Old Ivona Eric New -

In January 2013, Amazon acquired Ivona Software. The immediate goal was to power Alexa’s voice. But soon, Amazon rebranded and integrated Ivona’s engine into Amazon Polly (launched November 2016).

Polly retained many Ivona voice names—including Eric—but with significant changes under the hood.

Verdict: Technical Perfection, Less Soul old ivona eric new

When Amazon absorbed Ivona, they eventually launched "Neural" versions of the voices. The New Eric is found in Amazon Polly (Neural engine) and other modern cloud TTS services.

| App | Platform | Cost | |-----|----------|------| | Speech Central | iOS, Android, Windows | One-time $5-$10 | | Voice Dream Reader | iOS | $19.99 + in-app | | Natural Reader (Premium) | Web, Mac, Windows | $99/year | In January 2013, Amazon acquired Ivona Software

If you search for Ivona today, you won't exactly find the old website. In 2013, Amazon acquired Ivona. The technology that powered Eric, Brian, and Amy became the foundation for Amazon Polly and the voices used in the Amazon Kindle and Alexa.

So, what happened to the "Old" Eric?

Technically, he still exists, but he has evolved. In the TTS world, voices are constantly updated with new "sampling rates" and neural engine backends.

For many purists, the "New" Eric is too good. It lacks the nostalgic, slightly robotic charm of the original. It’s like replacing a classic 8-bit video game soundtrack with a live orchestra—technically better, but culturally different. | App | Platform | Cost | |-----|----------|------|