Science – New Radio Chip Mimics Human Ear

This is could lead to a fullfledged voice recog system in virtually every device built – think about it no more keyboard and typing – this chip would hear what you say – the way a human would – it would be able to parse accents and slurred voice and background noise in real time

The analog RF cochlea chip is faster than any other RF spectrum analyzer and consumes about 100 times less power than what would be required for direct digitization of the entire bandwidth. That makes it desirable as a component of a universal or “cognitive” radio, which could receive a broad range of frequencies and select which ones to attend to.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090603131441.htm