LHSPF & MSFT : very interesting news ...
I read the article beneath (which was posted on the FONX forum), which might be a reason for the stock to be followed by more analysts and the increase in stockprice .. (one "major broker" set a 12-month pricetarget of $70 on LHSPF)
BTW: There's a typo in this article : the ticker of Lernout & Hauspie
isn't [NASDAQ:LHSR] but [NASDAQ:LHSPF] ..
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1997 MAY 23 (NB) -- By Patrick
McKenna. The official release of "Memphis," Microsoft's [NASDAQ:MSFT]
code-name for the next version of Windows 95, is still a mystery, but one of its secrets
may be some form of speech recognition. Company Chief Executive Officer Bill Gates
in numerous keynote speeches and interviews says speaking to your computer and
having your computer speak to you is the future of computing. A sample of that future
is likely to appear in Memphis.
In a March developer conference, Microsoft demonstrated speech
recognition technologies from Lernout & Hauspie [NASDAQ:LHSR], one of the
oldest speech technology companies in the computer industry. Based in Belgium and
Burlington, Massachusetts, L&H recently acquired another veteran speech company,
Kurzweil, to increase the development time table for speech-to-text recognition. More
commonly known as dictation, the technology is expected to be a leading trend in
personal computers (PCs)during 1998.
Dictation capabilities for the PCs have been available for several years, but the
products were limited in use because they required users to speak with pauses
between words, pauses as much as one second. Medical and some legal uses of
"discreet" speech products have been successful, but even those users have wanted a
"continuous" speech product. General computer users are never going to widely accept
a discreet speech product.
Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com ) contains plenty of
information about L&H technology. "L&H text-to-speech and automatic speech
recognition technologies are Speech Application Programming Interface (SAPI)
compliant and are therefore ideal for Internet and other computer telephony
applications," said Doug Henrich, director of developer relations and publications at
Microsoft. "The demonstration will show how these speech technologies can be used
to create new and better ways to tap the Internet and other data and dialogue
systems."
Neither L&H or Microsoft are willing to comment on the inclusion of speech
technology in Memphis. "We absolutely have no comment concerning speech
technology in Memphis," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "It is way too early to talk
about that." L&H echoed a similar statement, but neither company would deny
Memphis will have some form of voice recognition technology.
Addtitionally, both companies have said the future of computing is to have users move
away from keyboards and mice to what L&H calls a "LUI," language user interface.
The vision is to completely command a computer interface, such as Windows, and
many applications by voice. Moving into the future, computers will talk back to users.
L&H has already demonstrated an e-mail reader which allows a computer to read
e-mail messages to computer users.
Continuous speech dictation is no longer hypothetical. The step forward happened
because of Intel's increasing Pentium technologies and the rapid decent in the cost
memory modules. A continuous speech product requires at least 32 megabytes of
memory.
Dragon Systems, another dictation product company will offer a $700
continuous speech product to computer users this summer. Voice Pilot
currently offers a 120 word-per-minute, discreet speech product for $200. All of the
speech technology companies are planning speech products which will allow users to
navigate Windows and other applications by voice commands.
The use of voice technology both as input and output products is also
being implemented into telephones, appliances, televisions, VCRs, home
alarms, cars and other commonly used consumer products.
Microsoft has licensed L&H technologies and provides support for
developers to incorporate speech into Windows products. Company officials avoid
talking about speech and Memphis. Instead, they talk about speech in relation to the
Internet and telephony, major elements mentioned when they talk about future
operating systems.
The first beta of Memphis is scheduled no later than June, according to Microsoft's
latest statements. Voice technology may not appear in early betas, but some
introductory, simple speech technology is expected to be part of the final product as a
means to introduce users to a future of voice driven commands and show Microsoft is
committed to maintaining its leading position in the world of computer operating
systems.
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Regards,
Bullseye! |
