Nuance Communications

Posted 12/06/2011 at 9:20am | by Cory Bohon Will Siri be available on the iPhone 4? Or do we have to pay $200+? Unfortunately, Siri is iPhone 4S–specific, and won’t work on earlier versions of the iPhone. But there are other tools that you can use to get Siri-like functionality on your existing iPhone. For starters, Voice Control has been built into iPhones since the iPhone 3GS. Hold down the Home button for a few seconds, and speak simple commands like, “Call Cory,” or specify songs or artists to play from your music library. Voice Control can also answer simple queries like “What day is it?” or “What time is it?” Vlingo works similar to Siri. Just tap on the Press & Speak button and speak your message. However, that’s really where Voice Control’s functionality stops. To get more commands, we recommend Vlingo. This free app sends text messages, emails, finds locations, updates your social networks, performs web searches, and dials your phone. For replicating the dictation capabilities of Siri, try Dragon Dictation (free in the App Store). Speak your message, and then send it via text, email, or paste it into any other application. Using all three of these applications in conjunction will give your old phone some Siri-like capabilities. GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE? Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080 Tags: Read More

Nuance stellte Ende September mit Dragon Recorder (kostenlos; App Store-Link) eine kleine Diktat-App in den iOS-Store. Darüber aufgezeichnete Audio-Notizen, die natürlich auch mit jeder anderen iPhone-Software erstellt werden können, lassen sich zu dessen Niederschrift (PC) oder (OS X) vorlegen. Das Problem: Beide Programme kosten jeweils über 100 Euro. Wer auf die Technik aus gleichem Haus, nur ein wenig günstiger, zugreifen möchte, installiert Dragon Dictation (kostenlos; universal; App Store-Link) und mailt sich die eingesprochenen und anschließend in Schriftzeichen übersetzten Textblöcke zu. Das funktioniert zwar, ist aber viel zu umständlich. Deshalb rufen wir Pastebot (2.99 €; App Store-Link), einen alten Bekannten mit pfeilschnellem Push der Zwischenablage, wieder auf den Plan. Kurze Anmerkung zum Video: Die Spracheingabe und dessen anschließende Übersetzung funktioniert auch mit einer grammatikalisch korrekten und obendrein sinnvollen Satzsyntax. Read More

En su tiempo ya hablamos de la aplicación Dragon dictation, ahora los desarrolladores Nuance Communications han creado otra app llamada Dragon Search que te permite hacer búsquedas en Google, Yahoo y otros buscadores con la voz desde el iPhone o el iPad. El funcionamiento es muy sencillo, sólo tienes que tocar en el botón que pone “tocar y hablar”, pronuncias la palabra que quieres encontrar en tu buscador y este te la localiza en el momento. Este mismo procedimiento lo podemos hacer pero haciendo uso de las redes sociales como twitter o youtube, o incluso hacer búsquedas de información en wikipedia, encontrar tus canciones favoritas en iTunes… El reconocimiento de voz es bastante bueno, y además la aplicación está disponible en español. ¿A que esperas para hablarle al iPhone hasta que llegue Siri a nuestro país? Disponible: App Store Precio: Gratis Read More

Nuance is out with the Dragon Recorder iOS app, allowing its Dragon customers to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as a voice recorder to capture their own voice, and then transcribe the recordings into any application on the Mac or PC with Dragon speech recognition. According to the official press release, more than half of Nuance’s current Dragon customers have requested a way to use their smartphones to capture their thoughts on the go. In that sense, the iOS app is just a start and we expect to see the application hitting other platforms like Android and Windows Phone in the near future. Aside from audio recording (in WAV format), Dragon Recorder also allows users to playback, fast forward, rewind and append to their recordings as necessary and then use either iTunes or a Wi-Fi network, to transfer their audio files from the mobile device to their PC or Mac for an accurate transcription from Dragon NaturallySpeaking or MacSpeech Scribe… Dragon Recorder (FREE) [iTunes link] Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis. Read More

It's all about speech on the iPhone 4S, from the systemwide dictation features to the inscrutable but very helpful Siri assistant. The fine folks at Nuance (suppliers of some of the underlying IP that powers the 4S voice savvy) have made a big move into the mobile space; the company already has a suite of iOS apps that cover several speech-related functions. There's Dragon Dictation for text entry, Dragon Go! and Search for finding what you need, Dragon for SalesForce to work with your CRM system, two Dragon Medical apps for search and recording, and the Dragon Remote Mic app that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a networked microphone for the company's desktop dictation apps (Dragon Dictate for Mac or NaturallySpeaking for Windows). Now there's another member of this growing family: the Dragon Recorder app. Dragon Recorder is a free and straightforward voice recording app designed to pair with the company's transcription software; on the Mac, that means the $150 MacSpeech Scribe application. You can use Recorder to record your voice (only yours; Scribe and its Windows sister product are speaker-dependent) on the go, and then easily transfer the recordings via sync or Wi-Fi browser sharing for later transcription. Of course, you could use the built-in Voice Memos application to achieve much the same result, but you wouldn't get the Wi-Fi sharing feature. Then again, if you're planning to do a lot of mobile dictation, I'd recommend picking up Irradiated Software's drop-dead easy DropVox for $1.99 -- forget transferring your files by sync or by click, they'll just show up automatically in your Dropbox folder ready for transcription. (There's no step 3.) It remains to be seen how much of an impact the new on-device dictation capabilities will have on the pro-level dictation and transcription software market, but if you're already a MacSpeech Scribe user then it's worth giving Recorder a try... that is, if you're not already feeling silly talking to Siri. Read More

The iPhone 4S is due out Friday, Oct. 14, but already the early reviews are pouring in. They’re easy to sum up (people like it) but it’s also worth zooming in on some of the individual takes from the better reviews popping up around the web to get a sense of what exactly is and isn’t pleasing about Apple’s latest. David Pogue of the  says Siri, Apple’s new voice-powered virtual assistant, is so good it has demoted the on-screen keyboard to “a glorified Plan B,” but he also reveals some interesting tidbits about how much it owes to voice recognition software company Nuance: Apple won’t admit that it’s using a version of Dragon Dictation, the free iPhone app, but there doesn’t seem to be much doubt; it works and behaves identically. (For example, it occasionally seems to process your utterance but then types nothing at all, just as the Dragon app does.) This version is infinitely better, though, because it’s a built-in keyboard button, not a separate app. Like Pogue and many other reviewers, Walt Mossberg of AllThingsD  focused on Siri in his appraisal. Mossberg’s reaction to Siri is generally more level-headed than Pogue’s, and in fact, early on he sums up his take on the 4S in general in very moderate tones: Despite Siri, the iPhone 4S isn’t a dramatic game-changer like some previous iPhones. Some new features are catch-ups to competitors. I sense Apple chose to focus more on software and cloud service than on hardware. But, in my tests, the iPhone 4S performed very well. It’s a better iPhone for the same $199 entry price, at a time when some competitors are pricing their flagship smartphones starting at $299. Macworld editor Jason Snell dives headlong into the issue of cellular signal attenuation, which was a problem with the iPhone 4′s design. He talks about the extensive media storm that surrounded, and then notes that Apple seems to have paid attention: In all my tests, the old iPhone 4 “death grip” had no impact on the speed of cellular downloads on the iPhone 4S, nor did a reverse grip at the top of the phone. Only when I took both hands and performed a “death grip” that covered the entire phone (or at least touched all four corners of the phone simultaneously) did I see any signal attenuation. Joshua Topolsky of This is My Next looks at the classic body Read More

It was a bit of a shock to learn yesterday that the terrific Siri app, now owned by Apple, will get pulled from the app store. It's being done, I'm sure, to encourage people to get the Siri technology built into the new iPhone 4S. Although an interview with the co-founder of Siri indicated that they had to cut some corners to get the app to work on "older" hardware. Still, it seems, shall we say, small of Apple to kill an app that seemed to work just fine, and did some of the tasks that the new incarnation of Siri will do on the iPhone 4S. One bright spot for those sticking with their current phones are the Dragon apps from Nuance. Dragon Dictation will take your voice and turn it into text for a note, an email, or a text message. Dragon Go!, which we have reviewed very positively, does much of what Siri does, connecting to Yelp, Google Maps, Open Table, various search engines and other web services so you can ask about a weather forecast, directions to any destination, and even the latest sports scores. Like Siri, the Dragon apps are powered by Nuance speech recognition software, and the processing is done in the cloud. Both the Dragon apps are free and work fine on the iPhone 4, 3GS, 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch, and the iPad. A Nuance spokesperson assured me today that both apps are doing very well, and the company has no plans to pull them from the App Store. Together the apps can give you a rough approximation of what Siri on the iPhone 4S can do, but it doesn't have the same integration with iOS as Siri so it won't be as slick. I'm hoping Apple will reconsider what I think is a customer hostile decision to yank Siri. How about you? Do you think Apple should have pulled the plug on the Siri app? Read More

Dragon Go!, the all-purpose voice recognition search app from Nuance, is getting a significant upgrade today. In fact, it's almost a preview of some of the functionality we suspect will be in iOS5. The free app lets you speak conversationally with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Say things like "What's the best steakhouse in Kansas City", or "Find me some pictures of Lady Gaga", and the app will parse what you said and nearly always return useable results. The update, which should hit the App Store today, adds many more options, including the ability to launch popular movie and TV streaming services; get direct access to more of the most popular names in mobile content, like Spotify; get answers to the toughest of questions from Wolfram|Alpha and Ask.com; and, find friends on Google+. I tried some of the new functions, and was impressed. For instance, I said "Watch Mad Men on Netflix," and Dragon Go initiated a Google search. When I clicked on the resulting link, my Netflix app launched and the show started. I also successfully searched TUAW for articles and had it define words using Dictionary.com. For apps that require a login, you'll have to set up Dragon Go! to link with those apps, but that's not a difficult task. Vlad Sejnoha, chief technology officer at Nuance said "We're deeply invested in continuing to evolve Dragon Go! with new features, more content providers and richer app integration, and ultimately opening new doors for the consumer mobile destination experience. This is another step towards the mobile semantic web, and we've just gotten started." These new services join Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube and many others that were already built into the app. I find Dragon Go! and Siri (now owned by Apple) to be two of the best demos for the iPhone around. If you already have Dragon Go! you should see the update today. If you don't have it, download it and impress yourself and your friends. Read More

The company behind the Dragon speech recognition applications for computers and iOS devices has announced a new developer program that will allow software to access Dragon Voice technology at no charge. It could result in a tidal wave of apps that harness the power of the Nuance speech recognition and text to speech technologies. Many of our readers have no doubt used Nuance tech in apps like Siri, and Dragon Go. I talked with Kenneth Harper, Senior Product Manager for Nuance, who says opening up the technology is a way to help Nuance become an even bigger standard in voice technology, as well as introduce developers to the company. Harper says that the free developer service, called NDEV Silver, will apply to about 90% of the app developers for iOS. Developers will also have free access to Nuance's connected text-to-speech (TTS) capabilities in over 30 languages, bringing natural sounding text-to-speech in the cloud. Further, NDEV Silver members get access to Bluetooth hands-free voice applications. For larger corporate customers, Nuance will offer higher levels of services at what they call the Gold and Emerald level, but even these services will cost much less than the previous developer programs Nuance has offered. Harper wouldn't comment on how all this will tie in with rumored voice technology built into iOS 5 and new hardware that Apple is expected to announce soon, but since Apple now owns Siri, and has used Nuance technology in the past, it is likely there will be synergies. Many developers will leap at the chance to add very sophisticated speech features to their apps, and iPhones are likely to get even much more useful. The new developer program will also support Android and Windows Phone 7. Read More

Welcome to our weekly installment of Picks of the Week at iSource where we provide our expanded coverage of Apple accessories and applications  Here we will promote our favorite iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac and Apple TV related items, as well as bring you occasional tips and tricks.  Hopefully many of our favorite items will also be of interest to you. Please feel free to comment on our selections, and suggest picks of your own.  Check out this week’s picks after the break iPad stands are rapidly becoming my favorite type of accessory for any of my devices. I have used a number of them with the original iPad and the iPad 2, and have no less than four that I would call current favorites. Standing big (BIG!) and tall among those is the Stabile Stand for iPad. This is basically the mother of all iPad stands – four full pounds of Made-in-the-USA iPad stand. It’s an iPad stand you could use for working out your arms. It’s very nicely built and offers a really useful viewing and working angle for the iPad (or iPad 2) in both landscape and portrait modes. The area where the iPad sits is generously spaced enough that I happily put my iPad 2 in it with its smart cover still on (and tucked round the back). The stand looks quite smart on my desk as well – and is of course a notable landmark due to its sheer size. My pick of the week is not a new app, but it has become one of my new favorites. Dragon Dictation is is a fantastic and free universal app that quickly converts your speech to text (so long as you have an active Internet connection). I never had need for these kinds of dictation apps before, but since I’m recovering from a wrist injury and trying to keep my typing to a minimum, Dragon Dictation on iPhone and iPad has become an absolute lifesaver. The app requires no training and makes editing your incorrect dictations as easy as tapping and holding on the screen. There are slowdowns every once in a while, but I find that most of my sentences come back fully dictated within 1 to 2 seconds. I have been using DragonDictate for the Mac for a good couple of weeks now, but the free mobile version of the app has proven to be infinitely Read More