Philips Targets Consumers With Speech Recognition Software For Under $40

Philips Speech Processing, the Vienna, Austria, subsidiary of Netherlands-based Philips Electronics, is rolling out FreeSpeech 98, continuous speech recognition software for the consumer PC market priced at just $39. The software will be sold only over the Internet (www.FreeSpeech98.com). FreeSpeech

98 uses natural continuous speech recognition for dictation and voice commands for application control. Philips says it will allow PC users to create, edit, format documents, and control the Windows environment by speaking directly to the computer, via a microphone, without unnatural pauses between words. "FreeSpeech 98 is the result of 40 years of research, development and production of dictation machines, and more than 25 years of experience with speech recognition systems," says Ron van den Bos, CEO of Philips Speech Processing. The software supports most Windows applications, such as those in Office 97 and 95, and other popular PC applications like e-mail.