Issues of Fact:Microsoft invests $45 mil in LHSPF and joins LHSPF Board, 9-14-97.
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) In Re: Alleged Conspiracy to Defraud, Antitrust, Fraudulent
) Conspiracy, Restraint of Trade, Undue Influence, Unfair Competition,
) RICO Act Violations, Fraudulent Misreprentation, et al
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"...Under the terms of the alliance, Microsoft will purchase $45 million of Lernout & Hauspie common stock to take a minority stake in the speech recognition technology company. Together, the two companies will work together to develop voice-enabled computing technologies in multiple languages for the Windows platform, officials say...The companies have agreed to share technologies in order to cooperate more closely...More specifically, Lernout & Hauspie will develop applications for current and future versions of Microsoft's speech application programming interface (SAPI). At the beginning of this year [ref/Intent] , the two companies announced a cross-licensing agreement to develop speech recognition products for Windows. The first fruit of that alliance is a voice-controlled software editor for Microsoft Word which Lernout & Hauspie will release in October [Voice Commands]...The two companies also plan to form a European joint-venture company to collect and analyze speech and linguistic data for use in the development of future speech recognition products, officials said...In related news, Microsoft also announced that Bernard Vergnes, chairman of Microsoft Europe, will join Lernout & Hauspie's board of directors. In addition, Microsoft said it will invest $3 million in the Flanders Language Valley Fund CVA (FLV), a Belgium-based international technology center dedicated to helping companies develop speech-based technologies and applications..."
facts.idg.co.nz
Note: This was 3 weeks after SoftQuad announced [forced] price reduction due to pending continuous-voice rec product introductions [and in SoftQuad (the Company) and shareholder reliance upon marketing Alpha-Kurzweil-Lernout Voice Xpress, et al] and two weeks before Lernout announced October shipment of VoiceCommands (ref/Sep 30). |
