Dragon Dictate for Mac now available
That didn't take long. Earlier this year, Nuance Communications took over the MacSpeech product, with the intention of improving what was already a good application.
That has now been accomplished, and today Dragon Dictate is available for the Macintosh platform -- a reasonably priced upgrade for MacSpeech users.
The new version offers easier editing, the ability to switch between different microphones, and it uses a computer voice to proofread your dictated documents. The speech engine has been updated to new state-of-the-art technology.
It's nice to see speech recognition on the Mac that finally has feature parity with the PC versions. There are some nice new and unexpected features like saying 'search Google for Greek restaurants', and you can do a Spotlight search by voice.
You can order Dragon Dictate now for the Mac for US$199.99; that's for a boxed version that should ship by October 1. The price includes a USB headset. Owners of the current MacSpeech can upgrade for $49.99. MacSpeech users who are registered should be getting an e-mail with all the upgrade information. The upgrade can be downloaded, but beware, it is a 1.3 GB file.
I just received the software and will be putting it through its paces over the next few days and have a detailed review soon. I was able to dictate this review using Dragon Dictate with no issues.
Dragon Dictate requires an Intel-based Mac with Snow Leopard and an Internet connection for registration. The software will work with a variety of microphones, but you want something that has pretty good quality and good noise cancellation.
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That didn't take long. Earlier this year, Nuance Communications took over the MacSpeech product, with the intention of improving what was...
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Ah, so, is "that detailed review soon" still in the works?
I would not recommend this software.
I bought it, and did all of the profile files. Used it for a day.
The next day launched it and when it ran my profile it called up AOL.Com and crashed.
After several hours of playing around with it and finally getting Nuance on the phone, they say it's a bug in the program that everybody is having and the software does not work. They are asking people to wait for a patch or update that is suppose to come out on Friday evening.
Sorry, this is one software package that you want to put in your calender and check back in a month or two because they have several problems like it won't work in Skype, it won't work in Spell Catcher.
So be forewarned, best to wait before you update to Dragon Dictate
Probably when you and/or your Dutch speaking friends decide to get around writing it. LOL
September 24 2010 at 5:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySwitcht to Mac 3 years ago. I only miss my Dutch speachrecognition. When, when, when oh when will there be a decent Dutch speachrecognition.??????
September 21 2010 at 5:04 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySorry but I had no problem today calling the Dragon people. I couldn't find my serial number for macspeech and someone helped me out, was great and knowledgeable. Maybe I was lucky.
Oh, the download is a bear, took almost an hour to download
The upgrade has a 30-day refund period, so if it doesn't work for you there is no risk of losing $50.
Ugh. Well, I hope the Dragon version is less buggy than the MacSpeech version. I literally counted in crashes per hour. Cool program, but it was like driving a Porsche that broke down every 4 miles.
September 20 2010 at 6:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCustomer service at Nuance is literally the worst call center nightmare I have ever dealt with. They are completely incomprehensible. Whatever foreign country's people they are using contains amazingly polite people who unfortunately haven't a *&^*^& clue what they are doing nor any familiarity with Nuance's products whatsoever. I have been on the phone with them for almost an hour trying (and failing) to get this much-anticipated upgrade while holding the MacSpeech CDs in one hand and my Amex in the other in a futile attempt to buy this &^%^% darn thing. If I could reach through the phone, there'd be severe injuries on the other end. They also must be using phone lines that have a tin can and string loop somewhere just to confound the process. This is a textbook eample of how to screw up a great product launch and destroy your reputation in one easy lesson.
September 20 2010 at 4:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy is it I can buy this for $29 for Windows, but have to shell out $199 for the mac? What year is this?
Really? Where? On Nuance's web site, they list the PC version for $199.99
http://nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/premium-version
"No issues" except for "regognition", you mean... ;-)
September 20 2010 at 3:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBingo. You got me there. Even though our spell checker flagged it I missed it. Good catch.
Mel
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