Voice recognition software has continued to progress over the last several years. Dragon Naturally Speaking is probably one of the most well known and most widely used programs for voice recognition. A recent article in PC World states that the latest version, Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 boasts a 99 percent accuracy rate out of the box!
Previous versions were able to obtain 99% accuracy, but this was only after a user read a script to train the program. That means no “training” session with this version, although one is still available if a user isn’t completely satisfied.
They have labeled the new version “uncannily accurate” however, it still may take a few days for the program to train itself which will increase accuracy. Accuracy depends on how a person talks, and the sound quality. Nuance, the maker of the software is certifying two Bluetooth wireless headsets for use with the software making it more convenient. Also important to note, the 99% accuracy rate is for the American English version.
This new release is available for Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Australian, Asian, Indian, and U.K. English.
Enjoyed the post? Subscribe to our feed to get a daily dose of CyberNet!
Tags: Newly Released, Software
Related Posts:
- Vista Voice Recognition Bashing One Step Too Far?
- Demo Of Microsoft’s Vista Voice Recognition Misfires
- Google Patents Voice Search Technology
- AT&T To Bring Voice Web App to iPhone
- GMail Lets You Call Users…Almost
Beware of the many pirates on Ebay selling Dragon Preferred / Standard 9.5 at about 1/5 of retail cost. They have no manuals and dodgy microphones. But most disturbing of all what they do is:
Each version of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 allows for 5 installs ( in case you reformat or change computers) then you cant register it again without contacting nuance.
So these dodgey ebayers buy 1 copy of retail Dragon software and sell it 5+ times. So EVENTUALLY if not immediately the people who buy these dodgey version cant activate their product as one person may have installed twice! In other words the product is useless.This will ALWAYS happen eventually so 100% of these buyers will blow their money eventually. Avoid these ebayers at all costs.
Heres some examples of this
[myworld.ebay.com.au] Already starting to get the negative feedback and some comments about photocopied manuals.
Also this looks the same [myworld.ebay.com.au]
We’ve had a lot of calls from people burnt by this but franky when you can see this software at 1/5 retail price then you get what you deserve in my opinion.
__________________
Beware the “disc only” auctions for Dragon 8 and above. Nuance introduced activation with Dragon 8. I got a copy of Dragon 8 off eBay about two years ago. It installed and worked fine. About six months later I rebuilt my PC and installed it again. I tried to activate, and it wouldn’t work. I called Nuance (they were called Scansoft at the time) and they told me that my copy had been activated over 10 times, their limit. What had happened is someone was buying real copies and counterfeit discs, and putting the same serial on five or more discs. Of course the fake discs work, and you leave positive feedback. But later they won’t work, and there is no recourse. That same seller is selling right now on eBay, and is a gold Powerseller with 99.8% feedback. Buy only boxed retail if you want to install them more than once. Nuance will have no pity.
The discs looked authentic (they are not CD-R’s). But here is how to tell that they are not authentic: The serials on the sleaves of fake discs are on a plain white sticker, 1/4 by 2 inches. The real serials on the back of the authentic discs are 2.75 by 3.5 inches, and the serial is there three times, and two can be peeled off. CD’s are cheap to duplicate, but it is too much effort for the counterfeiters to make boxes and manuals. So beware of “disc only” auctions.
UPDATE: I just heard from someone who had a similar problem with a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.5 preferred that he recently bought. It came with a microphone, but no box or manual. The serial number on the sticker was there only once. Suspicious, he called Nuance, and they told him that the serial number of the copy he had just bought and never installed had been activated six times already. The same tactic from two years ago is still being used. Caveat Empator.