Reviews related to : Speech recognition

This is another very mature product. When it first came out it was a new way of working by speaking to your computer, now many imitators are available, even Microsoft spawn Cortana. Here however is a product that requires almost no correction.
The previous version that was on my work PC was 11.5 and once you start the installer this version 14 requires that the earlier be removed before install but you can keep your speech files. Enter your serial number and then the installation starts with nothing appearing to happen apart from the DVD drive spinning then after around four minutes files start installing.
While computers have recently been given the ability to talk to use through the use of applications such as Siri and Cortana, we have been able to talk to our computers for a number of years and have our spoken words transformed into editable text using specialist software. A leading product in this particular area is Dragon Naturally Speaking with the latest version of this speech recognition software package being available in Professional Individual and Professional Group editions. This review is based on my experiences with Dragon Professional Individual product.
When Dragon Professional Individual is first fired up, it will be in trial mode allowing the user up to five launches to check out the software.  You will need to enter the supplied serial number in order to activate the software and remove the launch restriction.  If the software detects a previous version of the product, it will offer to upgrade your user profile using the data gathered by the earlier version.
Nuance’s market leading speech recognition software is now up to version 13 with the latest edition of Dragon Naturally Speaking. As with the previous versions of this package, Nuance has developed offerings aimed at different sectors of the market. With this version 13 of the product, you get the choice of Premium, the software used for this review, or that of the lower priced Home offering.
Installing Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS from now on), including the initial set-up procedure, is not a particular quick operation.  It does require some user interaction which is mainly due to the initial creation of your specific user profile.  You will need to enter the product’s serial number to switch the product from trial mode to that of full application use.
The latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) speech recognition software, Version 13, is more accurate, easier to train and works with a wider range of applications than previously. Consequently, an even wider range of people should be able to benefit from its use.
DNS is arguably the most popular speech recognition application with this latest incarnation, which is claimed to be 15% more accurate and easier to use than previously, available in Home and Premium versions. Hence, there is a one to suit most people's needs and make it easier to create and edit documents as well as sending emails. Advances in speech recognition technology have enabled Nuance to make the "training" far simpler than before.
While you may not fancy holding a conversation with your computer, it can handle your dictation with the help of appropriate software.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 12 is the latest incarnation of a long established speech recognition program. In step with increases in PC power, its speed and accuracy has been steadily improving. In fact, it can be argued that the performance is now such that even touch typists could find it worthwhile.
Despite the increase of texting, there continues to be a massive growth in the size and number of documents generated and stored on computer. While a proportion of those involved can type effectively, even more would benefit from the use of modern speech recognition technology which, for a great many people, will be faster and more accurate than what they would otherwise be able to achieve.
This is the latest version of the excellent voice recognition software from Nuance. Dragon were at one time a competitor and some years ago they became a Nuance purchase, now it is not only the best speech software but the easiest to use.
Installation is straightforward, it took 12 minutes and installed 3.5GB of files including extra Microsoft files not already on the PC, you will need to speak into the provided headset to test your audio, and somewhat surprisingly to me it said my audio test failed. I repeated it and it failed again but I saw it also said I could continue. While ‘training’ is no longer essential you do really need to speak some sentences to allow it to get used to your voice.
Dragon speech recognition software has been around for many years and is increasingly able to take advantage of faster processors and larger amounts of memory. The latest version Naturally Speaking 11.5 appears to have the same recognition engine as version 11, and so is also able to take advantage of today’s multiple processor cores and 64-bit systems, but has been enhanced to make it this more user-friendly.
One important factor with speech recognition is that it should be provided with the best quality input possible. Consequently, once the software has been installed the audio performance (level and quality) of the microphone and the PC’s sound card is checked prior to the user training the system to his or her voice by reading from a choice of texts. This only takes about ten minutes or so before one can start actually using the software.
The numbers of people producing speech software are reducing and Dragon is the main player in the PC part of the market, they are now part of Nuance. So what advantages does version 11 have to make you rush out to purchase?
First the bit that may confuse, the various versions now have new names, what was Standard is now called Home, what was Preferred is now Premium (the one I am looking at) and then there is Professional and Legal. While I am not a heavy user of speech software I have used it in some form or other for around ten years. The main difference now is that ‘training’ is not essential to get reasonable results.
Give your fingers a rest and instead use your voice to communicate with your computer by using the latest software from Nuance.
Speech recognition has come of age with the launch of Dragon Naturally Speaking version 11. After just a few minutes training I was able to achieve a very high level of transcription accuracy and was starting to get acquainted with the voice commands for editing and other purposes. This program could well change the way that many users interact with their PCs.
Although speech recognition has been around for many years the increased sophistication of the software combined with the improved performance of today’s PCs has resulted in far more effective technology. In particular, this new version of Dragon recognises the presence of multiple processors, and both 32- and 64-bit systems and is thus able to take advantage of today’s multi-core PCs with 2GB or more of RAM.
Speech recognition on mobiles hasn't moved beyond answering the odd call - Vlingo aim to improve matters!
One of my favourite moments in film history is Star Trek's Scottie, travelling back in time, sternly calling “Computer............ Computer...................” at a 20th century computer screen. Getting no response he believes the computer to be broken. Well we all know that technology has brought us voice recognition applications on computers and now Vlingo are making this part of our daily lives with their mobile voice recognition sotrware.
Recently I have been talking to my computer. This should not be regarded as a sign of any mental disturbance but more to do with testing the latest speech recognition software from Nuance.
Nuance, the leading provider of speech solutions, has released the latest version of its best selling speech recognition software.  This is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS from now on) which is now up to version 10 and arrives just over two years after version 9. The product is available in Standard, Preferred, Preferred Wireless and Mobile, and Professional flavours. This review is based on DNS Preferred.
This product almost has the voice recording market to itself, the method buy the opposition, worked a while ago. Don’t get me wrong it is a very good package and could well put a lot of typists out of work. It is also happy to work unsocial hours for no pay.
  The product comes on a DVD and took around 15 minutes to install on a reasonably fast XP system. Add another 10 minutes for the basic training and microphone testing and you are ready to go. Give it some documents and emails to analyze (this can take a few minutes) and it will already have a good idea of your style, this will help. My initial few test sentences had only one error that to me is near perfection.
How good is your typing? Do you wish you could touch type instead of the one-fingered search and spear technique? Do you suffer from RSI? This article reviews some of the alternatives out there to make your life easier
No matter how quickly I learn to type there is an undeniable pleasure in writing long hand. It's not that I'm an old fuddy duddy but I get more tuned in with my brain this way. Since graphic designers took to their Macs and wielded a Wacom stylus, handwriting recognition software has offered some interesting possibilities. Not being tied to your laptop and being able to write more intuitively is a great plus.
This Nuance software is now Vista compatible and the version I am looking at here comes with a wireless (DECT) headset that works superby.
My is over a year old but only now have I managed to get hold of the version that I requested at the launch of the product that the demonstrator walked up and down the large room whilst demonstrating, true Wireless technology using a DECT headset.
The blurb says works without any training, well always the one to take people at their word I installed it on a notebook that had no files of mine, installed it and then started the program.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred comes on two CD's and say's it needs 1.3GB of hard disc space, the actual space taken on the notebook was 1523MB and the install time was only 12 minutes. On starting the program you get a toolbar along the top of the screen, so as not to give it anything I used Windows Notepad and started speaking, reproduced below are the first words I spoke and the three errors, with what I intended added in brackets, I was astonished.
Does your computer listen to you? If not then maybe it needs the assistance of a product such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.
As the processing power of hardware has improved and increased memory has become more economically viable, one type of application that has benefited more than most is that of speech recognition.  Leading the way in this particular area is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS from now on) from Nuance (nee ScanSoft).  Now up to version 9, DNS is available in Standard, Preferred, Mobile and Professional flavours.
Taking speech recognition capability on the road is possible with the latest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8.
A nice idea, available elsewhere when you purchase separate programs. This incarnation is easy to use and does just what it says it reads your words to you, this is text to speech software.