Irvine-based Conexant Systems LLC has connected with China’s largest internet search provider in another strategic deal involving voice recognition and command.
It’s collaborating with Baidu Inc. to release development kits and reference designs for device makers to develop far-field, voice-enabled artificially intelligent devices for Baidu’s DuerOS platform akin to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.
The kits will be powered by Conexant’s four-microphone and two-microphone chip voice-input processors and related software to support access of the voice-activated digital assistant on millions of smartphones, TVs, speakers and other mobile devices in the world’s most populous country.
The Business Journal reported in December on a similar partnership Conexant forged with Amazon.com to release a development kit enabling manufacturers to quickly and easily build products that can be voice-activated through Alexa.
The deal marked a comeback for the chipmaker, which emerged from bankruptcy organization in 2013 under the ownership of hedge fund billionaire George Soros.
Its new chipset, steeped in nearly two decades of legacy audio technology and research, enables speech recognition and voice control from long distances while overcoming acoustic challenges related to echo cancellation, background noise, microphone position, and speaker placement.
Conexant agreed last month to be acquired by Synaptics Inc. in San Jose for about $342 million.
San Francisco-based Golden Gate Private Equity Inc. took the chipmaker private in 2011 in a $282 million buyout as crippling debt and bloated real estate holdings strangled cash flow and slowed growth.
Conexant filed for Chapter 11 protection two years later and emerged from bankruptcy in June 2013, when Soros’ QP SFM Capital Holdings Ltd. took over ownership.
Software Firm Overseas
Irvine-based business software maker Mavenlink Inc. has opened an office in London, its first in Europe.
The outpost will serve the company’s fast-growing base of clients on the continent, according to Chief Executive and co-founder Ray Grainger, and house a sales hub for the region, which it projects will double business in the next 12 months.
The company’s cloud-based project management software is getting strong demand in the professional services sector. It has more than 2,000 customers in 100 countries, including salesforce.com, Cornerstone OnDemand and Buzzfeed. About 20% of its client roster is based outside the U.S.
Mavenlink, which was established in 2008, has raised $84 million. It employs about 260 companywide and 160 in Irvine.
Submarine
Boeing Co.’s unmanned underwater vehicle developed in Huntington Beach has launched open-water testing off the coast of Southern California.
The 51-foot Echo Voyager has been canvassing the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where Boeing test engineers are gauging the vehicle’s communications, autonomy, propulsion, systems integration and battery operation through a mix of surface swims and shallow dives.
The 50-ton vehicle can operate autonomously for months through a hybrid rechargeable power system and payload bay, and can be launched and recovered without support ships. It can travel at a maximum speed of eight knots and submerge 11,000 feet, or roughly two miles.
The Echo Ranger was developed by the company’s Defense, Space & Security unit, which is headquartered in St. Louis and generates $30 billion in annual revenue, employing 50,000 people.
Chicago-based Boeing is OC’s sixth largest employer, with an estimated 6,103 employees through October, according to Business Journal research. The company has cut thousands of local workers in recent years through restructurings, business closures and real estate divestitures.
