What's new - January 2000 release of Infovox Text-to-Speech engines
====================================================================



** BREAKING NEWS **
-------------------
January 2000
------------
- Two new voices for Infovox 330 and several language updates for both Infovox 230 
  and Infovox 330. Check the list below for details.


Update procedure
----------------
  To update Infovox 230:
	Run the installation program for Infovox 230. Copy the files from the 
	"Ivx230 Update" directory to your Ivx230\Lang directory.
  	The default path to this directory is C:\Program Files\Telia Promotor\Ivx230\Lang.
  All updates for Infovox 330 will automatically be included when you 
  run the "Infovox 330 Voices Update" program.
  
Known problems
--------------

- To get Infovox v2.1 to work with Zoomtext Level 2  7.0.3
  re-install ZoomText Xtra with an "is" command line parameter 
  (for example d:\zx7setup\setup.exe /is)
  We are working with AiSquared to remove the problem in the
  coming releases.





December 1999
-------------
- New engine releases for both Infovox 230 and Infovox 330! Version 
  2.1 of the engines offer lots of improvements. See the list below 
  for an overview of the new features.

- New Voice Manager application for both Infovox 230 and Infovox 330! 
  Enables you to customize and save the voices to your requirements. 
  Check the User's Guides for more information on the Voice Manager 
  application.

- New two-step installation program for the Infovox 330. It makes it 
  easier to deliver and update the language files, without the need 
  to reinstall the Infovox 330 text-to-Speech engine. More 
  information on the new installation program is in the "Getting 
  started" document and in the User's Guide.

- Language updates. Several languages have been updated! Check the 
  list below for details.



New features/improvements of Infovox 230 and Infovox 330 v2.1
-------------------------------------------------------------

- Greater stability. An accurate analysis of memory leaks and other 
  imperfections combined with very tough requirements in the testing 
  environment, guarantee a bulletproof stability of the engine, even 
  under extreme stress conditions.

- Notification messages to and from the engine are handled in a better 
  way, which guarantee that the application, the engine and the audio 
  output device are always synchronized.

- New audio management and better workload distribution. In the new 
  structure the engine and the audio device are working much closer 
  and much more efficiently.

- Possibility to choose 8 kHz output for the engine.

- New management of unlicensed voices. The unlicensed voices are no 
  longer exposed by the engine. In the previous versions you could 
  access the unlicensed voices but each time you would hear initially 
  the "This is a demonstration" sentence. This will not happen any 
  longer.


Language improvements in the December 1999 and January 2000 releases
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Infovox 330
- New voices (Jan. 2000):
    Danish male voice: Poul
    Finnish male voice: Matti

- Improvements in database management: 
    Dutch (Rik) (Dec. 1999) 
    German (Helga and Gerhard) (Dec. 1999 and Jan. 2000)

Infovox 230 and Infovox 330

- British English v.3.2 (Dec. 1999): some improvements in the handling of 
  Windows characters, including some letters from other alphabets 

- Danish 
  - v.1.2 (Dec. 1999): a problem in the handling of certain prefixes, 
    like "prę-", corrected.
  - v.2.0 (Jan. 2000): the language rules include a much enlarged 
    lexicon with significantly improved transcriptions; 

- Dutch v.1.2 (Dec. 1999): improved transcription in many words; improved 
  phrasing.

- Finnish 
  - v.1.2 (Dec. 1999): improved intonation.
  - v.1.3 (Jan. 2000): improved intonation.

- French v.2.26 (Jan. 2000): improved pronunciation of many newer words and  
  names.

- German v.2.392 (Dec. 1999): many improved transcriptions

- Icelandic v.1.12 (Dec. 1999): this version is fully compatible with the 
  Windows character table.

- Swedish v.3.5 (Dec. 1999): improved transcription in many words.




Language updates
----------------

Updates for both Infovox 230 and Infovox 330 voices:

- Swedish: improved transcription in many words.
- Dutch: improved transcription in many words; improved phrasing.
- German: many improved transcriptions; some errors in the database 
  management corrected.

Updates for Infovox 230 voices only:

- Icelandic: this version is fully compatible with the Windows 
  character table.
- Danish: some wrong transcriptions corrected, mainly words with 
  prefixes like "prę-".
- Finnish: improved intonation.