From: tim vogt <rockbox_at_synaptick.net>
Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2004 23:26:42 -0700

BlueChip wrote:
> This has just reminded to mention this on the ml...
>
> The Neo35 (SSI + Knobby) have just added "Speech Support" to their units
> ...but it requires that you open the player and replace the firmware chip.
>
> This suggests (firstly) that the firmware chip is socketed - nice to know.
>
> But WHY replace the chip? Maybe the MP3 file is held in ROM? But they
> suggest that it will read filenames.
>
> So do they have a TTS engine?
> How big is this chip?
> What is in it?
> Do you need to create MP3 files to make it work?
> What planet is this?
>
> Does anyone here actually have a Neo35?

I have a Neo35, but I've never opened it up. I put Open Neo on it
several months ago, but haven't really been keeping up on it.

I just went over to the Open Neo site (http://www.ssiamerica.com/open/)
and poked around the discussion groups a little. The "Voice Chip" mod
looks suspiciously like Talkbox. From what I can tell, they send you a
new flash chip and a CD with Windows TTS software on it. It generates
voice files for mp3 files (*.mps), folders (*.mpf), and playlists (*.mpl).

In order to get this functionality, you have to *buy* the chip with the
firmware upgrade. Apparently there's some "proprietary" code in there
that they don't want to release. Dunno if that's legit or just BS.

Personally, I'd like to have Rockbox ported to my Neo35. It shouldn't
be too hard, since OpenNeo is actually based on the Rockbox code. I
just wish I had the time to work on it myself. "One of these days..."

--
Tim Vogt
rockbox_at_synaptick.net
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Received on 2004-04-19