NatSemi and L&H Plan to Ban Keyboards

Computergram International, August 13, 1999

National Semiconductor Corp is linking up with Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV to develop speech processing technology for the information appliance market so that keyboards can be banished from the new range of devices. "Children born today might never have to use a keyboard in their lives," forecast NatSemi president and CEO Brian Halla.

Having developed its new x86 compatible Geode SC1400 chip aimed at information appliance manufacturers (CI No 3,704), NatSemi now sees L&H's speech recognition technology as a further way to shrink the size and improve the ease-of-use of internet access devices such as its own WebPAD, automobile PCs and other handheld products.

Burlington, Massachusetts-based NatSemi plans to optimize future versions of Geode to support L&H's technology and produce a whole family of versions aimed at each segment of the information appliance market. The two companies quoted an IDC forecast that the market for information appliances is expected to reach 65 million units by 2003.