Articulate Systems, Inc. Releases Portable PowerSecretary - The First
Software-Only Speech Dictation System for the Macintosh PowerBook.

San Francisco, California, January 3, 1995 - Articulate Systems, Inc.
(ASI), the pioneer in Voice Communications for the Macintosh, today
announced at the Macworld Exposition a new version of its speech dictation
product, PowerSecretary which enables owners of the PowerBook 540 line of
notebook computers to dictate text and commands to their Macintosh. 

PowerSecretary is the first and only speech dictation system for Macintosh.
Building on seven years of experience with its award winning Voice
Navigator product line, ASI, in partnership with Dragon Systems of Newton,
Massachusetts, the leader in IBM compatible-based large vocabulary speech
recognition, has developed a complete dictation system that will enable
Macintosh customers to dictate text into their Macintosh using spoken
commands. Users can freely dictate words at speeds up to 55 words a minute
into their favorite Macintosh applications ranging from mainstream word
processors to industry specific application such as clinical patient
records systems. In addition, since the system relies on a built-in
dictionary, users do not have to worry about misspellings because the
system spells the word correctly every time.

PowerSecretary is a speaker-adaptive, large vocabulary discrete recognition
system. The system is speaker-adaptive in that the system doesn't require
users to train each individual word in the vocabulary. Instead, the system
learns how a specific individual speaks based on that individual's
pronunciation of the various phonemes contained in the English language.
The system then takes this information and adjusts its base phonetic
templates to closely match those of the given speaker. In this way, the
system provides high reliability for a large vocabulary in a short amount
of time while also improving over time as the individual speaker uses the
product. The system utilizes a 120,000 word dictionary based on the
unabridged Random House Dictionary and the most commonly used words in the
English language to provide users with a 30,000 word active system which
is expandable by the user to 60,000 words. If the user wants to add a new
word to the dictionary, all they need to do is spell the word and the
system will add the word to the active vocabulary. PowerSecretary is a
discrete recognition system which means that users need to pause slightly
between words, about 1/10 to 1/5 of a second, for the system to recognize
the individual words. The length of pause required is primarily determined
by the speed of the CPU.

In addition to generic word processing applications, the system has been
specifically designed for use by professionals in certain specific
vertical markets where the need for hands-free text entry is very
important. Two of the major vertical markets targeted for the dictation
system are the Legal and Healthcare markets where there are many specific
applications which will benefit greatly from hands-free text entry.
Included among these applications are document management and retrieval
systems, clinical patient records systems, court reporter systems,
podiatry systems and exam room data capture systems. With this new version
1.1.2, mobile users can now enter text and data into their specific
applications without being tied to their desktop Macintosh. In order to
complement the capabilities of PowerSecretary in these vertical markets,
ASI has also recently released PowerCare, its integrated client-server
Clinical Patient Records system and PowerLaw, its complete client-server
Legal Practice Management System. These applications can be used by
themselves or in combination with PowerSecretary. In addition,
PowerSecretary provides tremendous value to individuals with a wide
variety of disabilities including all forms of Repetitive Stress Injury
(RSI).

PowerSecretary supports an unlimited number of users. Currently, the system
supports US English. Even with the US English version, English speakers in
countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South
Africa are effectively and reliably using the system today. In the near
future, the system will also come with native UK English, French, Italian
German and Japanese vocabularies. PowerSecretary runs software-only on all
standard Power Macintosh computers such as the 6100, 7100 and 8100 and all
68K Macintosh systems upgraded to Power Macintosh via the proper Logic
Board upgrades. The system utilizes 13 MB of RAM so it requires a minimum
of 20MB of System RAM (24-32 MB RAM Recommended) and System 7.0 or higher.
PowerSecretary also runs on a large number of 040-based Macintosh
computers such as a Quadra/Centris 650, 660AV, 700, 800, 840AV, 900 and
950. With a modified version of the microphone pre-amp, PowerSecretary
1.1.2 also now supports the PowerBook 540 line of notebook computers. For
all 040 Macs other than the AV models and the 540, PowerSecretary requires
an approved 3rd party 16-bit sound card. By capitalizing on the 16-bit
sound capabilities provided by the AVs, PowerBook 540 and Power Macintosh
machines, PowerSecretary doesn't require any additional hardware for these
systems. PowerSecretary sells for $2,495 and is sold through an exclusive
network of highly trained value-added resellers around the world. Software
upgrades to version 1.1.2 are free. However, there is a $150 cost for
existing owners who need to also upgrade their microphone pre-amp to
support the PowerBook 540.

Building on its long-standing and close relationship with Apple Computer,
ASI has over the two years focused on creating new applications and new
core speech technologies that complement what Apple is developing under
the PlainTalk brand name. ASI and Apple both believe that it's important
to offer a wide array of speech technologies to the market so that many
different customer needs can be met. As Charlie Tritschler, Apple's
PowerBook Product Manager says, "Apple fully supports Articulate's efforts
to bring to market great technology and applications in the area of speech
recognition. In combination with the advanced capabilities of our
PowerBook 500 series notebook computers, Apple customers now have a wide
array of mobile speech solutions to choose from depending on their
specific needs." 

Founded in 1986, ASI is the leading developer of integrated speech
recognition applications for the Macintosh and Windows markets.
Headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, the Company pioneered the use of
speech recognition as a mainstream component of a Graphical User Interface
in 1987. After successfully launching a series of Voice Navigation and
Sound Recording products, the Company has recently focused on developing
advanced speech dictation systems and speech-oriented vertical market
applications for the Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Articulate Systems, Inc.
Woburn, Massachusetts
(617) 935-5656

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