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Emic 2, Fonix DECtalk web site Company in forclosure? — Parallax Forums

Emic 2, Fonix DECtalk web site Company in forclosure?

jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
edited 2012-08-03 17:49 in General Discussion
After trying my emic 2 i was curious about the Fonix DECtalk parser

So I went to Fonix web site.

http://www.fonix.com/index.php

Apparently they just foreclosed / bankrupt?

Comments

  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2012-08-01 13:33
    jdolecki wrote: »
    After trying my emic 2 i was curious about the Fonix DECtalk parser

    So I went to Fonix web site.

    http://www.fonix.com/index.php

    Apparently they just foreclosed / bankrupt?

    I hope not. So many speech chips have come and gone over the years and it would be a shame to loose the EMIC-2 so soon because the source for chips folds. Perhaps someone from Parallax can comment if this will affect the longevity of the EMIC-2 module.

    It says the shares will be up for auction. Maybe Parallax can get lucky and buy them with a low bid....
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-08-01 13:55
    RobotWorkshop wrote: »
    Maybe Parallax can get lucky and buy them with a low bid....

    I'm always up for a lowball bid, as my Ebay followers know well!
  • jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
    edited 2012-08-01 14:02
    The Shares were sold to DJPAM, as the highest bidder at the public disposition. Accordingly, DJPAM has acquired all right, title, and interest held by Fonix in the Shares.

    Some place called DJPAM bought everything?
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2012-08-01 17:00
    Well - epson makes the chip and based on the announcement - someone else bought their IP. Hopefully it will turn out ok.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-08-02 06:39
    Invent-O-Doc wrote: »
    Well - epson makes the chip and based on the announcement - someone else bought their IP. Hopefully it will turn out ok.

    I took a look at the bill of materials for the Emic 2 and it looks like all the suppliers are pretty solid. I imagine the Fonix technology is licensed by Epson, so the new owner would be looking to keep revenue streams in tact.
  • Joe GrandJoe Grand Posts: 70
    edited 2012-08-03 17:49
    No need to worry. Fonix is now owned by SpeechFX (http://www.speechfxinc.com/text-to-speech.html), which is very much still in business. The DECtalk engine was licensed to Epson from SpeechFX and a royalty is paid to SpeechFX for every unit sold. Epson has no plans to discontinue the S1V30120 Text-to-Speech IC (that Emic 2 uses) for at least 5 years. The more units we sell, the more likely they'll continue to manufacture them past then :)

    Joe

    Martin_H wrote: »
    I took a look at the bill of materials for the Emic 2 and it looks like all the suppliers are pretty solid. I imagine the Fonix technology is licensed by Epson, so the new owner would be looking to keep revenue streams in tact.
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