Away From Your PC but Not Out of Touch; Millennia's Email Reader Is First Pentium/Windows 95 Software To Use Voice Commands to Retrieve and Listen to Email Over Any Phone.

SARATOGA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1996--For most people, getting Internet electronic mail has meant one of two things: anchoring yourself to a desk or lugging about an extra 10-plus pounds of portable computer.

Now, a new company seeded with private and AT&T funding is introducing a new way: dialing your desktop PC from any telephone and issuing voice commands to retrieve and listen to email.

Available today for $89.95, Email Reader(TM) from Millennia Software Inc. is the first software of its kind that runs on an Intel Pentium(TM)-based personal computer running Microsoft Windows 95(TM) and equipped with a voice modem. It requires no special voice-processing hardware.

"With Email Reader, you can listen to your latest messages whenever you want them and wherever you are -- from your car, a restaurant, a friend's house, an airport or a customer's office," said Bill Grubb, Millennia's chief executive officer. "It's designed for anyone who relies on email for running a business or just generally staying in touch."

"I'm not often someplace where I can use a PC to pick up my emails, but I always have my cellular phone," said Mark Burns, a Silicon Valley real estate broker who helped test Email Reader in a real-world environment. "I use Email Reader now to listen to email from my customers and coworkers when it's convenient for me."

The minimum system requirements for Email Reader are: an Intel Pentium PC (75Mhz or greater); Windows 95; and a TAPI-compliant voice modem (e.g., U.S. Robotics, Creative Labs and Diamond), which are available for as little as $149. Today, the software retrieves standard Netscape, Eudora, POP3 and Microsoft Exchange(TM) email. Future releases will support email delivered through private online service providers and network applications.

Email Reader is based on the AT&T Watson(TM) voice-processing technology and on Millennia's own patent-pending VoiceLINK(TM) engine. Using these two technologies, Millennia is developing a range of PC software products that are controlled by voice commands over the telephone.

The Watson technology, which AT&T spent more than 20 years developing, is based on BLASR Speech Recognition and FlexTalk Speech Synthesis algorithms developed by the former AT&T Bell Laboratories.

TAPI -- which stands for Telephony Application Programming Interface -- is a widely adopted, open industry standard used internationally. Working with the voice modem, Millennia's VoiceLINK engine converts spoken words into digital instructions that the computer can understand.

Founded in 1995 by two former Intel engineers, Millennia Software is developing new ways of controlling PCs and accessing information using the world's most ubiquitous technology appliance -- the telephone. For more information or to order Email Reader, telephone [phone] toll free, or visit Millennia's website at http://www.msw.com.

CONTACT: Millennia Software Inc.

Royce Johnson, 408/867-8916

email: [e-mail]

or

Van Aman Communications

Doug van Aman, 510/461-9040

email: [e-mail]