Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit Wins Coveted National Technology Award in Singapore

   Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) today announced that the Apple Design Center Singapore and the Apple-ISS Research Center have jointly won the 1996 National Technology Award from the Singapore government in recognition of Apple's R&D efforts in the development of the Apple Chinese Dictation Kit (CDK). This is the first time Apple has won the Singapore National Technology Award, the only technology company to win in this category this year. The award is administered by the National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) of Singapore.


A Revolutionary Tool for Inputting Chinese Text Via Dictation


   Launched in Asia and the United States in fall 1995, the CDK has become a highly acclaimed and internationally recognized product. It is also the first mainstream Chinese language system that offers real-time, phrase-based input for Chinese text, instead of single-word or syllable-based input. Last year, at the 1995 Comdex Asia show held in Singapore, the CDK won the "Best Software Product" award and the "Best of the Best" award, the highest honor for any product judged at the show.
   The CDK, which comprises the Chinese Dictation Kit software and the Apple Dictation Microphone, is a user interface extension that is used in conjunction with the keyboard and mouse. Users "teach" the system to recognize their voices by reading 33 pages of text into the microphone. Most users can finish the training in about two to three hours. The system then processes the recording to produce voice "modules" that are used for recognition. The CDK runs on all desktop PowerPC-based Macintosh computers equipped with 16-bit sound input.
   Said Vijay Mehta, Executive Director of the NSTB, "The combined research and development by the team from Apple Computer and Apple-ISS Research Center paid off in the form of a mainstream product that epitomizes a shift in paradigm, away from the restrictions imposed by the Roman keyboard to a new and exciting avenue of Chinese character entry through speech.
  "It goes to show that Singapore can be an effective 'incubation' bed for developing successful products for the international markets," said Mehta. The NSTB is a statutory board established under the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry. Its mission is to develop Singapore into a center of excellence in selected fields of science and technology to enhance Singapore's competitiveness in the industrial and services sectors. Each year, through the NSTB, the Singapore government gives recognition to outstanding efforts in the scientific and technological fields by presenting a number of awards -- including one technology award -- to deserving organizations.


Strong Commitment to R&D


   "Undertaking the development of the CDK has been particularly rewarding for Apple since it represents a major breakthrough in Chinese computing on the Apple Macintosh platform," said Dr. Louis Woo, director of the Apple Design Center Singapore. "We could not have done it without very close collaboration between the Apple Design Center and the Apple-ISS Research Center."
   The Apple Design Center Singapore was set up in 1993 to support the development of new personal computing products for Apple's world market. Currently, the Apple Design Center Singapore has engineers specializing in CPU system design, firmware and software utility development, display R&D, enclosure and product design for the worldwide markets. In addition, the center has engineers focusing on developing Asian language-related solutions like the CDK, the first-released product.


Innovation


   "Apple has always been known as an innovative company," said Jean-Luc Lebrun, center manager of the Apple-ISS Research Center. "Winning the 1996 National Technology Award shows that world-class research and development work can be done in Singapore."
   The Apple-ISS Research Center in Singapore was formed as a joint venture between Apple Computer, Inc. and the Institute of Systems Science (ISS). The center undertakes the development of human interface systems in Asian languages and presently has three focused R&D areas: text-to-speech, automatic speech recognition, and handwriting recognition. The initial systems under development are for use in the Chinese language and eventually in other Asian languages.
   ISS is an R&D organization set up within the National University of Singapore to provide technical leadership in the development and exploitation of information technology.
   Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, personal digital assistants and Internet content. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets solutions, products, technologies and services for business, education, consumer, entertainment, scientific and engineering and government customers in more than 140 countries.