Synaptics to Acquire DSP Group to Strengthen Leadership in Low Power AI Technology and Wireless Connectivity

Synaptics and DSP Group, both Nasdaq listed, announced the signing of a definitive agreement, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, whereby Synaptics acquires DSP Group at $22.00 per share in an all-cash transaction. Synaptics is the company from San Jose, CA, that in 2017 acquired Conexant, one of the industry's leading audio and voice technology specialists, and more recently acquired DisplayLink and the wireless connectivity business of Broadcom.

DSP Group and Snips, the European pioneer in embedded voice recognition software, announced a technology partnership which combines Snips’ voice software with DSP Group’s Ultra Low Energy (ULE) system-on-chip (SoC) and modules. According to the announcement, this combination of software and hardware running over the ULE network extends the reach of natural voice-controlled edge devices and could become a natural choice for multi-room smart home and smart building applications.

DECT Forum, the worldwide association focused on promoting the wireless home and enterprise communication industry, announced the market launch of openD, a new platform for software development using the DECT air interface for wireless applications. The launch conference will take place in Nuremberg, Fraunhofer IIS, on February 25, 2019. The initiative marks an important moment for wireless developers as the strengths of DECT and ULE (Ultra Low Energy) will become more accessible to developers and product managers alike.

The first step companies face in enabling a voice user interface (VUI) experience is to decide whether to partner with a current market offering or to build a proprietary voice solution, which requires a significant amount of resources. In this article, Ofer Elyakim (Chief Executive Officer, DSP Group) offers an overview of DSP Group’s experience in enabling voice in a variety of new consumer electronics devices, using its open audio/voice DSP platform. This article was originally published in audioxpress, June 2018.