Issues of Fact: Kurzweil and Alpha Announce Strategic Alliance 12-06-96
Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Inc. and Alpha Software Corporation,
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> Burlington, Mass., Tuesday announced they have entered into a strategic
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> alliance to develop, market and support a full line of voice recognition
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> software products that will be available through the PC retail channel.
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> These new business software applications will allow users to seamlessly
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> integrate voice input with the keyboard and mouse, creating a more dynamic
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> and productive approach to PC computing.
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> "We are very pleased to be able to announce this strategic alliance," said
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> Thomas E. Brew, Jr., president and CEO of Kurzweil AI. "Alpha Software
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> has a long standing reputation for quality products, effective marketing
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> and satisfied customers. Working closely with them, we expect that retail
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> distribution for our existing products, Kurzweil VoicePad Pro for Windows
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> Release 1.0 and Kurzweil VOICE for Windows Release 2.5, will expand. We
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> are also going to move quickly to introduce additional voice-enabled
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> products with Alpha. This relationship will reinforce our leadership
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> position in the rapidly emerging voice recognition software product
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> category."
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> "Kurzweil AI is both a pioneer and a current leader in the voice
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> recognition field," said Richard Rabins, co-chairman of Alpha Software
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> Corporation. "Their existing products, Kurzweil VoicePad Pro and Kurzweil
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> VOICE, are outstanding examples of best-of-breed' software. We are going
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> to work closely with Kurzweil AI to deliver a full line of voice-enabled
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> business applications, and to establish the standard for products in this
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> exciting new market."
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> Kurzweil VoicePad Pro for Windows Release 1.0 is the world's first
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> voice-enabled word processing application. The product allows users to
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> create memos, letters, reports and other documents simply by speaking into
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> a microphone attached to their PC. With Kurzweil VOICE for Windows
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> Release 2.5, users can voice-enable their entire Windows-based PC. The
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> product supports voice input for navigation and dictation, and it works
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> with Windows 95 and 3.1x as well as any Windows software application.
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> Alpha Software will leverage its strong retail distribution relationships
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> to bring both products to market. They will initially be available at
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> CompUSA and other leading retailers nationwide beginning in December 1996.
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> Alpha Software Corporation, founded in 1982, develops and markets software
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> that empowers users to solve complex problems. Alpha Software released
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> the new beta version of Alpha Five Version 3 in October 1996. Alpha
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> Software also markets Alpha Five 2.0 for Windows 95, Alpha Five 1.0 for
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> Windows 3.1 and Alpha Four for DOS. Other Alpha Software products include
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> Complete Home Designer, a virtual reality, 3D home design software program
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> announced in February 1996, and NetMailer, an Internet email-merge and
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> contact management software product announced in August 1996. Alpha
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> Software's latest release, PowerCleaner, is a powerful disk cleaner
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> utility that began shipping in October 1996. In October 1996, Alpha
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> Software announced its Internet Services Division which is focused on web
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> tools, applications and services for small to medium sized businesses and
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> enterprises.
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> Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Inc., headquartered in Waltham, Mass., was
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> founded in 1982. The Company develops, markets and supports automated
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> speech recognition software used to create documents and interact with
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> computers by voice. Kurzweil VOICE is an easy-to-use voice recognition
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> system for Windows-based PCs, and Kurzweil VoicePad Pro for Windows is a
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> voice-enabled word processing application. |
