Intel Investors - Olympus and IBM are using Intel's Flash memory for a "voice recorder/dictation" and text to speech translation.
Maybe this flash business will start to perk up.
Paul
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biz.yahoo.com
Friday November 14, 2:59 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
IBM and Olympus Introduce Breakthrough Digital Portable Dictation
System for Mobile Computing
SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 14, 1997
Solution Combines Olympus' D1000, IBM's ViaVoice, And Intel's Flash Memory Miniature Card To Deliver
Enhanced Productivity
IBM and Olympus today announced the world's first digital portable dictation system for consumers. The system
combines IBM's industry-leading ViaVoice(a) continuous speech dictation product and the Olympus D1000(b)
digital voice recorder to provide users the ability to convert recorded voice to text. The solution extends the
productivity benefits of speech recognition to mobile professionals and others who want the freedom of a ''virtual
office.''
''IBM believes that mobile dictation truly showcases the value of our speech recognition technology,'' said W.S.
(Ozzie) Osborne, general manager of IBM Speech Systems. ''We've teamed with Olympus and Intel to proactively
develop this market and quickly bring the benefits to millions of mobile workers.''
The solution enables mobile workers to enter and store data without using a keyboard, because they can simply
dictate the information they need to input. It is an ideal solution for professionals in a wide variety of fields, from
lawyers and doctors to journalists and business executives. In addition to saving time on the road, workers can be
more efficient once they return to the office because the data is easily converted to text on their PC.
''There's no doubt that the holy grail of dictation is voice recognition,'' said Bill Boles, Group Vice President of
Marketing and Development for Olympus Digital and Imaging Systems. ''The combination of the Olympus D1000
Digital Audio Recorder and IBM's ViaVoice provides mobile professionals the flexibility to capture their thoughts
wherever they are and turn them into a printed document on their computer at their convenience.''
The Solution
The D1000 will be shipped with a cable, a customized version of ViaVoice, a 2MB Intel Flash Memory Miniature
Card and a PC Adapter Card. The removable miniature card and the Olympus PC Adapter Card (for PCMCIA
slots) allows users to easily move audio files to a PC and conveniently share information with co-workers. The cable
is for audio transfer where a PCMCIA slot is not available.
Users dictate memos, reports, and other types of correspondences into the Olympus D1000 digital voice recorder.
The audio is stored on the Flash Memory Miniature Card -- 2MB cards store 16 minutes of recorded voice. Users
can purchase 4 and 8MB cards for additional recording time. Once the audio is transferred to the PC, IBM's
ViaVoice dictation product converts the recorded voice into text that can be edited, formatted and printed, just like
any word processor file. The solution will be available initially in U.S. English in first quarter, 1998. It will be available
in other languages worldwide, including U.K. English, French, German and Japanese, late in first quarter, 1998.
Why? The Changing Work Environment
Mobile computing solutions and related products are one of the fastest growing segments of the technology market.
In today's competitive business environment, the use of mobile computing and the concept of the ''virtual office'' are
woven into the very fabric of day-to-day business life. Any technical advantage that can make the life of the digital
''road warriors'' easier and more productive will be embraced by a wide variety of mobile computer users. One
technology area that is emerging to become a new mobile dictation paradigm is the use of speech recognition to
create documents while on the move.
''Olympus and IBM have created a practical application for today's highly mobile workforce with this PC companion
product,'' said Stephen Nachtsheim, corporate vice president and general manager, Mobile Handheld Products
Group, Intel Corporation [Nasdaq:INTC - news]. ''Now mobile workers can record their thoughts while on the road
and use Intel's high-performance processor technology to automatically convert speech to text on their PC.''
Speech Recognition Leadership
IBM set the industry standard for speech recognition software when it launched the VoiceType family of products.
With more than 25 years of research in the field, the company has built a team of speech recognition specialists
worldwide, dedicated to the development, support, marketing and sale of IBM speech solutions in many languages.
For more information about IBM speech systems, visit the World Wide Web at ibm.com.
Olympus America distributes a wide range of products for consumer, scientific, health care, commercial and
industrial markets. These include 35mm, Advanced Photo System and digital cameras, binoculars,
Microcassette(b) and digital voice recorders, optical storage products, printers, medical and industrial endoscopes,
biological and metallurgical microscopes and measuring instruments, clinical analyzers, and other technology
products. Olympus America is also responsible for sales in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South
America. For more information about Olympus visit the World Wide Web at olympus.com.
(a) IBM and ViaVoice are trademarks or registered trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation. (b) Trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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