Opera gets to talking: Developers Can Use Opera to Enable Speech in Multimodal Applications

Oslo, Norway - July 26, 2004

Opera Software today announced the delivery of its Opera Browser 7.55 for Windows, to be used in conjunction with the IBM Multimodal Toolkit for WebSphere Studio, an Eclipse-based tool designed to help speed development of speech-enabled applications in devices such as smartphones, handhelds and automobiles.

Within the IBM Multimodal Tools, Opera Browser allows a multimodal application to display graphical Web pages while enabling speech input and output using IBM's Embedded ViaVoice engine. The toolkit enables developers to builld multimodal applications for devices from low resource PDAs to high resource in-vehicle solutions, using the industry standards-based markup language, XHTML+Voice, that combines XHTML and VoiceXML.

"The Web is being integrated into all sorts of embedded devices and machinery and the integration of voice with data is a natural evolution," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Through our efforts with IBM, we hope to enable developers to quickly get their applications talking."

Opera's own speech-enabled browser version, 7.6 for Windows, is on track to be released later this year.

Developers can download the IBM Multimodal Tools at http://www.ibm.com/software/pervasive/multimodal/

Opera Contact:

Opera Software
Pal A. Hvistendahl
VP Marketing Communications
Tel: +47 99 72 43 31
press04@opera.com

IBM Contact:

Geraldine Kan
Public Relations, IBM Pervasive Computing
Wk: 1-914-766-1112 (IBM tie-line 826 1112)
Cell: 1-917-478-5148
gkan@us.ibm.com

About Opera Software ASA

The worldwide World Wide Web — any device, any platform, any bandwidth, absolutely anywhere in the world. Opera Software was founded in 1994, based on the idea that access to the Web should be a universal right. 220 million people (and counting) use the Opera web browsers for computers, mobile phones, TVs and other connected devices. Opera also delivers tools, distribution, engagement, monetization and market insights to developers, publishers and brands around the world. We are passionate about breaking down barriers, so everyone can share in the power of the Internet. Our vision of one Web for all remains at the heart of what we do, because we believe that participation changes everything. Opera Software ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.