e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[gernb1]

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products Offers Award-winning RealSpeak Software for Mobile Devices: L&H
RealSpeak Compact
SDK now Generally Available

IEPER, Belgium and BURLINGTON, Mass.--(Business Wire)--Aug. 21, 2001--

In addition to a high-quality, natural-sounding text-to-speech synthetic voice, L&H's new standard for
synthesized speech brings ease of use, convenience and safety to the world's mobile and automotive
markets

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV (OTC: LHSPQ) (`L&H' or `the Company'), a world leader in speech
and language technology, products and services, today announced that its Speech and Language
Technologies Division (SLT) has made the L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK (Software Development
Kit) generally available. This new member of the award-winning L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) family makes
high-quality, natural-sounding text-to-speech (TTS) technology available for a broad spectrum of electronic
devices and vertical markets. Applications for this advanced software include mobile devices, such as PDA's
(Personal Digital Assistants) and PDT's (Personal Digital Terminals), and handheld computers. The new SDK
also empowers numerous vehicle-based information solutions, such as in-vehicle telematics and car
navigation systems, offering drivers improved comprehensibility and overall quality of these systems' synthetic
voices.
A reduced footprint allows the L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK to speech-enable virtually any
application designed for a standard mobile device, such as a PDA running on the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) CE
operating system or Linux(R) platform. The software converts several types of written text format, ranging from
e-mail to currencies, dates, or web pages, into high-quality, natural-sounding speech. Special text
pre-processors generate accurate pronunciation of e-mail addresses, URL's, and date and time formats. In
addition, the L&H(TM) Application Programming Interface (API) enables application developers and system
integrators to easily and rapidly build a user-friendly speech interface into their applications.
In November 1998, L&H introduced the first version of L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM). Today, L&H continues to
be one of the leading companies offering high-quality TTS for the speech and language technology market.
L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) is available in 18 languages and is utilized by more than 300 customers worldwide.
The L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK is now available in U.S.-English. The languages Japanese,
German, Italian, Spanish, French and others are scheduled for later this year.
Robert Bury, director of product management, commented: "Ease of use and a natural operating experience
for the end user are key performance features for successful mobile applications. For automotive information
products and services in particular, a top-quality speech output is essential for safety and comfort. Our new
L&H RealSpeak Compact SDK allows PDA manufacturers, mobile CRM systems integrators, car navigation
and telematics service providers, and many others to incorporate the high-quality, natural-sounding TTS
required for today's solutions."

Markets that benefit from using L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK are:
--Automotive: speech technology provides hands-free and eyes-free access to information from within the
vehicle
--Enterprise: voice-enables applications for the mobile workforce that wishes to access business-critical
information from almost any location
--Mobile learning: enhances interactive learning, such as foreign language programs
--Mobile games: enhances a player's interactivity with the game
--Industrial: eases the direct delivery and retrieval of data from the factory floor to and from information
management systems

Peter Hauser, L&H's vice president and general manager, international and automotive said: "With the
launch of L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK, L&H once again demonstrates its commitment to
developing best-of-breed speech technologies and sets yet another new standard for synthesized speech for
embedded markets. In addition to the ASR1600 and Distributed Speech Recognition engines, which enable
effortless and intuitive voice-controlled access to data and devices, L&H now offers its renowned
text-to-speech technology, L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM), for the mobile and automotive markets." Mr. Hauser
added: "For years, L&H has led the TTS market for mobile devices, and now we are taking it to a higher level
of performance."
Detailed technical and sales information about L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) Compact SDK can be found at the
L&H web site www.lhsl.com.

About L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM)

L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) is Lernout & Hauspie's advanced text-to-speech technology (TTS) that can
generate nearly human sounding synthesized speech. It is used in a wide variety of advanced applications,
from the creation of voice portals to speech-enabling virtual newscasters. Typical markets for deploying
L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) include: banking, financial, telecommunications, call center and media industries.
L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) technology supports over 5 operating systems and is currently available in 18
languages: US and UK English, German, French, Dutch & Belgian Dutch, Castilian and Mexican Spanish,
Italian, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Cantonese & Mandarin
Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. The L&H(TM) RealSpeak(TM) TTS engine has already received a number of
industry awards in recognition of its superior technology and capabilities. The engine won in the Web software
category of the Computing Awards for Excellence 2000 run by VNU Business Publications and the "Best
Speech Technology" category at VOICE Europe 99. Other awards include SpeechTEK's "Peak Performance
Awards," and the "Best of CTI Expo Spring 1999" Award.

About Lernout & Hauspie

L&H is a global leader in advanced speech and language solutions for vertical markets, computers,
automobiles, telecommunications, embedded products, consumer goods and the Internet. The company is
making the speech user interface (SUI) the keystone of simple, convenient interaction between humans and
technology, and is using advanced translation technology to break down language barriers. The company
provides a wide range of offerings including: customized solutions for corporations; core speech technologies
marketed to OEMs; end user and retail applications for continuous speech products in horizontal and vertical
markets; and document creation, human and machine translation services, Internet translation offerings, and
linguistic tools. L&H's products and services originate in four basic areas: automatic speech recognition
(ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), search and retrieval and audio mining and text-to-text (translation). For more
information, please visit L&H on the World Wide Web at www.lhsl.com.

This Press Release contains forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties, including
statements about L&H's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Readers are cautioned that forward
looking statements include known and unknown risks, including uncertainty of new product development, the
risk that newly introduced products may contain undetected errors or defects or otherwise not perform as
anticipated, early state of development of the speech, language and medical information technology markets,
the ability of L&H's customers to successfully integrate and commercialize L&H's technology, the uncertainties
associated with the Company's recent Chapter 11 filings in the US and related proceedings in Belgium, the
retention of key technical and other personnel, currency and other risks related to international operations,
rapid technological change and intense competition, as well as other risks set forth in L&H's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward- looking statements contained herein speak only as of the
date of this Press Release.

L&H and RealSpeak are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products
N.V. in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names or trademarks referenced herein are
trademarks of their respective owners.

--30--ds/bos*

CONTACT: L&H Speech and Language Technologies Division:
Media Contact EMEA:
Lernout & Hauspie
Vanessa Richter, [phone]
[e-mail]
or
L&H Speech and Language Technologies Division
Media Contact US:
Lernout & Hauspie
Catherine Van Evans, [phone]
[e-mail]
or
L&H Corporate:
Corporate Comm:
Lernout & Hauspie
Ron Schuermans, [phone],
[e-mail]
or
L&H Corporate:
Media Contact EMEA:
Lernout & Hauspie
Hans Michiels, [phone]
[e-mail]
or
L&H Corporate:
Media Contact US:
Thomson Financial/Carson
Karina Byrne, [phone]
or
L&H Corporate:
Investor Relations:
Lernout & Hauspie
Allan Forsey, [phone]
[e-mail]