Sensory Inc. announces chip with improved speech recognition for as low as $2
The NLP-5x can handle both speech recognition and text-to-speech functions, plus it hosts an algorithm that can be left turned on all the time (in a sort of sleep mode), and then activates itself when it hears something. (That could get dangerous.)
Some of the specific improvements in recognition revolve around more flexibility with numbers (with the provided example, "'Bake at 375 for 1 hour' or 'Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees'"). The chip also features MIDI and MP3 file music playback.
Current Sensory customers include major tech and toy developers like JVC, Mattel, and Hasbro, and given that these chips are so cheap when bought in bulk, we might be seeing them in some new products soon.