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The SpeechMike Pro USB is a ``must have'' for speech recognition software in general and is designed as an ideal companion tool for Philips' FreeSpeech 2000 and SpeechPro, the natural language speech recognition software packages for SoHo, consumer and specialized professional markets. The SpeechMike Pro USB works with most speech recognition programs and is the ideal input device for professional and consumer users seeking to expand their dictation experience.

More than 450 leading manufacturers of PCs, peripherals and software have joined forces to create USB, or Universal Serial Bus, products that allow for a plug-and-play peripheral connection. The PC automatically detects the peripheral and configures the necessary software. With USB there are no more painful installations or rebooting the computer. It is an instant, universal connection option that makes swapping equipment a breeze. SpeechMike Pro USB supports Windows® 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000.

The addition of the USB features for SpeechMike Pro USB translates into less device conflict and set-up complications, better sound quality and improved speech recognition rates.

Additionally, a sound card is no longer required with the SpeechMike Pro USB. The SpeechMike Pro USB creates a high-quality digital signal that is streamed directly to the motherboard, bypassing the sound card altogether.

``USB is a perfect complement for the SpeechMike Pro and a real benefit for anyone using speech recognition programs,'' said Ron van den Bos, president and CEO of Philips Speech Processing. ``Philips is always in front of the latest technological trends and takes pride in creating exciting new devices and applications that revolutionize the way in which people interact with their PCs.''

The SpeechMike Pro USB offers users all the professional functionality of a dictation microphone, including specialized buttons for play, record, fast forward and backward capabilities and can either replace or work in conjunction with a standard mouse or trackball. Each of the SpeechMike Pro USB's six buttons may be customized to emulate keyboard function keys for unique application shortcuts. With this simple hand-held control, users may input their voices for PC speech applications, speech recognition, PC command and control, voice mail, Internet telephony, PC video conferencing, video editing and photo archiving.

At a suggested retail price of $199, the Philips SpeechMike Pro USB will be available initially from late November through SRT (www.srtdist.com ), a leading US-based speech products distributor.

About Philips

Philips Speech Processing is a pioneer and one of the global market leaders in speech recognition, natural dialogue and language understanding technologies. A developer of voice enabled telephony applications, Philips has a large installed base of speech recognition and natural dialogue systems in Europe and is a major speech technology provider in North America.

Philips' speech technology product portfolio includes the host-based speech recognition engine SpeechPearl, the natural dialog platform SpeechMania, SpeechWave for speech recognition in embedded system architectures, as well as the Pure ReQuest! auto attendant application.

Philips' speech technology is used for a large variety of applications, such as directory assistance, customer care, banking, travel, auto attendants, speech portals, and white and yellow pages automation.

Philips has more than 40 years experience in the development and marketing of speech products and developed the first commercially available PC based natural, continuous speech recognition engine for speech to text applications in 1993. Philips' line of software (FreeSpeech 98 and FreeSpeech 2000 for SoHo and consumer markets, SpeechPro for the professional dictation users, SpeechMagic for client/server environments and Speech SDK for software developers) is available in 15 languages and its VoCon speech recognizer for embedded systems has been successfully integrated in consumer electronics products and devices.

Philips has set up SpeechSolutions Design Centers around the globe, supporting R&D and the establishment of industry standards, and is a member in various standardization bodies such as ECTF, SAPI, HAVi, HomeAPI, VXML, W3C and VoiceTIMES.

Internet: www.speech.philips.com

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG - news) of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of US$ 33.9 billion in 1998. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 227,600 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, business electronics, and IT services (Origin). Philips is quoted on the NYSE (PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges.

Internet: www.news.philips.com

News about Philips can also be found on the U.S. web site www.philipsusa.com .

SOURCE: Philips Speech Processing