ScanSoft RealSpeak Selected as the Voice for Microsoft's Educational Initiative in Germany.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers MUNICH, Germany & GENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 2003 Market-Leading, Natural-Sounding Text-to-Speech Deployed to Improve Speaking Capabilities of Young Children ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT SSFT Secure Socket File Transfer ), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that ScanSoft's RealSpeak(TM) text-to-speech has been selected as the voice for the educational software developed for Microsoft's language initiative "Schlaumaeuse," a comprehensive educational project in Germany. Designed to support the speaking capabilities of young children from ages 4 to 6 in day care facilities around Germany, Microsoft's educational program is supported by UNICEF UNICEF (y  `nĭsĕf'), the United Nations Children's Fund, an affiliated agency of the United Nations. , German politicians, the Cornelesen Publishing House, and other hardware and software vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and ScanSoft. Through late 2004, two hundred day care centers will be outfitted with a media package containing a tablet PC (1) A tablet computer environment from Microsoft that is based on an enhanced version of Windows XP. Designed to function more like a portable writing tablet than previous tablet-based computers, it includes handwriting recognition as well as the ability to retain handwritten words that includes specially developed language learning software including parts of Cornelsen's educational software LollyPop lol·ly·pop n. Variant of lollipop. and ScanSoft's RealSpeak. In addition to other features, the children will be able to hear the words they have written on the tablet PC read out to them with ScanSoft's RealSpeak text-to-speech technology, helping them to understand the connection between written and spoken language and improve their intonation and pronunciation. "Educational projects are especially important for Microsoft, and this initiative continues our social commitment in this field. 'Schlaumaeuse' targets children who grow up in socially underprivileged family environments and lets them experience their language," said Juergen Gallmann, general manager, Microsoft Germany. ScanSoft RealSpeak is the industry's preeminent text-to-speech engine for converting text to human-sounding synthesized speech, offering unmatched global language support. RealSpeak has proven itself as a highly scalable solution within a wide range of applications from leading organizations, including the FIFA FIFA International Association Football Federation [French Fédération Internationale de Football Association] FIFA n abbr (= Fédération Internationale de Football Association) → FIFA f World Cup, Nortel, Ericsson, 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) and in other educational programs from Cornelsen, Auralog and Oxford University Press. "ScanSoft is pleased to provide the text-to-speech technologies behind this renowned initiative, and speech-enabled computers make learning fun and easy for children of all ages," said Peter Hauser Peter Benjamin Hauser (born April 20 1934, South Africa) played professional football for Blackpool before becoming player-manager of Chester in 1963. This made him one of the first foreign managers in English football. , senior vice president and general manager for ScanSoft International. "The use of speech in this initiative demonstrates the momentum we see in more mainstream applications, particularly in areas such as education." More information on the project in Germany can be found at www.schlaumaeuse.de. About ScanSoft(R) RealSpeak(TM) ScanSoft RealSpeak is the most widely used TTS (1) See text-to-speech. (2) (Transaction Tracking System) Software that monitors a transaction until completion. In the event of a hardware or software failure, it ensures that the database is brought back to its former state before the attempt to solution in the world. RealSpeak is able to read, understand, and convert text information into the most human-sounding male and female voices available. The high quality and intelligibility of RealSpeak enable businesses to deploy highly interactive and user-friendly applications, and with applications like SMS (1) (Storage Management System) Software used to routinely back up and archive files. See HSM. (2) (Systems Management Server) Systems management software from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT Server. , provide a new level of freedom and ease-of-use to consumers everywhere. The technology is also used for a wide range of applications, including delivering emails for unified messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. systems, providing prompts for interactive voice response (IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. ) applications, and speech-enabling mobile, automotive, game and PC/multi-media applications. About ScanSoft Inc. ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions that are used to automate a wide range of manual processes - saving time, increasing worker productivity and improving customer service. For more information regarding ScanSoft(R) products and technologies, please visit www.scansoft.com. Trademark reference: ScanSoft and RealSpeak are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft Inc. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and other countries. All other company names or product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in ScanSoft's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. |
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