October 23, 2001
For Immediate Release
LERNOUT & HAUSPIE ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY-LEADING SPEECH RECOGNITION SOFTWARE DRAGON NaturallySpeaking® SOLUTION SERIES VERSION 6 FOR PROFESSIONAL MARKETS
Outstanding New Version Integrates Best of Breed Technology to Deliver the Most Accurate and Powerful Speech Recognition Software Available
IEPER, BELGIUM and BURLINGTON, MASS. October 23, 2001 -- The Speech and Language Technologies Division (SLT) of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. (OTC: LHSPQ) ('L&H' or 'the Company'), a world leader in speech and language technology, products, and services, today announced the launch of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series Version 6, the latest version of L&H's award-winning speech recognition software for professional markets. The result of the successful integration of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® and L&H Voice XpressTM technologies, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series software is the most comprehensive offering in the family of L&H continuous speech recognition products.
The Solution Series of software products includes Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Professional Solutions for World English, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Medical Solutions, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Legal Solutions, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Public Safety Solutions for U.S. English. Each product offers professional users productivity enhancements and time-saving features for document creation, e-mail composition, form completion, and many other writing tasks.
Based on extensive customer feedback, L&H developed the Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series Version 6 software to be more intuitive and easier to use. Not only can users operate a PC hands-free, but new features and accuracy improvements allow professionals to dictate at a rate of up to 160 words per minute with a high level of accuracy.
Some of the new and/or enhanced features and functions of the Version 6 software include:
"We have combined the best features of our two award-winning speech recognition products, Dragon NaturallySpeaking and L&H VoiceXpress, to produce a product that offers incredible accuracy and the most complete set of productivity features available today," said John Shagoury, President, L&H's Speech and Language Technologies Division. "L&H continues to deliver the best in speech recognition technology with the latest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 6. This version, like its predecessors, is both easy to learn and use, while offering a robust set of features that support a multitude of our diverse users' needs."
Product Features and Benefits
The Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series Version 6 includes new and improved features to make it both easier to use and more accurate. These features include an extensive set of new voice commands to browse the Web and manage e-mail navigation. The software is versatile, users can easily use it to create documents directly in virtually all Windows®-based applications. The winner of more than 140 major awards worldwide, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series software continues to lead the speech recognition category for accuracy and ease of use.
Key Benefits include:
Pricing, System Requirements and Availability
The Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Solution Series Version 6 software supports dictation in Microsoft® Office, Corel® WordPerfect®, Lotus Notes®, and virtually all Windows®based applications. Version 6 requires an Intel® Pentium® II /400 MHz processor (or equivalent AMD® processor) or faster, and at least 128 MB RAM is required. A minimum of 300 MB free disk space is needed for installation. In addition, an L&H-certified sound card, CD-ROM drive, and speakers are required. Visit L&H's Web site at www.lhsl.com for the latest hardware compatibility list. An L&H-approved noise-cancelling headset microphone, which is also required, is included.
The Dragon NaturallySpeaking® software has been optimized for a variety of popular processors, including the Intel® Pentium® 4, Pentium® III, Pentium® II, Pentium® with MMXTM, Intel® CeleronTM, AMD K6®-2, AMD K6®-III with 3DNow!TM, and AMD AthlonTM, among others.
With respect to the U.S. market, the suggested retail prices for Version 6 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Professional Solutions, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Medical Solutions, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Legal Solutions, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Public Safety Solutions software are $695.00, $995.00, $995.00 and $795.00, respectively.
The products will be available in the coming weeks through Value Added Resellers (VARs) across the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. In the U.S., the products are directly available from L&H by calling 800-443-7077, or visiting www.lhsl.com/naturallyspeaking/. Each product includes software on a CD-ROM, documentation, and a noise-canceling microphone.
About Lernout & Hauspie
L&H is a global leader in advanced speech and language solutions for vertical markets, computers, automobiles, telecommunications, embedded products, consumer goods, and the Internet. The company is making the speech user interface (SUI) the keystone of simple, convenient interaction between humans and technology. The company provides a wide range of offerings, including: customized solutions for corporations; core speech technologies marketed to OEMs; end user applications for continuous speech products in vertical markets; and document creation and linguistic tools.
L&H's products and services originate in the following basic areas:
automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), search and retrieval and audio mining. For more information, please visit L&H on the World Wide Web at www.lhsl.com.
This Press Release contains forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties, including statements about L&H's plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Readers are cautioned that forward looking statements include known and unknown risks, including uncertainty of new product development, the risk that newly introduced products may contain undetected errors or defects or otherwise not perform as anticipated, early state of development of the speech, language and medical information technology markets, the ability of L&H's customers to successfully integrate and commercialize L&H's technology, the uncertainties associated with the Company's Chapter 11 filings in the US and related proceedings in Belgium, the retention of key technical and other personnel, currency and other risks related to international operations, rapid technological change and intense competition, as well as other risks set forth in L&H's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this Press Release.
L&H, the L&H logo, RealSpeak, Nothing But Speech (NBS), Say It Your Way and Dragon NaturallySpeaking are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. or its affiliates, in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names or trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
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