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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: codawg who wrote (29399)	9/13/1999 9:50:00 AM
From: Teflon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Unisys and Microsoft Collaborate to Enhance Speech-Application Development Tools and Technology Alliance to Yield Software, New Speechdepot.com Web Site to Make Deploying Speech Easier Than Ever BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 1999-- Unisys Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, two of the leading companies in speech technology, today announced a marketing and technology alliance that promises to broaden the market for advanced desktop and telephony speech applications. Unisys and Microsoft are working together to accelerate the adoption of the Speech Application Programming Interface (SAPI) for speech applications, providing software developers with a rich set of tools and support programs that will make speech-based technology easier to deploy. The alliance identifies Unisys as an Early Adopter for Microsoft speech technology and enables Unisys to distribute key Microsoft speech- and SAPI-based software such as Microsoft automated speech recognizer (ASR) and the Microsoft Text-to-Speech (TTS) engines. Microsoft and Unisys will jointly participate in speech-related trade shows and other industry events. Unisys will also be included in the ongoing planning and product rollout of future versions of Microsoft SAPI technology. The objectives of the alliance will be furthered by a Web site launched today and sponsored by Unisys. SpeechDepot (www.SpeechDepot.com) is an electronic-business Web site that provides all the components, information, guidance, expertise and products needed for design, development and deployment of speech-based applications. Unisys will provide this single source for knowledge and technology, enabling the average developer to create speech applications ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated. The site will offer background and products from Unisys numerous speech-technology partners. As a key part of the new initiative with Microsoft, Unisys has created a specially packaged SAPI-only version of its award-winning Natural Language Speech Assistant (NLSA) application development toolkit, available today for downloading from the SpeechDepot Web site. Unisys NLSA is an easy-to-use toolkit that streamlines voice-user interface design, development, testing and deployment, cutting the average time for creating a new application from months to days. Microsoft SAPI provides the speech middleware required for building Windows operating system-based speech applications. ''Speech is a natural way for people to interact with their computers, and we expect SAPI to provide the key technology for enabling speech tools to build great speech-enabled applications for Windows,'' said Doug Henrich, general manager, Microsoft Speech Product Unit. ''The goal of SAPI is to provide a consistent and high-performance way for achieving voice input and output on various computing platforms. By working with companies such as Unisys, we can provide an even greater number of software developers with new ways to use advanced Microsoft speech technologies to create speech-enabled applications. We're excited to have Unisys on board as one of the premier tool providers working with SAPI.'' ''Our alliance with Microsoft will help broaden the speech marketplace, resulting in more developers using speech technology and more speech applications being deployed,'' said Joe Yaworski, vice president and general manager, Unisys Natural Language Understanding business initiative. ''Unisys and Microsoft, with the SpeechDepot Web site, will make developing a speech application so easy that anyone with a good programming background can now do it economically and with much shorter time-to-market.'' ''Companies have found that speech is a 'natural interface' only if the voice-user interface is well-designed. A clumsy, unnatural dialogue can discourage a user. The alliance between Unisys and Microsoft attests to the importance of good dialogue-development tools,'' said Bill Meisel, TMA Associates, Tarzana, Calif., a noted expert and consultant on speech recognition technologies and applications. The entry-level SAPI version of the industry-leading Unisys NLSA is intended for use in developing desktop applications. This special version of NLSA will support any SAPI-compliant, U.S. English speech recognizer. This special version will be priced at $495 per copy and will include the Microsoft automated speech recognizer (ASR), the Microsoft Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine, and Microsoft and Unisys middleware, documentation and example applications. The software is a low-cost entry point for speech and natural language application development. As the need to deploy more complex speech-based applications increases, developers may upgrade into a version of NLSA that can handle telephone-based applications and support a much wider range of speech recognizers, languages and dialects. SpeechDepot -- The Crossroads of the Speech Developer Community The Unisys-sponsored SpeechDepot Web site will provide a single source for the components needed for design, development and deployment of speech-based applications. In addition, it will serve as an electronic forum for the speech-application development community. There, developers can obtain, share and disseminate information on speech. SpeechDepot includes all SAPI-compatible speech-based software Unisys is authorized to resell or distribute (such as the Lucent Blazer automated speech recognizer). Microsoft is endorsing this Web site and maintains links from its own speech-oriented Web sites to the SpeechDepot site. About the Unisys Natural Language Speech Assistant The Natural Language Speech Assistant is an advanced speech-application development tool set. Unisys NLSA not only provides application developers with the tools for designing and creating speech applications but also enables application project management, development methodology and testing. Unlike all other natural language technology, Unisys NLSA keeps developers' applications from becoming obsolete by providing open tools for design and development across multiple platforms and speech recognizers. This allows developers to ''snap'' speech-recognition engines in and out of their programs based on business requirements or technology improvements. Unisys NLSA has won many industry awards for innovation, including designation as Best Industrial/Professional Product by the American Voice Input/Output Society (AVIOS) and an Editor's Choice Award from C@ll Center Solutions magazine. Teflon