Amazon has acquired text-to-speech technology company IVONA Software. Announcing the good news today, Dave Limp, Vice President of Amazon Kindle says that IVONA has been instrumental in helping the online retail giant deliver excellent accessibility features on its Kindle Fire, such text-to-speech, voice guide, and explore by touch. “The IVONA team shares our passion for innovation and customer obsession, and we look forward to building great products to deliver world-class voice solutions to customers around the world,” Limp added.
IVONA, who is currently offering voice and language portfolios with 44 voices in 17 languages, will definitely be a big asset to Amazon, particularly for its Kindle business. IVONA CEO and co-founder Lukasz Osowski also confirmed the acquisition. “For more than ten years, the IVONA team has been focused on creating innovative text-to-speech technologies. We are all thrilled that Amazon is supporting our growth so that we can continue to innovate and deliver exceptional voice and language support for our customers,” Osowski said.