Small Talk Released by Concept Kitchen for the PalmPilot and Newton OS
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 3 — November 3, 1997 — Concept Kitchen, makers of innovative solutions for mobile computing, today released Small Talk(TM) for the PalmPilot and Newton OS, the world's first two-way, real-time translation software, allowing travelers to communicate instantly in a foreign language.
More than just a phrase book or dictionary, Small Talk presents the user with complete sentences intuitively organized into situation-based categories such as Basics, Lodging, Emergencies, Food, Entertainment, Money, Business, Travel, and Social. By simply tapping on the screen, Small Talk provides travelers with an indispensable, fun-to-use solution for communicating in either English, French, Spanish, German or Italian.
K. Dale McAdams, president of Concept Kitchen, said "Phrase books and dictionaries seem to have forgotten the 'co-' in communication. Small Talk represents the world's first practical means of enabling true two-way communication across language barriers, allowing both parties to exchange ideas through the use of a highly interactive, playful interface."
How Small Talk Works:
The intuitive, fun icons on the main menu display a series of real-world situations you may encounter during travel, such as checking into a hotel in France. Tapping an icon brings up a list of relevant questions and phrases, all tailored to your present situation. By selecting any question, Small Talk instantly translates the phrase into the foreign language with the text enlarged and presented in an easy-to-read, flash-card format.
For example, by showing your PDA to an innkeeper, you can quickly ask whether there are any hotel rooms available. Small Talk also allows the innkeeper to respond by tapping the button located at the bottom of the screen and then choosing from a list of likely responses, all listed in his/her native language. The chosen response is instantly translated back into English, completing the dialog. Small Talk also gives the option to customize questions and responses, by entering in specific dates, times, and amounts using easy, touch-based pickers.
To provide users with maximum flexibility, Small Talk is built as a modular program, allowing communication between any two installed languages, not just English. Currently supported languages are English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. Additional language modules will be available in early 1998. Each language is contained as an individual module. Users may install two or more of the language modules at any time and may add and delete languages as needed. This allows translations from English to French, Spanish to French, Italian to German, and so on.
Small Talk is currently available for the PalmPilot (Pilot 1000 with Ram upgrade/Pilot 5000/PalmPilot Personal/PalmPilot Professional), and Newton OS 2.0 or greater (MP120/MP130/MP2000/eMate 300). A Windows CE version will be available in early 1998.
Small Talk Deluxe, containing all 5 languages, is available for $99.95. Small Talk Basic includes a choice of any two languages and is available for $78.95. Small Talk may be purchased from major resellers as well as directly from Concept Kitchen. For more information, visit the Concept Kitchen website at http://www.conceptkitchen.com or call 415-252-3333. An online demo is available at the Concept Kitchen website. Reseller and volume pricing is available.
Concept Kitchen is a recognized leader in the handheld/PDA industry, providing end-users, VARs and OEMs with creative products designed to simplify, enhance, and improve the performance of mobile computing platforms.
NOTE: Small Talk is a registered trademark of Concept Kitchen. Newton, MessagePad, and eMate are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows CE is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Pilot and PalmPilot are registered trademarks of USRobotics, Inc.
CONTACT:
Joni Berkley, Marketing Director of Concept Kitchen, 415-252-3333, or joni@conceptkitchen.com