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Technology Stocks : e.Digital Corporation(EDIG) - Embedded Digital Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JAMES F. CLASPILL III who wrote (5738)	6/14/1999 9:54:00 AM
From: bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18366

Speech Technology Takes Limelight Jennifer Hagendorf & Stephanie Green Cambridge, Mass. - The past and presumed future of speech recognition came together during IBM Corp.'s Speech Fair. The event, held at the Lotus Development Building in Cambridge, featured demonstrations by vendors and VARs of how companies use IBM's ViaVoice speech-recognition software. IBM researchers also were on hand with prototypes of future capabilities that will make the technology more pervasive. "We're on the cusp of a technology revolution. I can see it. I'm riding it," said James McGill, president of Voice Recognition Inc., a VAR based in Needham, Mass., specializing in serving the health-care market. The VAR deployed voice technology to streamline the dictation of medical records in the radiation oncology department at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. It was a turnkey package that included ViaVoice software, integration, customization and training for a one-time fee of less than $3,000 per doctor, McGill said. In the past, the doctors dictated their notes onto tapes that were sent out for transcription. The process took up to a week and was marred by a high rate of error. With the new technology, doctors dictate their notes right into PCs and can edit the text files immediately while the information is still fresh, said McGill. Virage Inc., a vendor based in San Mateo, Calif., presented search technology which uses speech recognition to turn video into a searchable medium. Sold through VARs, VideoLogger 3.0 and AudioLogger 1.0 applications currently are in enterprise accounts, federal government agencies and news organizations such as CNN, ABC and the BBC. CNN runs all news feeds through Virage technology so reporters can easily search through the video, said Carlos Montalvo, vice president of marketing at Virage. CNN also features the technology on its Web site, allowing users to search through testimony from the Microsoft Corp. antitrust trial, he said. "The video becomes searchable within five seconds of the stream hitting the logger," said Montalvo. In the enterprise, customers such as General Motors Corp. use the technology to index videotapes of customer focus groups or sales training. Virage currently works with about 25 VARs and integrators worldwide, Montalvo said. In the future, voice-recognition capabilities will become part of the everyday human experience, said those demonstrating their technology. Researchers at IBM, Armonk, N.Y., are developing biometric speech capabilities, called Voice Print, that will recognize and authenticate users by their voice, enabling secure telephone banking and commerce without having to ask the user lots of questions, said Stephane Maes, manager of IBM's Mobile Speech Solutions. Another IBM research project is Donatello, a personal assistant that understands natural language and offers remote access via telephone, so users can access their data from the road. Users can dictate and send E-mail, change calendar appointments and access their address books just by talking to their PCs. Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc.

To: JAMES F. CLASPILL III who wrote (5738)	6/14/1999 6:59:00 PM
From: JimC1997	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 18366

James, I have been following the discussion on this thread, alternating between amusement and annoyance at some of the excess emotion which has crept into it recently. Although I have read every post since you re-established it several years ago I have never bothered to pay SI for the right to post here. (Call me excessively frugal!) But I would like to make a few points for the regulars here. First, I believe that you may know me from the Yahoo and Raging Bull boards. I have held EDIG/NCII for over two years and have been a consistent supporter of the company. (I used to argue with NCIIisDead.) And I believe that I own more shares in the company than anyone else has claimed on any of the three boards covering the stock, with the majority purchased below $0.10, but also including several hundred thousand shares acquired since the move above $1. So I feel that I can speak objectively about the stock from the viewpoint of both the "old-timers" and the newer investors. What prompted me to get out the credit card and log on today is the dispute over Walter Morton. Jim, please reconsider your comments which imply that Walter and (by inference) Christopher Hinton are the enemies of the EDIG investors. Since he started posting last year Walter has produced more links to items of possible relevance for EDIG shareholders than anyone else. True, he has that annoying, fingernails-on-the-blackboard quality to his comments and he is often excessive in his posts. But I have never seen him post anything which was simply untrue. The debate about his refusal to publish a private e-mail after editorializing on its contents strikes me as a little childish. If someone here wants to hear the direct comments of the reporter in question, then take the initiative, as Walter did, to contact that reporter directly. One thing that I have noted over the years of following stocks on these message boards is that inevitably the supporters of the stock try to drive away criticism. This is very, very foolish. Unless you give reasoned negative opinions an open hearing you may fail to see the ultimate source of a decline in your investment. As they say, trees don't grow to the sky, and sometimes it is helpful to those who would nurture the forest to look for the reasons for the stunted growth of their trees. Only by listening to criticism can you do so. My apologies for the overly look and sermonizing post, especially for my first official time here. I would like to add that I have enjoyed the discourse here over the years and look upon the regulars as old friends. I hope I can add something of value here myself.