dictation

How to use Siri to type on your Mac

Siri is starting to see a lot of different, yet very creative implementations. The latest is an iOS app from Avatron aptly titled Air Dictate.

Air Dictate allows iPhone 4S to use Siri dictation to type for them on their Mac; it's an intriguing use of Siri.

To begin, you will need to buy Air Dictate from the App Store (99 cents). Keep in mind this app requires you to be using an iPhone 4S, the only device currently in the Apple lineup with Siri integration.

After you have installed Air Dictate on your iPhone 4S, head on over … Read more

New app makes Siri dictate for Mac

Typing with your hands is so retro.

Own an iPhone 4S and Mac computer? Check out a new hands-free typing app called Air Dictate.

There are no public APIs for using the Siri voice-activated assistant for dictation, so developer Avatron found a way to control Siri and convert speech into text. The text then transfers to the corresponding Mac (with OS X 10.6.8 or higher) running the Air Dictate Receiver app.… Read more

Siri surrogate: Voice commands with Dragon Dictation

Are you feeling ignored because your iPhone 4S-toting friends are spending more time conversing with Siri than with you? If you have an older iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, you can run the newly released iOS 5, but it doesn't come with Apple's vaguely British virtual assistant. What's a lonely, old iPhone owner to do?

One idea is to give Dragon Dictation a try. From Nuance, the makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking software (and who may have had a hand in developing Siri), Dictation is a free iPhone voice app that lets you engage in one-way conversations with your iPhone. It won't answer your queries like Siri does, but it does an impressive job of translating your spoken words into text. So, while you can't ask Dragon Dictation where you can find the best burrito in your vicinity (I'm pretty sure Siri would tell me to leave the state of New Hampshire for such an item), you can dictate text messages and e-mails as well as Facebook and Twitter updates. … Read more

Crave giveaway: Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5

This week's giveaway is really something to talk about. The winner will score Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 Home Edition for Windows, an upgrade from Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.

Nuance promises that the software refresh, released last month, delivers faster, better speech recognition. In fact, the company says this version boasts 15 percent greater accuracy out of the box than Dragon 10, and can reduce recognition errors by up to 35 percent compared with Dragon 9.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 Home Edition also features new voice commands that let you post to Facebook and Twitter (get ready to start talking in 140 characters), along with new formatting and editing commands and more shortcuts.

Normally, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 Home Edition for Windows would cost $99.99, but you have the chance to get it gratis. That's a great deal for anyone who suffers the perils of too much typing--or really, really likes to talk. … Read more

Crave giveaway: Nuance Dragon software package

OK, this week we're serving up a 2-for-1 software special here on Crave. Thanks to a donation from Nuance, we've got both a Windows version of the company's speech-recognition software--Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Version 11/Home edition)--as well as Dragon Dictate for Mac.

Both the Mac and Windows versions are powered by Nuance's "state-of-the-art" Dragon v11 speech-recognition engine, which Nuance says is much more accurate out of the box and responds faster to spoken commands (you can edit documents, compose e-mails, navigate applications, search the Web, and more). And because you don't have to … Read more

LG Voice-to-Text app does for Windows Phone 7 what Microsoft didn't

We all agree there's a lot to like about Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's newest mobile operating system. However, there are some tools Microsoft could have inserted into its still-nascent mobile platform. A universal voice-to-text service is one of them--as we've noted before, Microsoft has a robust technology with TellMe.

Microsoft-powered voice commands are still a future feature we may see, even as soon as CES. In the meantime, manufacturers and carriers will need to fill in the gaps. LG did this for the LG Optimus Windows Phones in its LG Voice-to-Text application. Voice commands will let you … Read more

Talk to text with two free iPhone dictation apps

In the battle between iPhone and Android, one of several things Android users can hang over the heads of their iPhone-toting brethren is the built-in talk-to-text capability. Luckily, owners of the Apple device can easily retort, "Well, there's an app for that!" In fact, there are several dictation programs available. Better yet, the two I've outlined below are free (for the most part).

Dragon Dictation: This completely free app--which is compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running OS 3.1 or later--is simpler in function than the other offering here. However, a new version … Read more

Excellent dictation on the iPhone

HT Professional Recorder is a dictation-recording software with several useful features for recording your thoughts and comments. Though the iPhone comes with a voice memo app, with HT Professional Recorder you get tons of options for serious dictation recording. The interface has a unique swooshlike design with buttons across the top for creating a new recording, starting your recording, playback, and pause. There also are buttons to advance or "rewind" the playback in 5-second increments so you can scan for specific parts of your recording. On the bottom of the swoosh design, you also can use a slider … Read more

Easy dictation and console-like skateboarding: iPhone apps of the week

As we know, Apple is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to upcoming releases. The strategy of making everyone wait until the big announcement from Steve Jobs at a carefully timed event has paid off well for Apple over the years, with relatively few foul ups. That's why it's especially shocking to see the iPhone 4G hardware leaked not once, but twice.

By now most people are aware of the details surrounding the iPhone 4G left at a bar by an Apple engineer and the aftermath at Gizmodo. After a fire drill like that one, I would never have … Read more