General Magic Inc demonstrated new voice agent technology codenamed Kenya at the DemoMobile Conference in San Diego yesterday. Kenya is software used to create voice agents, which can monitor and act on web content on an individual’s behalf and then let users know over the phone. At the conference, the company used an auction web site for the demonstration, with the agent carrying out the bidding.
Kenya, which uses the XML extensible markup language, is integrated into General Magic’s magicTalk voice user interface, and will be included as part of the company’s Portico virtual assistant service later this year. At the end of last year, General Magic acquired NeTalk Inc for $1.5m in order to bolster the voice interfacing capabilities of Portico.
