Sensory Inc., co-founded by Prof. Mike Mozer, produces low-cost NN ICs for speech recognition. (HMMs would require more processor speed and RAM.) They've sold several million units and have 85% of the market for dedicated speech recognition chips in toys, electronic learning aids, automobiles, consumer electronics, home appliances, light switches, telephones, clocks, etc. . [, connectionists, 25Aug98.]

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV (Belgium) is acquiring Kurzweil Educational Systems and its text-to-speech products, expected to remain intact as part of L&H's core division. [Reuters, 01Sep98. Lily Laws.]

Lernout & Hauspie is located in "Language Valley" between France, the Netherlands, and Germany. French, Dutch, and German are Belgium's official languages, and English is also common. That gives the company depth and global outlook for its speech and translation products. L&H will soon release a dictation-and-command product (Voice Express Pro) and a voice recognition developer's kit. L&H is also working on Web page translation and multilingual browsing, initially for non-English speakers who want to access the predominantly English Web. [IBD, 26Aug98. EduP.] ("In four to six years, there will be more Web sites in Chinese than in English," according to L&H's CEO. I find that hard to believe.)

6> Entrepreneurship: (With help from Jason Westmacott.)

Virginia is opening a new $2M Internet Technology Innovation Center to help state cyber-entrepreneurs develop and market products. [IBD, 02Sep98. EduP.]

The Internet Business Newsletter is a free weekly for busy entrepreneurs. See for related links. [John R. Bryan , newjour, 24May98.]

Business Advantage is a free newsletter about Internet marketing and business opportunities. . Send a "subscribe" subject line to . [Jim Smoot , newjour, 25May98.]

The Small Business Discussion List is for small business owners. . Send a "subscribe" message to . [Dandelion Innovations , NEW-LIST, 16Jun98.]

-- Ken