Although next to completely useless for me, Seiko Instruments has announced a new Chinese/Japanese dictionary that features actual recorded audio data for pronunciation purposes. Moreoever, the audio data has been compressed using MP3.

If you've ever used an electronic dictionary with some sort of audio feature, chances are, it used some sort of voice synthesis. Voice synthesis obviously isn't as accurate as a native speaker, therefore this is clearly better. I await a Japanese/English version of the same thing.

Seiko Instruments (SII) announced a Chinese electronic dictionary with voice and car functions, the "IC DICTIONARY SR-V7130," o­n November 12th. It will be released o­n December 15th for the estimated price of 54,000 yen.

The dictionary contains 14 total contents, including 4 related to Chinese. The 14 contents are: Chinese > Japanese Dictionary, Japanese > Chinese Dictionary, Japanese > Chinese Computer Term Dictionary, The Portable Instant Chinese Conversation Dictionary, Juniors English > Japanese Dictionary, Juniors Japanese > English Dictionary, Oxford Modern English Dictionary, Concise Oxford Synonym Dictionary, Instant English Conversation Dictionary, Koujien (a famous Japanese encyclopedia), Reverse Lookup Koujien, JIS Kanji Construction, Personal Katakana Word Dictionary, and the Nikkei Electronics New Acronym Dictionary 2004.

The "Chinese > Japanese Dictionary," "Japanese > Chinese Computer Term Dictionary," "Instant Chinese Conversation Dictionary," and "Instant English Conversation Dictionary" all feature native itonation and actual recording, not voice synthesized, audio data. This audio data uses the clear MP3 format, and can be played back o­n either the high quality internal ceramic speakers or included earphones.

It also features a slot for Seiko's own "Sillica" card that allows original contents to be added to the dictionary aftermarket. The solidity of the dictionary has also been improved thanks to a magnesium alloy and damper shell construction. It also features "Kaite Keys" which are positioned much like the keys o­n a PC keyboard. (Translator's note: "Kaite Keys" is a play o­n words -- "Kaite" means "write." Also, "kaiteki" means "comfortable.")

The size is 140 x 94.2 x 14mm (W x L x T), and it weighs about 220g including batteries. Power is supplied by two AAA sized batteries, and two alkalines will operate the unit for about 90 hours of continuous operation.





Inspired by:
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle/articles/0411/12/news030.html

Press Release:
http://speed.sii.co.jp/pub/corp/pr/newsDetail.jsp?news=1035