ROK Entertainment Group today announces the launch of ROK Promoter, a web-based application which allows advertisers to easily create and manage their own Bluetooth advertising campaigns, direct to consumers. ROK Promoter has been developed by Geniem, the Finland-based mobile applications development subsidiary of ROK.



ROK Promoter enables advertisers to build, deploy and monitor Bluetooth proximity-marketing mobile video campaigns themselves, via an easy-to-use web interface, without the need for third-party agency involvement.

‘The power of opt-in, one-to-one marketing, through mobile phones and, in particular, being able to reach customers at that crucial point where buying decisions are being made, is becoming ever-more important and valuable to advertisers’ said Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK ’so we set out to make the process of creating, delivering and monitoring such campaigns as easy as possible for advertisers.’

‘Until now, Bluetooth marketing has been something of a black art with a number of specialist companies providing a range of services for advertisers’ added Alexander ‘whereas now, with ROK Promoter, we put the advertiser in control.’

ROK Promoter converts video and images to the appropriate size to fit different cell phone models and screen sizes. It manages multiple Bluetooth transmitters in multiple locations while providing live audience-impact statistics and summary charts to monitor results. ROK Promoter is available to license on a weekly, monthly or long-term basis.

Labels: Bluetooth

Sensory’s BlueGenie™ Voice Interface Enables a Truly Hands-Free Experience

Las Vegas, NV – 2008 International CES - Sensory, Inc., the leader in speech technologies for consumer products, today announced that BlueAnt, a leading manufacturer of Bluetooth peripherals, will use Sensory’s BlueGenie Voice Interface to deliver the BlueAnt V1, the first ever Bluetooth headset with a true voice user interface (VUI). The BlueGenie Voice Interface software suite enables manufacturers of Bluetooth products to integrate full voice control and synthetic speech output without the need for visual displays or complex user interfacing.

Users of the BlueAnt V1 will no longer deal with lengthy or confusing button pressing to access functionality. Instead, the V1 can be controlled with simple phrases like “pair headset,” “call home,” “volume up” and “accept call.” When it comes to checking headset status it will not be necessary to interpret confusing beep sequences or LEDs. BlueGenie’s voice synthesis capability enables the V1 to speak back to the consumer, letting them know device settings including successful pairing of the headset, battery power level, etc.

“Improved safety functions and increased user friendliness have been strongly desired by Bluetooth headset customers,” said Taisen Maddern, CEO of BlueAnt. “With Sensory’s BlueGenie Voice Interface, we are bringing them what they have been waiting for with the ability to easily control their headset through voice providing a sleek and simplistic user interface unlike any other on the market.”

By eliminating the need to add buttons or displays, a voice user interface frees designers to pack functionality onto small form factor Bluetooth devices and answers consumer demand for a truly hands-free experience. For example, voice dial and call answering capabilities mean drivers can keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. With added functionality, the headset market is poised to experience greater product differentiation which until now has been limited primarily to aesthetics.

“We are proud to partner with BlueAnt to bring the BlueGenie Voice Interface to the 1 headset,” said Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory. “A voice user interface is completely natural to Bluetooth headsets which have little room for other means of input and output such as a keyboard or LCD.”

In September, Sensory announced the BlueGenie Voice Interface for CSR’s BlueCore-5 Multimedia silicon making it the first speech recognition software to be integrated on a Bluetooth chip.

About Sensory, Inc.
Sensory, Inc. is the leader in speech technologies for consumer products. Sensory is a profitable private company offering a complete line of IC and software-only solutions for speech recognition, speech synthesis, speaker verification, music synthesis and more. The company’s products are widely deployed in consumer electronics applications including telephones, home automation, toys, remote controls, automotive, security, and learning aids. Sensory’s customers represent the leaders in consumer electronics, including such companies as Hasbro, JVC, Kenwood, Mattel, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Uniden and Sony. Sensory, Inc. is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with additional offices in Portland, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Vienna. Visit www.sensoryinc.com for more information.

Labels: Bluetooth