Merlin Is Made Easy with Speech Recognition, UI Improvements and Better
Internet Integration

Talk to Your Computer with IBM's Next Version of OS/2 Warp

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Apr. 23, 1996...Are you talking to your computer, yet?
That's the question IBM is asking thousands of software application
developers this week at the IBM Technical Interchange developer's
conference in Nashville, Tenn. The company today unveiled an early copy of
the next version of OS/2* Warp, code-named Merlin. Integrating IBM's
latest VoiceType* technology in speech navigation and dictation, an
improved user interface which includes an enhanced version of the Lotus
SmartCenter, and easier-than-ever Internet access, OS/2 Warp "Merlin" will
be the first major Intel-based operating system with built-in speech
recognition and will take the concept of ease-of-use to an entirely new
level.

"IBM has just raised the bar on operating system ease of use," said Kathryn
Dzubeck, executive vice president of Communications Network Architects,
Inc., a computer consultancy in Washington, D.C. "Human-centric versus
machine-centric input will provide a major productivity increase for
corporate and consumer PC users."

Talk, Don't Type

Built-in speech navigation and dictation capabilities in Merlin will allow
OS/2 users simply to tell their computers what they normally would have to
type or execute with a mouse. The navigation portion will allow people to
vocally navigate through menu bars and objects on the desktop in order to
do things such as open files and launch applications, or pop onto the
Internet hands-free with a simple phrase like 'Jump to CNN Home Page.'
Working with a computer has never been so easy, and using a computer has
never been so much fun.

The dictation component will allow users to dictate memos and other
documents and then paste them into word processing or e-mail applications.
With this technology, doctors will be able to review X-rays or examine
patients and dictate their findings directly into a computer. Insurance
agents can vocally process claims. Attorneys can create legal briefs while
flipping through research materials. And business professionals can
dictate electronic memos while simultaneously reading through hard-copy
documents.

"We believe that speech recognition in computers will be the next major
industry breakthrough when it comes to ease-of-use," said Wally Casey,
vice president of client product management in IBM's Software Group. "Just
as the Macintosh changed the industry when it introduced a graphical user
interface, OS/2 Merlin will alter the way people interact with computers
-- from new computer users to business professionals to anyone who wants
quick and easy Internet access."

The Technology Behind the Talk

Based on IBM's latest VoiceType technology, speech recognition in Merlin
will run with any common OS/2-supported sound card, like Sound Blaster,
which comes as a standard feature in most audio-enabled PCs. By
integrating industry-leading VoiceType technology into the OS/2 base, IBM
is offering customers an incredible value.

With years of IBM research behind it, the speech technology in Merlin has
advanced to a point where it is very easy to use. Merlin will be
speaker-independent, meaning the computer will understand what most users
say, without any training. And it even will know the difference between
words with the same pronunciation yet different spellings, like to, too
and two.

Merlin also will come with a continuous navigator, allowing users to speak
as they normally do, without inserting pauses between words, in order to
navigate through the desktop and menus.

The navigation vocabulary in Merlin will include common desktop navigation
words. Dictation will come with a base vocabulary of 10,000 words and will
allow the addition of up to 42,000 more unique terms. Customers also may
purchase separate vocabularies for professions like healthcare and law.
And speech will be supported in six languages: U.S. and U.K. English,
French, Spanish, German and Italian.

Application Support

This week at its developer conference, IBM is meeting with application
developers to rally support for speech-enabled OS/2 applications.
Currently, any OS/2 Presentation Manager (PM) object will automatically
work with the VoiceType navigator. PM objects include menu-bar headings,
drop-down menus and buttons on the screen.

IBM will be delivering a developer toolkit later this year, which will
allow solution developers to add a richer set of speech functions to their
applications.

"I'm excited about the new opportunities that will be created by
integrating VoiceType into the OS/2 base," said Jim Karn, operations
director for Pittsburgh-based Alien Robotics, a solution developer that
voice enables software using IBM's VoiceType Dictation on a number of
operating system platforms. "This will open up an entirely new level of
solutions that we will be able to create for our customers and a whole new
set of business opportunities for our company."

As with previous versions of OS/2, IBM will provide premier technical
support for application developers through its Solution Developer
Program.

New User Interface and Internet Enhancements Contribute to Ease-of-Use

Merlin will boast more than just speech recognition. It also will sport a
cleaner and more logical user interface with visual enhancements like
three-dimensional shadowed icons, 256 colors, an array of customizable
bitmaps and backgrounds, an attractive system font that reads well on
laptop computers and customizable colored tabs in a newly-designed
settings folder.

The WarpCenter...

IBM has taken the best of the SmartCenter technology from Lotus and the
LaunchPad from OS/2 Warp to create the new OS/2 WarpCenter. The WarpCenter
is an object-oriented icon ribbon on the desktop in Merlin that will allow
users to quickly and easily launch and group programs and check on the
status of their systems. It includes a "Warp button" that dynamically
creates a view of everything on the computer desktop, a task list that
indicates which programs are currently running, status indicators for disk
space and battery power, a calendar, clock and timer.

Users will be able to customize their WarpCenter simply by dragging and
dropping icons onto it and then grouping those icons into trays. A tray
could group any combination of objects: folders, applications, even icons
representing World Wide Web pages.

With the WarpCenter visible at all times in any application, users could
launch a new application, check the contents of a drive or even jump onto
the World Wide Web without minimizing the space within which they
currently are working. The WarpCenter also can be deactivated if the user
so prefers.

Merlin will include other features, like superior networking capabilities,
great security and OpenDoc run-time support, that should distinguish it as
the operating system of choice for the connected consumer to the large
enterprise customer. Merlin will go into beta later this quarter and
become generally available in the second half of this year.

For Internet users, IBM offers complete information about the company, its
products, services and technology on the World Wide Web. The IBM home page
is at http://www.ibm.com. The fastest, easiest way to find any information
about IBM software is to go to the IBM Software home page at
http://www.software.ibm.com. The IBM Fax Information Service allows you to
receive facsimiles of prior IBM product press releases. Dial
1-800-IBM-4FAX and enter "99" at the voice menu.

Please Note: Questions about the content or currency of this press release
should be directed to your local IBM representative.
 
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