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EXHIBIT 99.1
Erin Collopy Leili Eghbal
General Magic TSI Communications
1 + 408 774-4225 1 + 650 635-0200 ext. 207
[email protected] [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GENERAL MAGIC SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH IBM TO
INTEGRATE VOICE SOLUTIONS
Agreement integrates General Magic voice applications with
IBM voice technologies
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (August 15, 2000) - General Magic, Inc. (Nasdaq: GMGC), a
leading voice application service provider, today announced it has completed an
agreement with IBM contemplating the integration of General Magic's open
standards VoiceXML-based magicTalk(TM) platform with IBM DirectTalk and IBM
WebSphere Voice Server.
General Magic also announced that IBM's ViaVoice Automated Speech
Recognition engine (ASR) is now available to customers of its magicTalk voice
solutions. The addition of IBM's ViaVoice ASR offers customers of General
Magic's magicTalk platform a choice of first-class speech recognition
technologies.
"General Magic's expertise in delivering sophisticated voice user
interfaces integrated with IBM's voice technologies provides the end user with a
premier end-to-end voice solution," said Steve Markman, chairman, chief
executive officer and president of General Magic. "Our agreement with IBM
creates an exciting opportunity for us to provide innovative voice technology
solutions and to expand our sales channel."
"Voice recognition is about to become an integral part of our daily lives
and IBM is working with the key players, such as General Magic, to voice enable
e-business. With this announcement IBM and General Magic will use
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open standards to plan the delivery and hosting of end-to-end voice solutions
for CRM, Internet and telecommunications companies," said W.S. (Ozzie) Osborne,
general manager, IBM Voice Systems.
General Magic and IBM will market and sell voice solutions integrating the
two companies technologies. The integration of General Magic's superior
magicTalk voice applications and IBM's experience in delivering e-business
solutions offers customers a high-quality voice solution.
ABOUT GENERAL MAGIC
General Magic is a voice application service provider dedicated to delivering
customized voice applications, hosting, and professional services to leading
telecommunications, enterprise and Internet companies. With its award-winning
VoiceXML-based magicTalk communications platform and years of experience,
General Magic offers the premier voice user interface that combines language,
personality, and logic, creating a natural conversation between people and
information. General Magic creates value for its customers by building voice
solutions that strengthen customer relations, deliver value-added services, and
provide access to content anytime, anywhere. General Magic is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, California. For additional information about General Magic, visit the
company's web site at http://www.generalmagic.com.
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General Magic notes that some of the statements in this press release contain
forward-looking statements that involve substantial uncertainties. These
include, among others, statements concerning the adequacy of the Company's
financial resources to execute its business plan; market acceptance of the
Company's technologies and services; the Company's ability to attract, retain
and motivate key technical, marketing and management personnel; the ability of
the Company to establish and maintain relationships with businesses that have
high volume customer interactions, and to establish alliances with companies
that offer technology solutions for such businesses; the challenges inherent in
the development, delivery and implementation of complex technologies; the
ability of the Company's third party technology partners to timely develop,
license or support technology necessary to the Company's services; and the
Company's
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ability to respond to competitive developments. The forward-looking statements
in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause industry trends, or actual results, performance or
achievement to be materially different from any future trends, results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These and
other risks are detailed in General Magic's Registration Statement on Form 10-Q
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 14, 2000.
General Magic and magicTalk are trademarks of General Magic, Inc., which may be
registered in some jurisdictions. IBM, DirectTalk, WebSphere and ViaVoice are
trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Other trademarks are
owned by their respective companies.
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