March 27^th, 2002 (12:00am) - Fonix and Microsoft have announced that they have reached an agreement that will make Fonix’s voice recognition technology--called Automatic Speech Recognition--available to developers on the Xbox. During the second half of 2002, Fonix will begin shipping the software to developers in the official Xbox Development Kit. The software will enable developers to integrate voice recognition into their games so users can direct onscreen action or input information simply by using their voice.

"With the powerful technology behind the Xbox, artists are able to attain their creative goals and realize their creative visions," said J Allard, general manager of the Xbox platform at Microsoft. "Fonix voice recognition will play a significant role in future Xbox game development, making the games more interactive and user-friendly.’’

Microsoft will release a peripheral called the Xbox Communicator that will feature a microphone that connects to the Xbox controller.