SingOS/2 - May 1996
- SingOS/2 - Newsletter of the Singapore OS/2 User Group
- May 1996
Talk to your computer with IBM’s next version of OS/2 Warp
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Apr. 23, 1996..
- Merlin is made easy with speech recognition, UI improvements and better Internet integration
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, codenamed 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 Intelbased 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 machinecentric input will provide a major productivity increase for corporate and consumer PC users.”
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- Are you talking to your computer, yet?
- 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. Under Merlin, users will be able to