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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Hume who wrote (9417)	11/10/1998 1:24:00 PM
From: stephen wall	Respond to of 93625

Alan, Killer App time - Speech technology. Note Katmai 500Mhz reference. I think speech technology will captivate the imagination of many fringe users of PC's, at least the speech technology that works and does not frustrate. At any rate, Rambus is obvious here. -------------------------------------------------------------- Intel forms speech-recognition body with seven universities By Sunray Liu EE Times (11/05/98, 10:48 a.m. EDT) BEIJING — Intel Corp. moved this week to amplify its presence in China's emerging speech-recognition market, announcing an agreement to work with seven universities and research institutes from around the world on recognition technology. The announcement came here on Monday (Nov. 2) during a two-day International Speech Forum, organized by Intel, that drew more than 500 software developers and researchers. Intel said its Advanced Speech Research Consortium will focus on common research goals for computer-based recognition technology. Robert Yung, chief technologist and director of Intel's China Research Center, signed a memorandum of understanding with seven institutions: the Chinese Academy of Science; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Oregon Graduate Institute; Tshinghua University; and Canada's University of Waterloo. More universities and research organizations are expected to join the speech consortium. Yung said the group's mission is to promote speech-recognition applications in China by developing technologies that will make computers easier to use. “That includes the technologies [for] speech recognition, speech synthesis and computer [networking] using native language,” Yung said. According to Intel's estimates, China will buy more than 4 million PCs in 1998. The Chinese PC market is expected to grow by about 31 percent, or 8 million computers, annually through 2001. Intel is stressing ease-of-use in a market where computer usage has been inhibited by language differences and reluctance to use current computer keyboards. Tool limitations “There is a lot of creative research [in China on] advanced algorithms, but the computing tools have limited that work,” said Patrick Gelsinger, an Intel vice president and general manager of the company's Desktop Products Group. “Intel has worked hard on high-performance computing and significant infrastructure to help solve the speech-recognition problems.” Intel expects in the first half to launch its 500-MHz Katmai processor for high-end PCs and its Tanner processor for workstations. Speech-recognition technology will be a key application. Experts here said both platforms will be ideal for launching the technology even though some speech engines can be run on current Intel processors. Intel has targeted the speech-recognition market here through joint efforts with PC companies, having developed such specifications as Audio Codec '97 and PC design guides with Microsoft Corp. and with independent hardware and software vendors. IBM Corp.'s China Research Laboratory is similarly focusing on speech- and handwriting-recognition technology. IBM has been working on speech technology for more than 25 years, and its ViaVoice speech-recognition technology for Mandarin and other dialects has made it the market-share leader in China. Other Western companies investing heavily in speech technology here include Philips and the Bell Laboratories research arm of Lucent Technologies. The Intel forum also drew participants from Kent Ridge Digital Labs, of Singapore; MIT; and applications developers Andrea Electronics, Applied Language Technologies, Asiaworks, Dragon Systems and Microsoft Corp. Annual reve-nue from speech- recognition applications is growing at 60 percent, with unit sales up by 25 percent, according to estimates last June by market researchers PC Data. R&D is divided into two areas of speech-recognition technology: user interfaces and application pro- grams. Research efforts seek ways to integrate speech technology into computers to make them easier for non-English speakers to use. The core of speech technology is the speech engine. Such engines as IBM's ViaVoice provide application developers with the tools they need to turn out programs. Dragon Systems, for example, has developed a speech-recognition development suite; Lernout & Hauspie Inc. has focused on a dialogue-based “natural understanding” system that integrates speech into Windows computers. Most products use voice commands or “type by talking” software that inputs text through speech. Speechworks, a product based on technology developed by MIT and Altech, has been widely used by China brokerage, banking, travel and telecommunications services. Varied functions The technology is expected to find use in a variety of applications. “One is electronic commerce, where Web pages, browsers and e-mail are speech-enabled,” Intel's Gelsinger said. Other likely applications include accounting, legal services, advertising and training. Research areas include speech recognition over telephone, broadcast-news transcription and information retrieval by voice. The Intel forum highlighted the importance of speech recognition in China's computer industry. The complexity of the Chinese hieroglyph systems has made text entry a bottleneck for the PC industry here. In response, local companies have developed techniques to speed text input. For instance, sales at Legend Group, China's No. 1 PC maker, took off after it introduced a card in the 1980s to accelerate entry of Chinese text by automatically creating words from a single character. Other Chinese companies have perfected code systems that simplify text entry on computers. Pen-based handwriting recognition is another focus. Beijing HanWang Technology Corp. pioneered here with its HanWang 99 system. Motorola aimed its Wisdom Pen handwriting-recognition device last year at China's OEMs and retail users. IBM's ViaVoice, released a year ago, was the first practical Chinese-speech-recognition software to hit the market. Many local PC assemblers and overseas suppliers have since bundled ViaVoice with their machines. IBM announced the latest version of ViaVoice on Oct. 27. The upgrade adds direct-dictation and speech-synthesis features and can define terms in Mandarin as well as the regional dialects of Shanghai, Canton and Sichuan. ----------------------------------------------------------------- stephen

To: Alan Hume who wrote (9417)	11/10/1998 3:05:00 PM
From: blake_paterson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Alan: <<Shortly afterwards we went from $70 to $57. The (I guess short)sellers came out of the woodwork with a vengence.>> What numbers do you have to back this statement up? My impression of shorts is based on 10 day old data, and doesn't suggest anything but a shrinkage of the short ratio: Ticker Company Name Month Shares Short Avg Daily Volume Ratio* RMBS Rambus Inc. 10/98 1,140,070 1,017,334 1.12 09/98 1,117,812 779,538 1.43 08/98 1,772,632 1,036,771 1.71 07/98 2,602,731 1,760,603 1.48 06/98 2,906,672 294,069 9.88 05/98 2,997,095 343,698 8.72 * Ratio = Shares Short / Avg Daily Volume; it may be used as a rough measure of days to cover. Source: viwes.com regards, BP (the "other" BP)