To: Mark Oliver
From: Kurt Fitz-Randolph
Sunday, Apr 4 1999 8:46PM EST
-Preview-
Mark,
Some things that have caught my interest in the 10K. This is by no means all inclusive.
I have read only through page 57. Also, it is interesting how the 10K states that all the Series
C holders have converted as of March 20. The 10K did mention areas concerning WK (letter of
intent only) and QWST and INTU deal (time frame of each in terms of how long the deal is to
last).
Take care,
Kurt
Expand Global Presence. Our magicTalk voice user interface can be
customized for use in languages other than English. We plan to work with development
partners in Europe and Asia-Pacific to bring local-language versions of voice-enabled services
to market in these regions. GMGC used the word plan on numerous occasions. One is in reference
to expanding the NOC capability and the other occasion referenced internet partners. So, one
could assume that the word "plan" means yes there is something here more than meets the eye
(I base this on the the cc when GMGC said they will expand their NOC and so I assume that
planning means yes there are partners being lined up). Notice the European and Asian connection
(remember NTT, QWST, SpeechWorks and Nuance).
Through Portico, our subscribers will be able to access certain of their personal financial
information and enhanced banking features, as well as Portico's convenient array of virtual assistant
services. The voice-enabled Quicken.com service is expected to be available to customers in
mid-1999. Does anybody remember the deal about one or two months ago betweeb Intuit and
various banking institutions.
Internet appliance. We are also developing a flexible, low-cost hardware platform to deliver
voice-enabled services to home consumers. The technology was demonstrated during 1998 in a
screenphone device that incorporates state-of-the-art speech recognition and voice compression
and relies on Internet as well as other telecommunications standards......We hope to provide
this technology to OEM device manufacturers who would market the device bundled with a
subscription to a set of voice-enabled services... The word "hope doesn't sound to good. It sounds
as though the magic phone is more on the wish list as of this time.
For example, call forwarding and voice mailbox features are offered by companies such
as AT&T Corp., MCI Communications Corporation and Sprint Corporation, as well as the regional
telephone operating companies and other independent voice mail vendors. An electronic mail reading
feature is provided by such companies as Planetary Motion, Inc. and JFax Communications, Inc.
In addition, software developers such as Microsoft Corporation and Oracle Corporation, and voice
mail hardware, software and service providers such as AccessLine Technologies, Inc., Call Sciences
Ltd., Intellivoice Communications, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Lucent
Technologies, Inc., Motorola Inc., Premiere Technologies Inc. and others may extend the capability
of their current offerings, or develop new products and services, to provide many if not all of the
features and functionality of our voice-enabled service offerings. On-line service providers
such as America Online, Inc. and Internet companies such as Yahoo! may also enhance their services
to compete with our voice-enabled services. This is a good place to start looking at the capabilities
of GMGC's competitors.
From time to time, we have received communications from third parties claiming that features
or content of certain of our products, services and/or technologies may infringe their intellectual
property rights. It is our practice to review all such claims and determine if a license is appropriate.
To date, no such claim has resulted in litigation against us. However, a third party may commence
litigation against us in the future. The word "may" bothers me. Does this mean generally speaking or
is there a third party they have in mind? I hope they meant to say "could."
Although the Portico service was released on July 30, 1998, we expect to incur significant
losses through the year 1999, .... I hope this means the sum of the total 4 qtrs in FY99 since the cc
stated that they "hoped" to possibly breakeven by the 4th qtr.
The 1,152 shares of Series C preferred stock outstanding as of March 20, 1999, would be
convertible into approximately 3,240,000 shares of common stock. Well, it looks as though my
previous posts may have been partially wrong. At least only about a third of the convertibles still
need to be converted. It looks as though there were about 400 more shares that were converted than
what was released from the cc. I take my above sentence back. I just found on page 57 the following
information that the remaining Series C holders had converted. Maybe I was on to something last month:):
On January 21, 1999, 397 shares of Series C Preferred Stock were converted into 852,000 shares
of common stock. As of March 20, 1999, the remaining 1,152 shares of Series C Preferred Stock
were convertible into 3,240,000 shares of common stock.
- 2,000 shares of Series D preferred stock. Each share of Series D preferred stock is convertible
into that number of shares of common stock equal to: (A) $10,000 plus accrued but unpaid dividends
divided by (B) 110% of the average of closing bid prices of a share of common stock during the ten
trading days after, at our sole election, April 29, 1999, May 29, 1999, or June 28, 1999
(the "initial conversion price"). The number of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion
is subject to adjustment: for stock splits, dividends and similar events; for future issuances of stock at
a price below the initial conversion price; on December 31, 1999, June 30, 2000, and on the last day
of each September and March through March 2002, depending on the closing bid prices of our common
stock at such times; for future issuances of convertible stock with a variable conversion price; and in the
event we fail to comply with certain requirements. I have never seen a quote like "at our sole election."
This sounds better than the Series C.
NETalk was engaged in the development of applications providing users with advanced speech
recognition tools to access Web content over the telephone.....Of the total purchase price, $777,000 has
been allocated to in-process research and development while the remainder was allocated to certain
intangible assets. A total of $1.5 million was spent on this acquisition. So I guess about $800k was for
the services of Senior White? |
