For Release Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Contact: rick@nextup.com

TextAloud MP3 Text-to-Speech Software Now Available With AT&T Labs Natural Voices™

CLEMMONS, NC — NextUp.com today announced that it's TextAloud MP3 text-to-speech (TTS) PC software is now offered with AT&T Labs' Natural Voices™ Text-to Speech Engine — one of the most natural sounding computer speech systems on the market.

The new software, which is targeted toward the consumer market, lets individuals add text-to-speech capabilities to their personal computers (PCs) with a quality that was previously available only in a server-based environment.

"We are providing users with the most advanced text-to-speech technology available so practically anyone can now add high-quality speech to their PC," said Rick Ellis, chief marketing officer of NextUp.com. "Our customers' overwhelmingly positive response to TextAloud MP3 proves the need for human-sounding computerized speech and AT&T Labs Natural Voices™ system is the kind of next-generation speech engine they are demanding."

TextAloud MP3 software starts at $24.95 and enables users' PCs to read text aloud in a natural, human-sounding voice. Users can listen to Web pages, e-mail, reports, articles and practically any other type of text. Additionally, users can store their daily reading materials on MP3 audio files for portable MP3 players, Pocket PCs or Palms so they can listen while exercising, commuting or traveling.

"We hear from busy professionals, students, writers, and others who find TextAloud MP3 a great tool to get more done and it opens a new dimension for learning," Ellis adds.

"AT&T Labs' Natural Voices™ TTS engine offers an ideal solution for the PC applications being developed by NextUp.com," said Lex McCusker, general manager of AT&T Labs Natural Voices™ software. "A more natural sounding user interface should have a profound effect on increasing user satisfaction with the TextAloud MP3 product."

From the first synthesized speech system in 1939 to today, AT&T Labs has been the world’s leading speech technology pioneer, creating the highest quality and most robust speech systems available. AT&T Labs holds more than 150 patents in automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech, speech synthesis and speech translation technologies.

TextAloud MP3 is available for Windows 98, NT, 2000 and XP. It may be purchased securely from http://www.nextup.com. Evaluation copies available on request. For more information, contact NextUp.com, 2668 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Clemmons, NC 27012. Email: rick@nextup.com. Internet: http://www.nextup.com.

About NextUp.com
NextUp.com is a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC. In addition to TextAloud MP3, NextUp.com markets other innovative Windows software designed to save time and deliver vital information. NewsAloud is a talking personal news agent that finds the stories you want, then reads them aloud or to portable MP3 files. WeatherAloud is a weather application that lets you select and listen to personalized weather forecasts. StocksAloud reads stock updates and related news headlines aloud for companies you are tracking.

About AT&T Labs
AT&T Labs conducts research and development for AT&T. AT&T Labs' 6,000 scientists and engineers are partners to the company's network, product and services groups. Labs people are leaders in technologies and standards for Internet Protocol (IP) and future broadband technologies, advanced network design and architecture, network operations systems, data mining technologies, and visualization tools. AT&T Labs works with the other business units within AT&T to create new services that can be quickly provisioned and offered at low cost. AT&T Labs' expertise in IP networking and services gives AT&T the most reliable IP backbone network. AT&T Labs also invents tools and systems to manage secure and reliable networks for AT&T and its customers. With a heritage that extends from fundamental advances such as the development of the transistor, AT&T Labs has made numerous recent advances in the areas of IP communications infrastructure, data mining and wireless networks. AT&T Labs provides its advances to AT&T business units and earns more than a patent a day.

The foregoing are "forward-looking statements" which are based on management’s beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of AT&T.

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For more information, reporters may contact:

Rick Ellis - NextUp.com
rick@nextup.com