Nuance Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

DirecTV prepping voice search app for this summer

by Mel Martin (Apr 23rd, 2013)

Help is on the way. DirecTV has been demoing a new app, due out in beta this summer, that will let you search using voice for your desired programs or movies. You can use an actor's name, a show title or just about anything that would identify a program. DirecTV has partnered with Nuance, the ...

Review: Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac delivers reliable dictation

by Mel Martin (Oct 1st, 2012)

I was anxious to test the updated Dragon Dictate, now at version 3, as I had been a steady user of the Dragon products over the years and watched them improve. The new version offers performance boosts for legacy users, along with some attractive new features that might entice customers. Dragon ...

Guess the secret word by video: Clucks for iPhone

by Michael Rose (Sep 27th, 2012)

Fans of the party game Taboo know how tricky (and hilarious) it can be. Players are presented with a "target word" and five no-go descriptor words; then they have to get their partner or team to figure out the target without using any of the five forbidden words. Similar word-guess games can be ...

Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac adds audio transcription

by Mel Martin (Sep 5th, 2012)

Dragon Dictate 3 for OS X is on the way, with a lot of improvements and one standout feature -- the ability to transcribe a recorded digital file. According to the company, Dragon Dictate lets you transcribe recorded audio files so you can capture your thoughts while they're still fresh in your ...

Nuance's 'Nina' vocal assistant SDK may voiceprint users for authentication

by Mike Schramm (Aug 6th, 2012)

Nuance has introduced a brand-new voice interface for smartphones that it's calling Nina -- you can see it in action in a video just posted online. Nina is a mobile OS interface that's open to third-party developers, so it's essentially a Siri that any app developer (willing to read through the ...

Nuance's Dragon ID voice login could leap from Android to iOS

by Michael Rose (Jun 5th, 2012)

As jailbreak aficionados are quick to point out, the stock version of iOS isn't the most customizable mobile platform out there. Certain hooks are simply unavailable to App Store applications, while users of Brand X phones can take advantage of third-party tools to enable face unlock (or, if ...

Nuance announces Dragon Drive, Siri-like functionality for cars

by Steven Sande (May 25th, 2012)

If you can't get enough of Siri's dulcet tones, then you'll be happy to hear that Nuance -- one of the companies behind Apple's intelligent assistant -- has announced a similar type of functionality that should be coming to cars soon. Dragon Drive replicates the power of Siri so that drivers can ...

Nuance updates its PDF converter for Mac

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Apr 9th, 2012)

Nuance has released the newest version of its PDF Converter for Mac software. New features introduced include direct connections to cloud services such as PaperPort Anywhere and Evernote, and a FormTyper that converts PDF and paper into electronic forms that can be used online. The release ...

A second look (and listen) to Evi voice recognition for iPhone

by Mel Martin (Feb 7th, 2012)

Evi is the sort-of Siri clone. The $0.99 iPhone app is aimed mainly at people who don't have an iPhone 4S and want a Siri-like voice control experience. When I tried Evi some weeks ago it was a complete disaster. In a week of testing I could not connect once because of server issues. The developers ...

Daily Update for December 21, 2011

by Steven Sande (Dec 21st, 2011)

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player ...

Nuance to acquire rival Vlingo

by Mike Schramm (Dec 21st, 2011)

Nuance, the company behind the Dragon apps and a whole slew of other popular software suites, has decided to acquire its rival Vlingo, another voice-to-text software developer. VentureBeat says it's for an undisclosed sum, but even though the two companies have sued and counter-sued over a ...

The man who provided Siri's voice in the UK

by Steven Sande (Nov 10th, 2011)

Despite Apple's request that he remain anonymous, British voiceover artist Jon Briggs revealed to The Telegraph that he is the voice of Siri in the UK. Briggs received a call from an Apple PR representative last month after the iPhone 4S was launched, and was told that he should not talk ...

Will Dragon speech apps remain in the app store for iPhone 4 owners?

by Mel Martin (Oct 5th, 2011)

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 ...

Daily Update for September 29, 2011

by Steven Sande (Sep 29th, 2011)

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the ...

Dragon Go for iPhone gets smarter

by Mel Martin (Sep 29th, 2011)

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 ...