Visteon Forms New Speech Recognition Unit.

Visteon Corp. said it has set up a new subsidiary to develop and market speech recognition software. The former parts arm of Ford Motor Co. said the new subsidiary, Infinitive Speech Systems LLC, will develop voice recognition software for use in a wide range of products inside and outside

Visteon has a development agreement with SpeechWorks to develop voice recognition software, the company said. Visteon said the unit would concentrate on sales to automotive customers for now. Visteon said it already supplies speech-controlled devices for a few luxury cars, and said it wants to expand the use of voice controls inside cars.

"The creation of this subsidiary allows Visteon to accelerate the development of compact, portable solutions, which enable integration across a full range of telematics and multimedia products," a company spokesperson said. Currently, Visteon Voice Technology is available to consumers on some production vehicles.

It allows drivers to use voice commands in the vehicle to adjust the climate control, audio systems, and hands-free mobile phone with simple, user-friendly voice activated dialing capabilities in multiple languages, Visteon said.

With the creation of Infinitive Speech Systems, application development will quickly continue to expand into vehicle systems such as on- board computers, palm devices and accessories, satellite digital audio systems, Bluetooth wireless interface applications, navigation systems, and MP3 radio systems, the company said.