Philips Speech Processing Taps PENTIUM III Processor Power for Big Jolt in FreeSpeech Performance and Capabilities

Business Wire, Feb 26, 1999

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 1999--Tapping the power of the Pentium(R) III processor, users of Philips FreeSpeech software will be able to create and edit documents, e-mail and operate the Windows environment with naturally spoken commands.

Philips FreeSpeech, continuous speech recognition software appropriate for home and small office use, takes advantage of the performance of the Pentium III processor platform to provide enhanced speed, improved accuracy and the latest features available in speech processing technology for PCs.

"Philips is proud to be part of the Pentium III processor introduction and eager to help set the standard for the future of speech processing," said Paul Celen, COO of Philips Speech Processing. "Thanks in part to the Pentium III processor, we're now able to bring a very powerful, natural language speech recognition tool that has been optimized for enhanced performance into the hands of PC users."

Rob Sullivan, director of New Businesses and Technologies at Intel Corporation, said the combination of Pentium III processor technology and FreeSpeech software creates a speech recognition platform "that truly supports the power of the human voice."

"Philips Speech Processing's FreeSpeech is part of a new wave of applications for business and personal use that deliver a seamless, fluid experience," Sullivan said.

With FreeSpeech installed on their computers, users may speak instead of typing in a normal conversational manner to execute commands in software applications, dictate text or numbers, create and send e-mail or perform many other operations that usually require input from a keyboard or mouse. The power of FreeSpeech combined with Intel's latest processor, the Pentium III processor, delivers optimal speed, efficiency and convenience to today's PC user.

Philips FreeSpeech includes its patented synchronous playback feature (EasyEdit[tm]) that audibly plays back words and sentences, while simultaneously highlighting the selection. With that feature, users may proof text and make changes quickly and easily. Words are replaced by choosing from an alternative word list, simply by speaking into the application, as if using a typical spell check feature - only hands-free.

About Philips Speech Processing

Philips Speech Processing has more than 40 years experience in the development and marketing of speech products and is the largest producer of professional dictation systems worldwide. Philips is the market leader in Europe for telephony speech recognition systems and a major technology provider in North America. The company developed the first commercial natural continuous speech recognition engine and is one of the market leaders for products and technology in this fast growing industry. Internet: www.speech.philips.com.

About Philips

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of over US$ 39 billion in 1997. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 256,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, business electronics, and IT services (Origin). Philips is quoted on the NYSE (PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. Internet: www.news.philips.com.