IT-Director: A Linux PDA you can talk to

“A voice controlled PDA could be a reality by the end of the
year. Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) will soon be
demonstrating a prototype device that incorporates wireless
communication and voice recognition. The Linux operating system
running on Intel’s next generation StrongArm II low-power chip will
be used. Bill DeStefanis of L&H says the new chip,
available later in the year, has been optimised to run the mobile
version of Linux and provides the equivalent performance of a
desktop Pentium III. This results in enough processing power to
include a large-vocabulary speech-recognition engine whilst keeping
battery usage at an acceptable level.

Users will be able to access to the Web using voice commands to
retrieve information and carry out e-commerce transactions such as
buying and selling, on-line banking, and so on. They will also be
able to read and send e-mail using voice alone. L&H believe the
new device will be attractive to consumers and business users
alike. The device could be used by field sales and service
personnel to collect information more conveniently whilst in the
presence of a customer. The codename for the device is Nuk, an
abbreviation of Nukula, the Hawaiian word for ‘echo’.”

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