Intel builds voice hardware into mobo

Intel's D845EBT desktop board will feature DI's SoundMAX CadenzaT Digital Audio System with built-in noise cancellation technology and support for Andrea Electronics' Superbeam Array Microphone, Analog announced today.

PCs sporting the new board will be available this month from Micron PC, the companies said. MicronPC Millenia TS2 Professional and Xtreme models start at $999 (£999 - usually). µ "We are delivering much more than a motherboard with the D845EBT Desktop board," tumpeted Intel's Desktop Marketing Director Joel Christensen, in a statement. "We are providing a platform that will improve the way that users interact with their PCs, allowing them to use voice as an input device."

Voice activation is expected to be a 'next big thing' in desktops. Microsoft says it had already licensed 60 million copies of Office XP, which is enabled for both voice-activated command and control and for continuous speech dictation. The sight of office dwellers chatting to their PCs is yet to become commonplace, however. µ