diff --git a/apps/lang/english.lang b/apps/lang/english.lang
index 1749972965..395bce0ab1 100644
--- a/apps/lang/english.lang
+++ b/apps/lang/english.lang
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 # If you re-order things or remove entries, you must bump the binary language
 # file version number in both the 'binlang' tool and the language loader code.
 #
+# The "voice' entry contains how we want the speech UI to pronounce this. 
+#
 id: LANG_SOUND_SETTINGS
 desc: in the main menu
 eng: "Sound Settings"
@@ -2345,5 +2347,29 @@ eng: ""
 voice: "gigabyte"
 new:
 
+id: VOICE_MILLIAMPHOURS
+desc: spoken only
+eng: ""
+voice: "milliamp hours"
+new:
+
+id: VOICE_PIXEL
+desc: spoken only
+eng: ""
+voice: "pixel"
+new:
+
+id: VOICE_PER_SEC
+desc: spoken only
+eng: ""
+voice: "per second"
+new:
+
+id: VOICE_HERTZ
+desc: spoken only
+eng: ""
+voice: "hertz"
+new:
+
 #carry on adding normal LANG_ strings below
 
diff --git a/apps/settings.c b/apps/settings.c
index e68e74b2c2..927e8d17c6 100644
--- a/apps/settings.c
+++ b/apps/settings.c
@@ -1682,6 +1682,7 @@ bool set_bool_options(char* string, bool* variable,
 
 bool set_int(char* string, 
              char* unit,
+             int voice_unit,
              int* variable,
              void (*function)(int),
              int step,
@@ -1691,6 +1692,7 @@ bool set_int(char* string,
     bool done = false;
     int button;
     int org_value=*variable;
+    int last_value = 0x7FFFFFFF; /* out of range init */
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
     if(global_settings.statusbar)
@@ -1711,6 +1713,20 @@ bool set_int(char* string,
 #endif
         lcd_update();
 
+        if (*variable != last_value)
+        {
+            if (voice_unit < UNIT_LAST)
+            {   /* use the available unit definition */
+                talk_value(*variable, voice_unit, false);
+            }
+            else
+            {   /* say the number, followed by an arbitrary voice ID */
+                talk_number(*variable, false);
+                talk_id(voice_unit, true);
+            }
+            last_value = *variable;
+        }
+
         button = button_get_w_tmo(HZ/2);
         switch(button) {
 #ifdef HAVE_RECORDER_KEYPAD
diff --git a/apps/settings.h b/apps/settings.h
index b51c4d8e47..350d14a346 100644
--- a/apps/settings.h
+++ b/apps/settings.h
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ bool set_bool_options(char* string, bool* variable,
 bool set_bool(char* string, bool* variable );
 bool set_option(char* string, void* variable, enum optiontype type,
                 struct opt_items* options, int numoptions, void (*function)(int));
-bool set_int(char* string, char* unit, int* variable,
+bool set_int(char* string, char* unit, int voice_unit, int* variable,
              void (*function)(int), int step, int min, int max );
 bool set_time(char* string, int timedate[]);
 int read_line(int fd, char* buffer, int buffer_size);
diff --git a/apps/settings_menu.c b/apps/settings_menu.c
index e1dcf6582c..35602f001b 100644
--- a/apps/settings_menu.c
+++ b/apps/settings_menu.c
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ static bool car_adapter_mode(void)
 
 static bool contrast(void)
 {
-    return set_int( str(LANG_CONTRAST), "", &global_settings.contrast, 
+    return set_int( str(LANG_CONTRAST), "", UNIT_INT,
+                    &global_settings.contrast, 
                     lcd_set_contrast, 1, MIN_CONTRAST_SETTING,
                     MAX_CONTRAST_SETTING );
 }
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ static bool volume_type(void)
 #ifdef PM_DEBUG
 static bool peak_meter_fps_menu(void) {
     bool retval = false;
-    retval = set_int( "Refresh rate", "/s", 
+    retval = set_int( "Refresh rate", "/s", UNIT_PER_SEC,
              &peak_meter_fps,
              NULL, 1, 5, 40);
     return retval;
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ static bool peak_meter_release(void)  {
        fits into a 7 bit number. The 8th bit is used for storing
        something else in the rtc ram.
        Also, the max value is 0x7e, since the RTC value 0xff is reserved */
-    retval = set_int( str(LANG_PM_RELEASE), str(LANG_PM_UNITS_PER_READ), 
+    retval = set_int( str(LANG_PM_RELEASE), STR(LANG_PM_UNITS_PER_READ), 
                     &global_settings.peak_meter_release,
              NULL, 1, 1, 0x7e);
 
@@ -320,7 +321,7 @@ static bool peak_meter_min(void) {
         int range_max = -global_settings.peak_meter_max;
         int min = -global_settings.peak_meter_min;
 
-        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MIN), str(LANG_PM_DBFS),
+        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MIN), str(LANG_PM_DBFS), UNIT_DB,
             &min, NULL, 1, -89, range_max);
 
         global_settings.peak_meter_min = - min;
@@ -330,7 +331,7 @@ static bool peak_meter_min(void) {
     else {
         int min = global_settings.peak_meter_min;
 
-        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MIN), "%",
+        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MIN), "%", UNIT_PERCENT,
             &min, NULL, 
             1, 0, global_settings.peak_meter_max - 1);
 
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ static bool peak_meter_max(void) {
         int range_min = -global_settings.peak_meter_min;
         int max = -global_settings.peak_meter_max;;
 
-        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MAX), str(LANG_PM_DBFS),
+        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MAX), str(LANG_PM_DBFS), UNIT_DB,
             &max, NULL, 1, range_min, 0);
 
         global_settings.peak_meter_max = - max;
@@ -365,7 +366,7 @@ static bool peak_meter_max(void) {
     else {
         int max = global_settings.peak_meter_max;
 
-        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MAX), "%",
+        retval =  set_int(str(LANG_PM_MAX), "%", UNIT_PERCENT,
             &max, NULL, 
             1, global_settings.peak_meter_min + 1, 100);
 
@@ -579,7 +580,8 @@ static bool poweroff_idle_timer(void)
 
 static bool scroll_speed(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL), "Hz", &global_settings.scroll_speed, 
+    return set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL), "Hz", UNIT_HERTZ,
+                   &global_settings.scroll_speed, 
                    &lcd_scroll_speed, 1, 1, 10 );
 }
 
@@ -587,7 +589,8 @@ static bool scroll_speed(void)
 static bool scroll_delay(void)
 {
     int dummy = global_settings.scroll_delay * (HZ/10);
-    int rc = set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL_DELAY), "ms", &dummy, 
+    int rc = set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL_DELAY), "ms", UNIT_MS,
+                     &dummy, 
                      &lcd_scroll_delay, 100, 0, 2500 );
     global_settings.scroll_delay = dummy / (HZ/10);
     return rc;
@@ -596,7 +599,7 @@ static bool scroll_delay(void)
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
 static bool scroll_step(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL_STEP_EXAMPLE), "pixels",
+    return set_int(str(LANG_SCROLL_STEP_EXAMPLE), "pixels", UNIT_PIXEL,
                    &global_settings.scroll_step,
                    &lcd_scroll_step, 1, 1, LCD_WIDTH );
 }
@@ -604,7 +607,8 @@ static bool scroll_step(void)
 
 static bool bidir_limit(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_BIDIR_SCROLL), "%", &global_settings.bidir_limit, 
+    return set_int(str(LANG_BIDIR_SCROLL), "%", UNIT_PERCENT,
+                   &global_settings.bidir_limit, 
                    &lcd_bidir_scroll, 25, 0, 200 );
 }
 
@@ -627,7 +631,8 @@ static bool jump_scroll(void)
 static bool jump_scroll_delay(void)
 {
     int dummy = global_settings.jump_scroll_delay * (HZ/10);
-    int rc = set_int(str(LANG_JUMP_SCROLL_DELAY), "ms", &dummy, 
+    int rc = set_int(str(LANG_JUMP_SCROLL_DELAY), "ms", UNIT_MS,
+                     &dummy, 
                      &lcd_jump_scroll_delay, 100, 0, 2500 );
     global_settings.jump_scroll_delay = dummy / (HZ/10);
     return rc;
@@ -640,7 +645,8 @@ static bool jump_scroll_delay(void)
  */
 static bool battery_capacity(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_BATTERY_CAPACITY), "mAh", &global_settings.battery_capacity, 
+    return set_int(str(LANG_BATTERY_CAPACITY), "mAh", UNIT_MAH,
+                   &global_settings.battery_capacity, 
                    &set_battery_capacity, 50, 1500, BATTERY_CAPACITY_MAX );
 }
 #endif
@@ -754,7 +760,8 @@ static bool timeformat_set(void)
 
 static bool spindown(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_SPINDOWN), "s", &global_settings.disk_spindown,
+    return set_int(str(LANG_SPINDOWN), "s", UNIT_SEC,
+                   &global_settings.disk_spindown,
                    ata_spindown, 1, 3, 254 );
 }
 
@@ -778,21 +785,21 @@ static bool poweroff(void)
 
 static bool max_files_in_dir(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_MAX_FILES_IN_DIR), "",
+    return set_int(str(LANG_MAX_FILES_IN_DIR), "", UNIT_INT,
                    &global_settings.max_files_in_dir,
                    NULL, 50, 50, 10000 );
 }
 
 static bool max_files_in_playlist(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_MAX_FILES_IN_PLAYLIST), "",
+    return set_int(str(LANG_MAX_FILES_IN_PLAYLIST), "", UNIT_INT,
                    &global_settings.max_files_in_playlist,
                    NULL, 1000, 1000, 20000 );
 }
 
 static bool buffer_margin(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_MP3BUFFER_MARGIN), "s",
+    return set_int(str(LANG_MP3BUFFER_MARGIN), "s", UNIT_SEC,
                    &global_settings.buffer_margin,
                    mpeg_set_buffer_margin, 1, 0, 7 );
 }
diff --git a/apps/sound_menu.c b/apps/sound_menu.c
index 0001d8b2fe..67e6999e8d 100644
--- a/apps/sound_menu.c
+++ b/apps/sound_menu.c
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ static bool recchannels(void)
 
 static bool recquality(void)
 {
-    return set_int(str(LANG_RECORDING_QUALITY), "",
+    return set_int(str(LANG_RECORDING_QUALITY), "", UNIT_INT,
                    &global_settings.rec_quality, 
                    NULL, 1, 0, 7 );
 }
diff --git a/apps/talk.c b/apps/talk.c
index d208c7296c..bbc09a67c1 100644
--- a/apps/talk.c
+++ b/apps/talk.c
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ extern void bitswap(unsigned char *data, int length); /* no header for this */
 
 /***************** Constants *****************/
 
-#define VOICEFONT_FILENAME "/.rockbox/langs/english.voice"
-#define QUEUE_SIZE 32
+#define QUEUE_SIZE 20
+const char* voicefont_file = "/.rockbox/langs/english.voice";
 
 
 /***************** Data types *****************/
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ static int load_voicefont(void)
 
     p_voicefont = NULL; /* indicate no voicefont if we fail below */
 
-    fd = open(VOICEFONT_FILENAME, O_RDONLY);
+    fd = open(voicefont_file, O_RDONLY);
     if (fd < 0) /* failed to open */
     {
         p_voicefont = NULL; /* indicate no voicefont */
@@ -203,8 +203,20 @@ static int queue_clip(unsigned char* buf, int size, bool enqueue)
 
 void talk_init(void)
 {
-    has_voicefont = true; /* unless we fail later, assume we have one */
-    talk_buffer_steal();
+    int fd;
+
+    fd = open(voicefont_file, O_RDONLY);
+    if (fd >= 0) /* success */
+    {
+        close(fd);
+        has_voicefont = true;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        has_voicefont = false; /* no voice file available */
+    }
+    
+    talk_buffer_steal(); /* abuse this for most of our inits */
     queue_write = queue_read = 0; 
 }
 
@@ -294,18 +306,18 @@ int talk_file(char* filename, bool enqueue)
 }
 
 
-/* say a numeric value, this works for english,
-   but not necessarily for other languages */
+/* say a numeric value, this word ordering works for english,
+   but not necessarily for other languages (e.g. german) */
 int talk_number(int n, bool enqueue)
 {
-    int level = 0; // mille count
-    int mil = 1000000000; // highest possible "-illion"
+    int level = 0; /* mille count */
+    int mil = 1000000000; /* highest possible "-illion" */
 
     if (!enqueue)
         shutup(); /* cut off all the pending stuff */
     
     if (n==0)
-    {   // special case
+    {   /* special case */
         talk_id(VOICE_ZERO, true);
         return 0;
     }
@@ -318,9 +330,9 @@ int talk_number(int n, bool enqueue)
     
     while (n)
     {
-        int segment = n / mil; // extract in groups of 3 digits
-        n -= segment * mil; // remove the used digits from number
-        mil /= 1000; // digit place for next round
+        int segment = n / mil; /* extract in groups of 3 digits */
+        n -= segment * mil; /* remove the used digits from number */
+        mil /= 1000; /* digit place for next round */
 
         if (segment)
         {
@@ -333,7 +345,7 @@ int talk_number(int n, bool enqueue)
                 talk_id(VOICE_HUNDRED, true);
             }
 
-            // combination indexing
+            /* combination indexing */
             if (ones > 20)
             {
                int tens = ones/10 + 18;
@@ -341,11 +353,11 @@ int talk_number(int n, bool enqueue)
                ones %= 10;
             }
 
-            // direct indexing
+            /* direct indexing */
             if (ones)
                 talk_id(VOICE_ZERO + ones, true);
  
-            // add billion, million, thousand
+            /* add billion, million, thousand */
             if (mil)
                 talk_id(VOICE_BILLION + level, true);
         }
@@ -369,7 +381,11 @@ int talk_value(int n, int unit, bool enqueue)
         VOICE_DB, 
         VOICE_PERCENT, 
         VOICE_MEGABYTE, 
-        VOICE_GIGABYTE
+        VOICE_GIGABYTE,
+        VOICE_MILLIAMPHOURS,
+        VOICE_PIXEL,
+        VOICE_PER_SEC,
+        VOICE_HERTZ,
     };
 
     if (unit < 0 || unit >= UNIT_LAST)
@@ -377,7 +393,7 @@ int talk_value(int n, int unit, bool enqueue)
     else
         unit_id = unit_voiced[unit];
 
-    if ((n==1 || n==-1) // singular?
+    if ((n==1 || n==-1) /* singular? */
         && unit_id >= VOICE_SECONDS && unit_id <= VOICE_HOURS)
     {
         unit_id--; /* use the singular for those units which have */
diff --git a/apps/talk.h b/apps/talk.h
index 4851e7b6fb..518549ed74 100644
--- a/apps/talk.h
+++ b/apps/talk.h
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ enum {
     UNIT_PERCENT, /* % */
     UNIT_MB,      /* megabyte */
     UNIT_GB,      /* gigabyte */
+    UNIT_MAH,     /* milliAmp hours */
+    UNIT_PIXEL,   /* pixels */
+    UNIT_PER_SEC, /* per second */
+    UNIT_HERTZ,   /* hertz */
     UNIT_LAST     /* END MARKER */
 };