[September 24, 2007]

Voxware Supports LXE Voice Computer for Speech-Based Warehouse Applications

By Anuradha Shukla

TMCnet Contributing Editor

Voxware (News - Alert) has expressed their commitment to support the HX3, LXE’s new wireless data collection computer for warehouse applications using voice recognition, as the primary form of data input.

The release of the HX3 in the Auto-ID industry is expected to put LXE in a leadership position as the industry’s first provider of a full suite of rugged, voice-enabled mobile computers: truck-mounted, handheld, multi-modal and voice only.

Jim Childress, president of LXE believes they are fortunate to have a strategic software partner like Voxware, with whom they have worked closely to develop a family of voice-enabled devices. According to Childress, the market for standards-based voice devices in the warehouse has room for competitive alternatives and the HX3 computer is the most versatile voice terminal on the market.

The HX3 can accommodate multiple data input options for the operator, including voice, barcode scanning and keyboard entry. This computer is certified to work with a range of voice applications, and can be used with industry-standard remote-device management tools. This truly open-system, non-proprietary device runs on Windows CE 5.0 Professional.

Facilities can run voice-based applications and still have the flexibility to scan barcodes when necessary with the new HX3 voice-directed computer, which boasts a simple, programmable eyes-free keyboard that makes it faster for operators to accomplish the most common tasks.

The product’s barcode capture options include a laser ring scanner or 2D imager ring scanner. The use of wireless scanners is enabled by the HX3’s standard Bluetooth

2.0+EDR radio that also “future-proofs” the unit for use with accessories like wireless headsets.

The new HX3 utilizes an 802.11b/g WLAN

radio for superior speed and security. The product is protected by a magnesium bezel that ensures survival in rugged, harsh conditions that include cold environments where it’s tested to cold start down to -4F and operate in freezers to -40F. As the HX3 hands-free data collection computer is built with LXE’s ToughTalk technology for speech-based logistics applications, it also enables the HX3 hands-free voice computer to support today’s industrial-grade voice recognition applications.

“LXE’s release of the HX3 is significant because it introduces a non-proprietary, voice-only device to a market that continues its rapid adoption of voice-based warehousing. The HX3 strengthens Voxware’s position as the leader in voice software by validating our standards-based, packaged software approach, and further illustrates the industry’s migration to non-proprietary technologies,” said Voxware CEO Scott J. Yetter in a statement.

Yetter believes the HX3 will become a critical component of their ability to offer customers the largest and most diverse selection of industrial, voice-enabled mobile computers in the industry. LXE’s full-suite approach to mobile computing affords customers the long-term business value of having company-wide and cross-discipline coverage for all their mobile hardware decisions.

Anuradha Shukla is a contributing writer for TMCnet covering call centers, CRM and information technology.