![]() This version was nearly identical to the first release and with backward compatible cartridge recognition common to all Speak & Spells except the first version of the Super Speak & Spell, the entire library of cartridges from the original release were available to the 1980 release. In 1980, the original Speak & Spell was redesigned to give it a membrane keyboard in place of raised buttons. Since the layout of foreign editions is nearly identical (the only major differences being graphics, color, and placement of power/headset jacks), and the cartridges lacked a lockout, cartridges often bore instructions in multiple languages despite their designation for consumer groups that might not understand the language. Beyond the natural disinclination of consumers to purchase games in foreign languages, however, regional lockout does not prevent the use of expansion module cartridges in consoles for which they were not designed. Because the linguistic aspect of the games played on the Speak & Spell are of central importance to Speak & Spell titles, separate cartridge libraries were developed for English (including American and British), Japanese, German, French, Italian, and Spanish markets. Regional variations with different speech libraries and different games were released in at least 9 countries with seven language variations. The 1992 Super Speak & Spell marked the last release of the series. Between 19 the Super Speak & Spell saw three redesigns as well. It was completely recreated in 1982 as the Speak & Spell Compact (a version lacking a visual display), and in 1989 the Super Speak & Spell was released to replace the original vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) with a liquid crystal display (LCD). Later Speak & Spell models Redesigned Speak & Spell with flat "touch sensitive" membrane keyboard.Ä«etween its release and 1983, the Speak & Spell was redesigned twice under the name Speak & Spell. It shipped without a cartridge, in this configuration called simply the Basic Unit (containing the minigames Mystery Word, Secret Code, and Letter). The toy was originally advertised as a tool for helping children ages 7 and up to learn to spell and pronounce over 200 commonly misspelled words. The Speak & Spell was sold, with regional variations, in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. This series was a subset of TI's Learning Center product group and the Speak & Spell was released simultaneously with the Spelling B (a non-speech product designed to help children learn to spell), and the First Watch (designed to teach children to read digital and analog timepieces). The original Speak & Spell was the first of a three-part talking educational toy series that also included Speak & Read and Speak & Math. The Speak & Spell console The original Speak & Spell This represented the first time an educational toy utilized speech that was not recorded on tape or phonograph record (as with Mattel's See 'n Say line or the earlier Chatty Cathy dolls). Additional purchased cartridges (called expansion modules) could be inserted through the battery receptacle to provide new solid-state libraries and new games. The completed proof version of the first console utilized TI's trademarked Solid State Speech technology to store full words in a solid state format similar to the manner in which calculators of the time stored numbers. Development began in 1976 with an initial budget of $25,000, as an outgrowth of TI's research into speech synthesis. The Speak & Spell was created by a small team of engineers led by Paul Breedlove, himself an engineer, with Texas Instruments (TI) during the late 1970s. The Speak & Spell was named an IEEE Milestone in 2009. The company Basic Fun brought back the classic Speak & Spell in 2019 with some minor changes. The first Speak & Spell was introduced at the summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978 (45 years ago) ( 1978-06), making it one of the earliest handheld electronic devices with a visual display to use interchangeable game cartridges. The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic hand-held child computers by Texas Instruments that consisted of a TMC0280 linear predictive coding speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules. ![]() ![]() An American 1979-model Speak & Spell with chiclet keyboard ![]()
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