voices to avatars, and is the first Text-to-Speech (TTS) application targeted at virtual worlds. IMVU is a rapidly growing 3D instant messenger and has more than 1 million beta customers.

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC and Digium Inc., working with popular IVR voice talent Allison Smith, have partnered to produce a Text-to-Speech (TTS) version of Allison's ubiquitous IVR voice. Allison is the default voice of the Asterisk(R) open-source telephone system, with millions of installed copies. Allison's voice can be found on systems for Verizon, Qwest, Cingular, Bank of America, Marriott Hotels, Ebay, 3M, and other high-profile companies.

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC is proud to announce that it is providing the first open source Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) library, OpenMRCP, at no charge to telephony application developers today. Cepstral is donating OpenMRCP to the developer community in order to spur the development of telephony applications that interact with Text-To-Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition.

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC announced the release of VoiceForge(tm), a web 2.0 product that can turn a set of recorded audio prompts into a Text-to-Speech (TTS) voice capable of saying anything. With VoiceForge(tm), companies or actors can capture or "bank" their voices on their own.

Pittsburgh, PA -- December 1, 2006 -- Cepstral LLC today expanded its web site to include a Community User Support Forum. All Cepstral Voice users are invited to join the Forum to help build a strong user Community around the use of Cepstral voices. The Community Forum can be accessed at http://www.cepstral.com/forum.

MADRID SPAIN -- 11/20/2006 -- I6NET, a Spanish company specialising in Interactive Voice & Video Response Technologies which combine voice, video and web-enabled VoiceXML applications, has today announced a partnership agreement with Cepstral LLC, a speech technology company based in the USA.

Pittsburgh, PA -- October 20, 2006 -- Cepstral LLC today expanded the capabilities of its on-line storefront to include PayPal as an available method of payment for its customers.

DALLAS, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- July 20, 2006 -- Cistera Networks (OTCBB: CNWT), the leading provider of advanced IP phone application platforms and engines in the Enterprise VoIP Telephony environment, today announced a partnership with Cepstral LLC of Pittsburgh, PA for the integration of Cepstral's Enterprise Text-to-Speech Engines on the Cistera ConvergenceServer(tm) (CCS).

San Francisco, Calif. - June 15, 2006 -- Signate, a leading provider of VoIP telephone solutions based on industry standard hardware and open source software, today announced the availability of Cepstral's Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine and voices integrated into its SigProvider and SigCarrier solutions for telephone service providers.

CLEMMONS, NC (PRWEB) June 13, 2006 -- NextUp.com, developer of TextAloud software, today announced the availability of an engaging new Cepstral (R) U.S. female voice, 'Callie', as well as some fun new novelty voices like 'Shouty' and 'Whispery'. TextAloud lets users convert text into spoken audio for easy listening, study, and comprehension. Text can also be converted to audio files for easy playback on portables like the iPod (R), PocketPC (R), and a wide range of portable devices.

Kevin Lenzo, CEO and founder of Cepstral LLC, will speak about "Locating Speech" at at ClueCon '06 in Chicago, Illinois, at 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, August 2nd. In this talk, Kevin will discuss a variety of applications using speech, and the factors relevant to locating the technology given the options. Telephony, VoIP and messaging will play a central role.

PITTSBURGH, PA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/31/2006 -- Cepstral LLC, the synthetic voice company, announced today the release of the award-winning Cepstral Swift Text-To-Speech (TTS) System, version 4.0, with new voices and key improvements.

Joliet, IL and Pittsburgh, PA; Premier Assistive Technology released a universal learning device based on MP3 hardware. The device, called The Key to Access(tm), is a breakthrough for individuals with print-related disabilities. It allows them to carry a 2-inch device which can be plugged into any computer's USB port and provide instant access to speech enabled "talking" software.

CHORLEYWOOD, UK and PITTSBURGH, PA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 07/13/2005 -- SpliceCom, a UK company specialising in communication systems which combine voice, video and web-enabled IT applications at the desktop, has today announced a partnership agreement with Cepstral LLC, a speech technology company based in the USA.

Pittsburgh, PA and Huntsville, AL - Digium and Cepstral announced a partnership agreement today to provide Cepstral Swift Text-To-Speech (TTS) languages and voices for Digium's Linux telephony platforms and applications. Under the arrangement, Cepstral becomes a Digium Premier Partner for providing commercial Text-To-Speech.

Pittsburgh, PA -- Cepstral LLC announced the release of standards-compliant Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) support for the Cepstral Swift Text-to-Speech System. The new product, Swift MRCP, will target IVR, VoIP PBX, and other telephony voice applications.

Developer Cepstral has announced that its professional-quality text-to-speech (TTS) voices are now available for use with Mac OS X v10.2 or higher, including the upcoming version of Mac OS X 10.4 known as "Tiger," which will feature a new spoken interface technology called VoiceOver.

Cepstral provides natural-sounding voices and they made 18 voices available for Mac OS X using the Swift Text-to-Speech technology as of March 16, 2005.

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN, and PITTSBURGH, PA -- 03/16/2005 -- gh LLC has chosen Cepstral LLC to give its MathSpeak(tm) assistive software technology a high-quality synthetic voice. When used in conjunction with a Digital Talking Book - such as the gh PLAYER(tm) - Mathspeak(tm) can render mathematics and science both orally and visually.

PITTSBURGH, PA -- 03/16/2005 -- Cepstral LLC, a leader in high quality Text-to-Speech (TTS), announced the release of its Swift Text-to-Speech (TTS) software on Apple's Mac OS X operating system. The advanced operating system has complete built-in support for speech technology, and can take advantage of Cepstral's high quality, natural sounding voices.

Tiny Text-to-Speech Voices Poised To Make Big Waves

Pittsburgh, PA (January 5, 2004) - Cepstral LLC announced a new software release capable of producing fully general, unit selection Text-to-Speech (TTS) voices that are under two megabytes in size on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas.

By Jonathan Matsey

Pittsburgh -- Cepstral, a speech technology firm that provides software for speech synthesis, said that it has capped its Series A with a final tranche of $700,000, which it will use to expand into the mobile markets. The round was led by individual investors Bill Recker, former CEO of Swiss photoimaging company Gretag Imaging, and Dick Donley, co-founder of Pittsburgh real estate firm Abstract Properties . . .

Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that builds high-quality synthetic voices that enable natural and clear communication, today announced that it has closed on $1.4 million in funding. The round includes $1.1 million from a group of private investors led by local businessmen and entrepreneurs Bill Recker and Dick Donley, and $300,000 from Innovation Works, a publicly funded venture capital organization that invests in technology startups in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

By Maria Guzzo
Pittsburgh Business Times

MBA students from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University participated in case study competitions last month that used Cepstral as the subject of their review. The competition not only helped Cepstral brainstorm for sales channels, it helped students refine their thinking and presentation skills . . .

Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that builds high-quality synthetic voices that enable natural and clear communication, today expanded its capabilities and reach with the release of voices in four new languages, including Canadian French, German, UK English and Americas Spanish.

NextUp.com, provider of innovative Text-to-Speech (TTS) software for consumers, educators and business customers, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Cepstral, LLC, a privately held company that provides speech technologies and services that enhance the delivery of information. Under the terms of the partnership, NextUp will offer Cepstral's high quality synthetic voices to consumers, educators and businesses as part of its TextAloud MP3 PC software.

By Kimberly Patch
Technology Research News

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Cepstral, LLC, Multimodal Technologies Inc. and Mobile Technologies Inc. have put together a two-way speech-to-speech system that translates medical information from Arabic to English and English to Arabic and runs on an iPaq handheld computer.

By Michelle Delio
FROM WIRED NEWS

Computers should also speak in culturally correct accents, according to voice technology firm Cepstral. The company debuted "Jean-Pierre" and "Isabelle" at the show, two French-Canadian-accented voices in French and English to be used in Quebec on smartphones, ATMs and handheld computer devices.

Cepstral can also create tailored voices for highly specific uses, such as a scientist-style voice that uses and understands the proper jargon, or a voice-enabled weather report feature that speaks in a regional dialect when a user types in a location on a weather website.

BOSTON, MA - October 1, 2003 - Plum Voice Portals, provider of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and computer telephony solutions, announced today the selection of Cepstral Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology as an additional plug-in for the Plum VoiceXML IVR platform.

LEXINGTON, KY -- September 24 - Thousands of executives and managers, corporate and governmental IT directors, integrators, developers, investors and others will examine speech technologies, solutions and strategies that are revolutionizing communications at the 9th Annual SpeechTEK International Educational Conference and Exposition, September 29 - October 2 at New York's Marriott Marquis. www.speechtek.com

Cepstral will introduce their new Canadian French voices. Jean-Pierre and Isabelle add to Cepstral's suite of natural sounding voices for handhelds, desktops, and servers. Cepstral will also introduce their updated voice engine, Theta 2.4, which includes improved voices, new APIs, enhanced SAPI support, updated lexicons, better text processing, and new installers for Solaris.

Company selected by DARPA and SRI as preferred provider of speech synthesis technology

PITTSBURGH, PA - September 9, 2003 - Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that provides speech technologies and services that enhance the delivery of information, announced today that it has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Stanford Research International (SRI) for advanced technology development in speech synthesis for handheld and mobile devices. Under the terms of the contracts, Cepstral will provide voices for field translation and other speech-related programs that DARPA and SRI are spearheading.

PITTSBURGH, PA - June 25, 2003 - Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that provides speech technologies and services that enhance the delivery of information, announced today that it has signed a long-term agreement with DynaVox Systems LLC, developers of high technology Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Cepstral will be the preferred provider of voices for DynaVox products. This agreement formally extends a successful relationship which began in 2001.

By Michael Yeomans
FROM THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Since the 1980s, CMU researchers at the school's Language Technologies Institute have been at the vanguard of the development of voice recognition and speech synthesis. Today, two of the companies spawned by this research are revenue-generating entities that are licensing their technology to some of the nation's largest corporations . . .

LEXINTON, KY - Ten companies were recognized at this year's AVIOS Speech Developers Conference and SpeechTEK Spring EXPO, March 31 - April 2 at The Fairmont San Jose, for outstanding products and services utilizing speech.

Awards were presented in eight categories for outstanding achievements as judged by the AVIOS Board.

Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that provides speech synthesis technologies and services, received two of eight awards from the Applied Voice Input/Output Society (AVIOS) at the 2003 AVIOS Speech Developers Conference and SpeechTEK Spring Expo, March 31 - April 3, 2003. The AVIOS Society recognized Cepstral in both the Best Assistive and Best Industrial/Professional categories of speech technology in San Jose, California.

Cepstral LLC, a privately held company that provides speech technologies and services that enhance the delivery of information, today announced the release of its new text-to-speech (TTS) engine, Cepstral Swift™.

By Dan Fitzpatrick
FROM THE POST-GAZETTE

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the same federal agency that created the Internet, has hired Cepstral, Carnegie Mellon University, Squirrel Hill-based Mobile Technologies Inc. and Oakland-based Multimodal Technologies Inc. to develop handheld, Palm Pilot-sized translators for use in humanitarian and combat situations. Both devices would translate English into Arabic and vice versa, informing the other person that "I am a doctor," ordering someone to "Put down your weapon" or asking "Are you hurt?"

Cepstral also is working on a translator for Pashto -- a language spoken in parts of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

Innovation Works, the publicly funded venture capital organization, said Friday it invested a total of $700,000 in three technology companies in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Cepstral L.L.C. and PanGo Networks Inc. each received commercialization investments of $300,000. The money will be used to help the companies develop their products to commercial viability and to acquire early customers.

Privately held Cepstral LLC, developer of voice-related technology, said it was changing its chief executive officer through a transition it has planned for the last couple of months

Company elevates President Jaime A. Smith to CEO, names co-founder Kevin A. Lenzo Chief Technology Officer

PITTSBURGH, PA December, 12 2002 Cepstral LLC, a privately held speech technology company that builds voices, engines, and tools for speech synthesis, today announced that it has named Jaime A. Smith President and Chief Operating Officer. In his role, Mr. Smith will spearhead Cepstrals' efforts to expand its business in the mobile, assistive, and education markets.

PITTSBURGH, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Cepstral LLC today announced a technology agreement with SpeechWorks (Nasdaq: SPWX), the global leader in speech recognition and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies and services. Cepstral is working with SpeechWorks on the development of a small footprint, multilingual unit selection text-to-speech (TTS) system. Under the agreement, Cepstral has been licensed to resell certain SpeechWorks technologies incorporated in its products. In addition, Cepstral will provide voice building and customization services.

PITTSBURGH, PA - Cepstral LLC, a leading creator of small footprint, natural sounding text-to-speech software, announced the fulfillment of an exclusive contract to provide voices to DynaVox Systems LLC, the world's leading provider of advanced augmentative communication (AAC) solutions.

The EnterPrize Business Plan Competition honored four of the region's entrepreneurs last night marking an end to the third and final phase of the third annual competition.This year's competition included a two-tier judging process. First tier teams were comprised of individuals who have never competed in nor won a business plan competition with the business model they entered. Teams in this tier had developed plans without having yet created a business.

by Steve May
TEQ Magazine

Kevin Lenzo and Alan Black's academic and professional experience in the complex realm of speech synthesis is considered by many to be unparalleled.

So Pittsburgh should be excited that the two, both of which have spent significant time as faculty in Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute, launched Cepstral, LLC, above the Bruegger's Bagel franchise in the South Side. . .

In its latest initiative to provide automotive OEMs with a rich environment to build reliable telematics systems, QNX Software Systems today announced that it has formed telematics alliances with Cepstral, Fonix, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Mindready, Motorola, NEC Electronics, Nexiq, Object Technology International and Zayante.rint.

Cepstral LLC, a provider of speech synthesis technology and services, today announced the release of Theta, a state-of-the- art software engine for deploying the highest quality spoken language output possible in a small footprint.