LONDON, Nov. 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ROK Entertainment Group, the UK-based mobile technology, applications and services company has today announced the acquisition of leading text-to-speech provider Textic.
The Textic services, originally designed to automatically convert typed words on websites into audible speech in real-time, will be further developed for mobile phones and eBooks and will be re-launched as ROK Talk.
"The acquisition of Textic represents an enormous opportunity on many levels, not least for the benefit of the blind or partially sighted, but also for the under-educated and illiterate as well as the millions of people affected by dyslexia worldwide," said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and CEO of ROK.
"In addition, there are many educational benefits through text-to-speak particularly in regard to learning English as a second language and, coupled with the fact that in the US it is law for all Governmental and commercial websites to offer text-to-speech functionality under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we are aware that similar obligations are expected to become law in the UK and across Europe in the near future," added Kendrick.
There are approximately 350,000 people who are registered as being blind or partially sighted in the UK, most of whom are partially or entirely excluded from the socio-economic benefits of the internet as a direct result of the lack of text-to-speech software on most websites.
In addition, there are an estimated 2.6 million people in the UK alone who are severely impacted by Dyslexia or similar reading disabilities along with an estimated 5% of the entire global adult population.
As an example of the obligations being imposed in an increasing number of countries, enforced by law, to enable access to websites for people with disabilities, a California judge recently ruled against major US retailer Target, resulting in a $6 million settlement being paid to the US National Federation of the Blind (NFB) after several blind citizens were unable to fully access Target's website -- a breach of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Textic, founded in 2007 and based in Maidenhead, UK, has specialised in the development, marketing and selling of advanced, assistive and creative text-to-speech technologies, which, in its various forms, converts web text to clear, human-like speech in a range of voices and languages.
Early adopters of the text-to-speech service in the UK have included County Councils such as Northumberland; police forces in Northamptonshire, Kent, Sussex, Wiltshire and Staffordshire; the NHS authority in Great Yarmouth and Sheffield, Investors in People, the Gloucester Housing Association, the Down's Syndrome Association and the British Dyslexia Association.
"Being acquired by ROK, with their global sales and marketing reach, will provide a massive boost to the deployment of text-to-talk services worldwide," said David Shickle, Vice President of Textic, "and we look forward to adding new versions of our website reader technologies for the mobile phone and eBooks under the ROK Talk banner going-forward."
ROK Entertainment, best known for its Mobile TV service which streams video live and on-demand over mass-market 2.5G GPRS as well as 3G and Wi-Fi, has amassed a portfolio of revenue-generating mobile technologies and services which it licenses to Mobile Operators and Handset Manufacturers worldwide.
Commenting on the acquisition, John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of ROK and founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron Tequila, said, "I am hugely enthusiastic about this service as I am personally committed to enabling the visually-impaired and those who cannot read to become empowered, as much as possible, through internet and mobile phone technologies. ROK Talk will do exactly that on a global scale."
To see Textic in action, please visit: http://www.glosha.co.uk/main.cfm (Gloucester Housing Association) and http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/ (Northumberland County Council) and click the Textic 'ON' button. Then simply scroll across the web pages with the volume switched on.
About ROK:
Founded in 2004, ROK Entertainment Group is a mobile technologies, applications and services development company with a suite of revenue-generating mobile services which it licenses to Mobile Operators and Handset Manufacturers worldwide. Headquartered in the UK, ROK is best known for its award-winning mobile TV services which streams video -- live and on demand -- over 2.5G, 3G and Wi-Fi(R). In addition, ROK has 5 patent awards and many more patent applications in place. For more information, please visit: www.rokent.com
The ROK Entertainment Group logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5361
Forward-Looking Statement:
The information contained in this news release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these statements. Forward-looking statements regarding the timing of developing, testing and releasing existing and new products, of marketing and selling them, of deriving revenues and profits from them, as well as the effects of those revenues and profits on the Group's margins and financial position, are uncertain because many of the factors affecting the timing of those items are beyond the Group's control.