[Updated Feb. 5, 2003] — (PR excerpt) — The Multimodal Browser and Toolkit from IBM and Opera Software is now available for download from IBM's alphaWorks website. This technology allows the development and execution of multimodal applications written to the W3C Acknowledged Submission called XHTML+Voice (X+V) and can, for example, allow access to Web and voice information from a single mobile… device.

Currently, an enhancement to the Opera 7.0 browser (Windows version), available through the Multimodal Browser project, allows the browser to render Web pages written in the XHTML+Voice markup language.

The Multimodal Browser and Toolkit is based on XHTML+Voice (X+V), a specification comprising XHTML and VoiceXML; the most commonly used languages for Web and speech development. X+V represents a unified standard for multimodal interfaces so that applications can be written once and used in different environments — including Web pages, telephones, and handheld devices.

Multimodal technology supports multiple forms of input and output including voice, keypad, and stylus in a single interaction. X+V represents a single standard for telephony, speech applications, graphical interfaces and multimodal interaction. It allows VoiceXML and XHTML developers worldwide to extend their Web applications via multimodal technology.

Using the Multimodal Toolkit, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) built on the Eclipse framework, developers can use existing skills instead of learning a completely new language, cutting down on overall development time. The toolkit includes: a multimodal editor in which developers can write both XHTML and VoiceXML in the same application; reusable blocks of X+V code; a simulator to test the applications.

Further information, including a download of the Multimodal Toolkit, are available here.

[Editor's note: In response to inquiries from LinuxDevices.com, Opera confirms that a Linux version of their browser with X+V support is in process, but they decline to comment on how soon it can be expected. However, since the two Opera browser versions (Windows and Linux) are understood to be based on a common source base we presume that the Opera Linux X+V browser will appear within several months. We'll keep you posted . . .]

 
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