In a blog post last Friday, Google announced the acquisition of Phonetic Arts for an undisclosed amount.

Speech technology manager Mike Cohen wrote, "We are excited about their technology, and while we don't have plans to share yet, we're confident that together we'll move a little faster towards that Star Trek future."

Founded in 2006, Phonetic Arts technology is most frequently used in video games. Its patented 2010 tools let developers create synthetic voices that will read words in a "natural, expressive way," the company's website says. This frees up developers from having to pre-record dictated lines.

The firm will be put to work on building Google's voice output capacity, Cohen wrote. Google already integrates voice input in tools like Voice Search, Voice Input and Voice Actions, which allows users to perform searches, compose emails and play songs by talking to their devices.

What most Google products lack is voice output, or when a computer talks back to its owner. For example, Google employs voice output in Google Translate, which lets the program recite translated words back to you.

It has been a busy week for Google's mergers and acquisitions team. First, Google acquired DRM and video-optimization company, Widevine.

Then last week, Google's reportedly billion-dollar Groupon deal dissolved at the last minute due to regulatory concerns.