IBM ViaVoice Millennium Brings New Levels of Usability and Accuracy to the PC Population.SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999-- IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) today announced the availability of ViaVoice Millennium, allowing consumers to more easily navigate the desktop and browse the Web by voice. This next-generation of IBM's award-winning ViaVoice speech recognition software contains improved recognition accuracy and enhanced editing, making it even easier to use speech to complete everyday computer tasks. "Developed to meet the needs of novice computer users, Web surfers, and PC pros, the ViaVoice Millennium product family offers consumers today's most advanced voice recognition capabilities," says Krishna Nathan, director of consumer voice systems, IBM Speech Systems. "We developed ViaVoice Millennium products in a continuing effort to help make it easier and more natural for people to interact with their PC." The ViaVoice Advantage -- Web Browsing, More Accurate, Easier-to-Use ViaVoice Millennium products can automatically adjust to and "learn" a user's personal way of speaking so recognition accuracy increases the more it is used. In addition, they recognize and support dozens of different users making it easy for co-workers or a family to share the same PC. ViaVoice Web Millennium and ViaVoice Pro Millennium products provide speech-enabled Web browsing allows users to speak directly into AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. , Internet Explorer Microsoft's Web browser, which comes with Windows starting with Windows 98. Commonly called "IE," versions for Mac and Unix are also available. Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser on the market. It has also been the browser engine in AOL's Internet access software. and Netscape browsers. ViaVoice Pro Millennium is integrated with the Microsoft(R) Office platform and works with Lotus(R) 1-2-3(R). Enhanced command and control features also give users the freedom to use voice to navigate between applications on the desktop, send e-mails, schedule appointments and create documents by literally "calling" them out. A cast of Wizards prompt the user to adjust audio settings for a new microphone and offer suggestions for improved accuracy. In addition, a personal agent named "Woodrow" will read e-mail back to the user. During the editing process, dictation can be replayed while enhanced correction capabilities make editing easier. For example, users can correct words and phrases Words and Phrases® A multivolume set of law books published by West Group containing thousands of judicial definitions of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically, from 1658 to the present. with either voice, keyboard or mouse without missing a beat. The new words are saved in the customizable vocabulary, which supports up to two million words, and the software can automatically spell-check new words as they are added. "Speech recognition technology on the PC has come a long way with the development of accurate, easy to use products that allow users to simply speak and command the Web," said Steve McClure Steve McClure (born 1970) is a top British rock climber with two ascents graded F9a and one possibly graded 9a+. In 2002 McClure became the first British person ever to onsight more than 100 routes graded F8a or harder within 12 months. , Research VP, Speech and Natural Language Software. "Its true power is not in replacing the keyboard but rather in augmenting its use. It is only a matter of time before speech becomes the user interface of choice for business and consumer users alike." ViaVoice Millennium Product Family The ViaVoice Millennium product family includes three offerings, ViaVoice Standard, ViaVoice Web and ViaVoice Pro. Each meets different user needs and skill sets -- whether it's talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the PC for the first time, surfing the Internet or using speech to multitask in an office environment. ViaVoice Standard Millennium features a simple, easy-to-use interface that allows novice computer users to "talk" with their PCs to create and edit documents. A text-to-speech feature reads text out loud to the user. ViaVoice Web Millennium enhances the Internet experience for Web enthusiasts by allowing them to surf the ?Net, send and receive e-mail, and participate in online chats just by talking. It includes a special Chatter's Jargon Topic with chat abbreviations See digispeak. and emoticons. ViaVoice Pro Millennium combines all of the features of Standard and Web versions and also lets users dictate directly into text based Also called "character based," it refers to handling text and not graphics. Simple charts and illustrations may be drawn, but they are limited to a set of special characters that are strung together to make up lines and shades (see OEM font). Windows applications and navigate the desktop and applications by voice. Users can input, edit and format text using Natural Language Commands in applications such as Microsoft Outlook For the e-mail and news client bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Windows, see . Microsoft Outlook or Outlook (full name Microsoft Office Outlook (R), Excel and Word. ViaVoice Pro includes special topics, or vocabularies, for the most commonly used business, finance and computer terms and also provides users with the ability to create voice navigation Using voice recognition to select options from a menu. macros to speed through repetitive tasks. About More Power for IBM's Speech Recognition Technology IBM's ViaVoice Millennium products are optimized for the AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, www.amd.com) A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices including x86-compatible CPUs, embedded processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices and networking chips. (R) Athlon(TM) and Intel(R) Pentium(R) III processors, making them more efficient to use with other popular applications. While the new processor designs are optimal for speech recognition, IBM's ViaVoice Standard Millennium software also runs on a Pentium 166 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. processor with MMX (MultiMedia EXtensions) A set of 57 additional instructions built into the Pentium MMX chip for improved multimedia and modem performance by performing mathematical operations on multiple sets of data at the same time (see SIMD). (TM) and 48 MB of RAM. IBM recommends at least a Pentium II The successor to the Pentium Pro from Intel. Pentium II refers to the CPU chip or the PC that uses it. Code named "Klamath," the Pentium II was a Pentium Pro with MMX multimedia instructions. processor and 48 MB of RAM in a Windows 95/98 or NT environment, with 64 MB of RAM for dictation in Microsoft Word A full-featured word processing program for Windows and the Macintosh from Microsoft. Included in the Microsoft application suite, it is a sophisticated program with rudimentary desktop publishing capabilities that has become the most widely used word processing application on the market. . ViaVoice Millennium runs under Windows 95, 98, and Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. 4.0(R). Availability and Pricing Available now in the United States, ViaVoice Millennium products will be sold through major retail and office supply stores throughout the US: online through Shop IBM www.ibm.com/shop and other selected online vendors, traditional VAR channels and through catalog shopping. The estimated street price of ViaVoice Standard Millennium is $59.95; ViaVoice Web Millennium is $79.95; and ViaVoice Pro Millennium is $179. IBM plans to make ViaVoice Millennium available in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and UK English over the next few months. For Japanese, Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese, there is currently not a ViaVoice Web Millennium product offering About IBM Speech Systems IBM speech recognition technology is based on 30 years of speech recognition research and development. With a portfolio of more than one hundred patents, an established R&D business that includes researchers worldwide and a robust, proven speech technology available in many languages, IBM is a leader in speech recognition. For more information about IBM Speech Systems, visit the World Wide Web at http://www.software.ibm.com/speech. Editors Note: The estimated street price is subject to change without notice and dealer prices may vary. Internet access and an e-mail program are required for certain Internet features in the ViaVoice Web Millennium and ViaVoice Pro Millennium editions. Internet browsers are not included with the product. IBM and ViaVoice are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Lotus and Lotus 1-2-3 is a registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation (company) Lotus Development Corporation - A software company who produced Lotus 1-2-3, the Symphony spreadsheet and Lotus Notes for the IBM PC. Disliked by the League for Programming Freedom on account of their lawsuits. Quarterly sales $224M, profits $10M (Aug 1994). . Microsoft, Outlook, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Intel, Pentium, MMX are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. AMD and Athlon are registered trademarks of AMD in the Unties states, other countries, or both. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are registered to their respective owners. |
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