SHAREHOLDER ALERT
The following information is included in a VoiceTIMES Initiative Fact Sheet being distributed to the press at the SpeechTEK show in New York October 26-27,
1999. It outlines the latest progress of the VoiceTIMES Initiative, of which e.Digital Corporation is one of seven inaugural members. Specifications are now
available for download from IBM's web site (see below).
Also included for your information is a press release from IBM dated October 27, 1999, titled "IBM and Nokia to Collaborate on Speech Technology Research
and Development: IBM Unveils New Speech Industry Developments with VoiceTIMES".
Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile Enterprise Solutions (VoiceTIMES)
IBM has created the first audio specifications for digital mobile recorders and speech recognition applications in the enterprise, making it easier and more
cost-effective for mobile users to compute anytime/anywhere with any device. The open specifications offer technical guidelines for companies integrating voice
technology into their mobile solutions and enterprise computing software and were created to accelerate the acceptance of speech technology as a common
interface for mobile devices such as digital recorders, Smart Phones and most hand-held devices. Founded by IBM, the Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile
Enterprise Solutions (VoiceTIMES) was established to address the needs of companies and developers by creating technical guidelines to solve compatibility
issues. The Audio Hardware and Signal specifications are the first of many specifications to come out of VoiceTIMES. The purpose of these specifications and
future specifications is to accelerate the acceptance of speech technology as the universal interface for mobile devices.
Specifications
The following provides a brief overview of the VoiceTIMES specifications. They are available for download at www.ibm.com/software/voicetimes.
· Microphone Considerations - Addresses microphone selection criteria.
· Specifications for Codec (audio compressor/decompressor) Considerations - Assures that all of the components of the audio are maintained as the Codec
converts conversation from an analog to a digital signal for later processing by the ASR software.
· Audio Signal Processing Considerations - Specifications for the techniques that can be applied to the digitized audio signals and how those techniques affect the
speech recognition process.
· Restored PCM (Pulsecode Modulation) Specifications - Ensures that the compressed audio signal characteristics are fully restored to size to allow for the speech
engine to recognize it.
VoiceTIMES Initiative Members:
IBM -- expertise in speech recognition technology and mobile computing, toolkits for customization, evaluation and testing for mobile devices, transcription
extensions, file formats and client/server protocols.
e.Digital -- expertise in the design and development of digital mobile devices interfacing with PCs and the Internet.
Dictaphone -- expertise in the areas of digital recorder design and development and enterprise related customer environments.
Intel -- expertise in microprocessor and system design.
Norcom Electronics -- expertise in creating and bringing to market professional dictation/speech recognition products and solutions.
Olympus -- expertise as an innovator in the digital recorder field.
Philips -- expertise in electronic components, speech technology and mobile productivity tools.
Media Contact: Heather O'Byrne-Ramsey
IBM
(914) 766-1475
obyrne@us.ibm.com
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Company Press Release from IBM
News October 27, 1999
CONTACT: IBM
Heather O'Byrne, (914) 766-1475
obyrne@us.ibm.com
IBM and Nokia to Collaborate on Speech Technology Research and Development:
IBM Unveils New Speech Industry Developments with VoiceTIMES
NEW YORK, Oct 27, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- IBM and Nokia today extended their global partnership to include shared research and development for the
growth of speech recognition in the mobile marketplace.
The two companies, together, hope to drive the proliferation of open industry standards for speech technologies and will collaborate on a wide range of speech
technology projects in the areas of speech recognition, conversational systems, text to speech and speaker recognition. IBM and Nokia will also share resources
for long-term research and development, with a focus on VoiceXML, multi-modal Internet browsing, and other speech-enabled applications.
In addition, IBM also led the introduction of the first audio specifications for digital recorders, making it easier for companies to speech-enable mobile devices.
The collaboration between IBM and Nokia -- as well as the availability of audio specifications for digital recorders and speech recognition applications from the
Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile Enterprise Solutions (VoiceTIMES) -- are key components to IBM's overall initiative to drive open standards and make
speech a common interface for mobile devices.
"The speech interface will become an important, integrated part of future personal mobile terminals and a wide variety of communications services. The
partnership with IBM for developing VoiceXML based solutions is consistent with Nokia's strategy to bring the Internet to everyone's pocket. With the help of
IBM's extensive portfolio of speech technologies in different languages Nokia will continue to lead in user interface innovation in both terminals and
applications," says Mr. Juhani Kuusi, Senior Vice President, Nokia Research Center.
In connection with the speech technology partnership, Nokia has licensed IBM's ViaVoice Directory Dialer, which allows the company to deliver automated
directory assistance and call routing. Users need only dial one phone number and, after a quick prompt, state the name of the person they want to call; the caller
is then connected to that person's extension, or provided requested information such as e-mail address, pager or fax number. IBM's ViaVoice Directory Dialer
enables universal access to data quickly and easily.
"By forging innovative relationships with industry leaders such as Nokia, IBM is making it easier for the increasing number of mobile users to gain access to
information anytime from anywhere. Our goal in developing these industry relationships is to accelerate the growth of speech recognition beyond the PC and
make it easy to use on any mobile device," says W.S. "Ozzie" Osborne, general manager, IBM Speech and Pen Systems. "Working closely with Nokia and
VoiceTIMES will further enhance open standards to make speech the common interface."
VoiceTIMES Specifications
IBM and the seven inaugural VoiceTIMES members have developed comprehensive audio specifications for digital recorders and speech recognition
applications. These specifications will make it easy and cost-effective for mobile users to compute from any hand-held device. The open specifications offer
technical guidelines for companies integrating voice technology into their mobile solutions and enterprise computing software. The goal of the VoiceTIMES
specifications is to accelerate the acceptance of speech technology as the universal interface for today's mobile devices from digital recorders to the Smart Phone
and beyond. The specifications are available for download at ibm.com. "Speech technology is critical for computer users as well
as corporations and enterprise computing environments," says Jim Forbes, executive editor, Demo Letter. "Hardware and speech recognition technology will
converge in the near future. Speech and voice recognition technologies can be used to build intuitive interfaces and enterprise applications as well as client-based
systems that make computing easier and more instinctive. VoiceTIMES and the specifications will play a large role in making that happen." IBM strategic
relationships and alliances have helped move speech beyond the desktop by incorporating voice recognition technologies into other products that create a more
natural human-to-computer interface. Just like VoiceXML, Java and ViaVoice for Linux, the IBM/Nokia relationship and the VoiceTIMES specifications are the
next steps for IBM driving open standards technology to one day eliminate the complexity of doing business enterprise-wide. At SpeechTEK Show in New York
City, IBM demonstrated a variety of leading-edge technologies, including the first VoiceXML-enabled Web browser, which allows you to access the Web via the
telephone. Developers now have the tools needed to create and test voice-enabled sites and applications. IBM is currently supporting selected customers to create
pilot applications and encourages developers to download code from IBM's alphaWorks site at alphaworks.ibm.com.
About IBM
As a pioneer in speech recognition, the company is focused on developing and supporting open standards that help accelerate the creation of content, servers and
browsers that allow speech recognition technology to be easily integrated into voice, data and applications infrastructures.
IBM's ViaVoice speech recognition technology is based on 30 years of speech recognition research and development. With a portfolio of more than 100 patents,
an established R&D business worldwide and a robust, proven speech technology available in many languages, IBM is a worldwide leader in speech recognition.
About Nokia
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading
supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR
13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock
exchanges and employs more than 53,000 people.
For more information:
Visit IBM's Web site at www.ibm.com/software/speech or contact Nokia, Corporate Communications Tel. + 358 9 1807 459 Certain matters discussed in this
release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. IBM assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
In addition, the following risks and uncertainties should be considered: This announcement describes an MOU, which is not legally binding on the parties.
Numerous issues relating to joint research and development and service efforts contemplated in the MOU have yet to be worked out. There can be no assurance
that the parties will be able to resolve all outstanding issues and sign any additional definitive agreements contemplated in the MOU.
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_____________________________________________________
Wendy Ravenel
Investor Relations/Public Relations
e.Digital Corporation
13114 Evening Creek Drive South
San Diego, CA 92128
(858)679-1504 PHONE
(858)486-3922 FAX
Note new area code (858) as of June 1999
edig.com
investor@edig.com |
