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Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Premium Software Review

Nicholas Griffin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:29:20 +0000

Nuance has just updated their top rated speech recognition software for the PC, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 which includes over 200 new features and boasts a 20% improvement on out-of-the-box accuracy.

If you have used NaturallySpeaking before then you know it’s a great way about interacting and controlling your PC via your own voice, and allows you to quickly create and editing documents, searching through email and surfing the web.

Alongside the speed improvements Nuance has also added enhanced support for Gmail and Hotmail alongside better support for the Dragon Remote Microphone application.

The enhanced web mail features now allow for full text control and commands within a range of web browsers, including Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox 12 and Google Chrome 16 or higher.

The new NaturallySpeaking 12 also supports a range of applications on your PC including, Word, OpenOffice Writer, Coral WordPerfect, or even edit and create spreadsheets in Excel or presentations in PowerPoint.

You can also manage your e-mails in Microsoft’s Outlook,search the web using the aforementioned browsers or even post new statuses to Facebook or Twitter.

The 12th edition of Dragon is also faster than ever, and has been built to work even better with multi-core processors, automatically selecting the BestMatch V speech model to deliver faster performance, and delivers easier correction and editing options.

A lot of you may also know how hard NaturallySpeaking can be to use, that’s why Nuance has upgraded their tutorial, to allow both new and experienced Dragon users to learn and practice dictation, correction and editing habits.

Within these improved tutorials, Dragon has also added an improved Tip of the Day window, which brings daily tips on how to use the software, there is also a new Sidebar which is automatically placed on the right hand side of your screen and allows you to see important voice commands and tips in one easy-to-see location.

Nuance has also added new support for wideband Bluetooth wireless headset microphones, which will automatically connect to the software once plugged in.

Dragon 12 also has new smart format rules, which will automatically adapt your text upon detecting your format corrections, abbreviations, numbers and more.

One of the biggest changes/ additions to the software is the improved support with Nuance’s Dragon Remote Mic, which allows you to wirelessly communicate with the software via your iPhone, iPod Touch or even compatible Android device over the same Wi-Fi network.

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“I liked how well Dragon has been updated, a lot more accurate from the previous version as you may know we review NaturallySpeaking 11.5.6 and we were very pleased with how the software work with dictation.

This segment of the review has actually seen dictated to the software and then copied in to see how well the software recognises my dictation.

I like how easy Dragon was to use you simply load the software in and you already know you, I’m not normally a person to use this kind of software so I was really clad to find how easy Dragon was to use.

As you can tell from reading the previous paragraphs the software is really accurate but there are some points when it’s gets words wrong, but this doesn’t happen very often.” -Segment taken from Dragon dictation box.

I found it really easily to dictate to the software and allow it to write out my documents without me even looking, which you can now do with the microphone application.

I also tried out how the software worked with other applications on the webs such as Twitter, Facebook and Gmail which I found worked really well with the software, and was tremendously surprised at how well it worked with Gmail.

You do still need to train the software for it to work, which can take some time, but if it is not done properly you end up with much less accuracy then if you had done it.

The new Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 software is defiantly worth the upgrade from 11.5, simply for its improved accuracy and should be one piece of software on your back to school list if you haven’t already got it, as it really is useful software to own.

You can pick up the Premium version of this software for about £120 around the web, or $199 on Nuance’s website.

If you want to learn more about some of the other features within Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12, check out our review of 11.5.

Nuance Releases Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 For Pre-Order

Nicholas Griffin — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Nuance has today unveiled Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12, which they boast to be the “fastest, most accurate and easy-to-use version of Dragon yet”, included in the new upgrade are 100 new features and enhancements to make this happen.

If you don’t know yet, Dragon is a voice recognition software for the PC which allows users to talk to their PCs in order to create content or control their computer, and can help people to interact better with their PC than before.

One of the main features in Dragon 12 is of course its speed and accuracy, which Nuance say is 20% more accurate out-of-the-box than the previous version 11, when you load up the software for the first time, you will be greeted with a new interactive tutorial to help you walk through how to use the software and get it up and running.

Alongside that Dragon 12 has also been optimised for use with multi-core processors making it easier for it to catch up with your computer.

But that’s not all Nuance has also added a few more new features that we should go over, the first is Smart Format Rules, which is a new technology which adapts how it formats documents to how users prefer and automatically detects word, phrase and format corrections.

Whats more, they have also added more email application that Dragon is compatible with including Gmail and Hotmail, which will let you use Full Text control and commands within the sites.

Nuance also recently released a Remote Mic App for both iOS and Android devices, which will turn your smartphone into a portable mic for Dragon basically, Dragon 12 now supports this application and if you prefer can even link up with Bluetooth wireless headsets.

Check out the press release below for more information on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12, and if you want you can pre-order to update today for £79.99 from wither Nuance’s website or one of its resellers, Dragon 12 will then begin shipping on August 16th, check out http://www.nuance.co.uk for more information.

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Microsoft Confirms Office 2011 and 2008 Comparability With Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Nicholas Griffin — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:01:48 +0000

Earlier today Apple released their new Mac OS X system named Mountain Lion, Microsoft has also just announced that both Office 2011 and 2008 will be fully compatible with Mac OS X Mountain Lion, current users have been advised to enable Microsoft Autoupdate to take full advantage of their new OS:

“- Make sure you have Office for Mac’s AutoUpdate enabled – some updates will be needed to make the most of the upgrade to Mountain Lion. Initiate AutoUpdate in any Office for Mac application by going to your toolbar, then selecting “Help” and then “Check for Updates.”

- Mountain Lion ships with a new feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper helps protect users by allowing you to choose to only download and install software from known developers, like Microsoft. Please note that due to the Gatekeeper architecture, updates will not run when you download and initiate them on your desktop; instead please use Microsoft AutoUpdate to keep your copies of Office for Mac current.”

Office 2013 Won’t Support XP or Vista

Nicholas Griffin — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:57:43 +0000

Yesterday Microsoft made their new Office 2013 suite available for customer preview on Windows 7 and 8 PCs, but it seems that they may be dropping support for their older machines running Windows XP or Vista, in order to encourage people to upgrade their computers, alongside that some features may be incompatible with the OS such as PowerPoint’s new auto-detect mode for projectors.

This is a huge move for Microsoft and could mean a switch of software from some of their most loyal customers, we will just have to wait nd see until release date as to whether they will support the outdated OS or not.

Whats New In Office 2013, Is It Worth The Upgrade?

Nicholas Griffin — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:32:18 +0000

Today Microsoft released their new Office 2013 software, which brings a lot more than just its good looks and cloud syncing, but what exactly is that? What do you get for your upgrade?

Well that’s what we are hopefully going to help you answer in this article, the first biggest thing to be included in the new document processing software is of course cloud functionality, which seems to work really well. After signing in with your Windows Live ID you automatically get all of the documents both on your computer and on your Skydrive placed neatly on the left hand side, next to which is a choice of templates to add to your document.

The cloud functionality allows you to sync all of your documents and settings between other office programs on a range of PCs with ease, as long as you have signed into your account.

The new update also brings Office on demand which lets you access the full version of Office wherever you are, which you can do by streaming a full-featured office application via any internet connected PC running Windows 7 or 8, and once closed, the app will be completely removed, with no information left behind leaving none of your embarrassing documents at your friend’s house, the best part of this is that it’s all subscription free.

You can however but different editions based on your needs, as well as a subscription service if you want to avoid up-front costs.

Of course the apps are the main part of any office software and Word is the biggest of them all. The new 2013 word brings a few quiet features to the processing software such as the new onscreen ‘Read Mode’ which fits text in a column perfectly on any screen, alongside this they have also brought a new full screen mode which allows you to just type out your document without being faced with all them toolbars and options.

Zooming has also been changed allowing you to pinch to zoom on tablets and other touch screen devices, there is also a new Object Zoom which lets you zoom in on charts and images within a document whilst filling the screen. PDF documents have also been changed to allow for viewing on various devices.

Something that I have needed when sifting through press releases and article submissions called ‘Resume Reading’ which lets you automatically bookmark the last position in a document you read and syncs it across your devices, you will need a SkyDrive account of course.

But that’s still not the best feature as Microsoft have now added the feature to allow for embedded video from sources such as Bing Video, YouTube or any old video embed code.

Excel has also got an upgrade in 2013 bringing a shed load of features, the first is auto-complete, which will as ou can guess automatically add the remaining data needed with no formulas or macros needed, alongside this there is also a Quick Trend feature which will add a chart and analyze historical time series data.

There is also a new Excel Add-in scan which will search your spreadsheet for any errors or broken links, Quick Analysis Lens is another new feature which allows you to present data and add recommended charts, alongside this Microsoft have added Chart animations which will provide a better way to see how data is moving in a chart as changes are applied.

PowerPoint is not left behind either with a few new added features to help presenters show their presentations across various devices with different sized screens, one of the new features even allows you to insert pictures from various services including Facebook and Flickr, which works by associating your accounts with your Live ID.

There is also a new Presenter View which allows you to show two separate things on two separate screens, showing your presentation on the projector whilst having your notes on the second screen, this is all done automatically with the Auto-extend feature that automatically detects other screens and projects the presentation on the correct screen.

Finally the best feature added is to insert videos into your presentation and Resume Reading much like that included in the new Word.

Microsoft has also updated other programs like OneNote which will ship with the desktop app, alongside a Metro style version and other versions for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, these all come up to bring a better view across all of the devices alongside cloud sync to allow you to resume all of your note taking across all your devices.

Outlook also includes a lot of changes, one of the biggest is the new Exchange ActiveSync account support, which allows you to add Hotmail and various other services to the program, alongside this Outlook also supports calendar and contact auto syncing, Microsoft have also integrated various social networks in the software, now including Facebook and Linkedin, alongside this they have added various changes to the navigation bar.

I’ve gotta say to finish off that Office is always worth the upgrade just to make sure all of your documents look as good as everyone else’s, but Office 2013 is even better than the previous upgrades with its simply amazing cloud integration allowing users to bring documents with them, instead of just on their laptop.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 Premium Software Review

Nicholas Griffin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:17:44 +0000

Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 is the newest update to Nuance’s amazing speech recognition software which allows you to dictate whatever you want through a mic or even your iPhone and you computer will actually type it. One of the things that makes Dragon Naturally Speaking different from all the other speech recognition softwares out there is it’s quick and easy set up process.

If you have used any type of speech recognition before you will know that setting it up can be an extremely difficult and long-winded process, where you will simply spend hours training the software to recognise your voice, but not with Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 which only takes around 5 minutes, after which the software will be able to understand you fully for all basic commands throughout the system.

If the basic set-up is not enough for you though, you can also import a document into the software itself in order to add any specialist vocabulary that you may use within your work, as well as taking another more advanced test, allowing the system to completely learn how you speak.

Even after this the software will sometimes get a few words wrong from time to time, which with some software can make typing a document really tricky, but Nuance have sorted this problem allowing you to easily fix any errors DNS 11.5 may bring through some simple voice commands. For example if you do spot an error within a document all you will have to say is the command “correct” alongside the word which contains the error, after which Dragon will bring up a list of other words it could be with numbers alongside from which all you will have to do is choose the number corresponding with the correct word.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 will also work with any application which requires a keyboard/ mouse, allowing you to dictate within more or less any application that is installed onto your computer along DNS, as well as this Dragon also comers with a few clever grammatical commands allowing you to add things like brackets just by saying “bracket that”.

As well as these great transcription features Dragon Naturally Speaking can also be used to actually control your PC via a set range of commands such as launching applications and performing fixed tasks such as launching programs through commands such as “launch Internet Explorer” and then you can add tasks like “search web for…”, this will all allow you to control a wide variety of programs within your computer with great ease, alongside this Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 even supports Microsoft’s latest Internet Explorer 9 alongside the ability to post messages on your Twitter and Facebook.

As well as this Nuance have even added a finer control they like to call “mouse grid” which allows you to use the mouse on your screen with your voice through some very simple commands, such as Mouse left” and “mouse click”. This si probably one of the best features that comes with the software as it can give great accessibly to those whom are unable to use a mouse.

As an added new feature Nance have also released their very own iPhone app this year which will allow you to use your iPhone as a wireless mic of sorts, which can be connected to the software on your computer over your wireless network, allowing you to dictate to Dragon whilst taking a stroll round to house meaning you don’t even have to be at your PC to use it.

In order to access these features you will first have to download the Nuance iPhone App [iTunes Link] from the App Store onto your iPhone, once you have done this you will then be able to launch the app which will automatically connect to your PC as long as you are on the same network, but if this doesn’t work you can just type in your computers IP address manually.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is available for around £100 on both the PC and Mac [Amazon Link], but if you are lucky enough to have already owned Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 you can upgrade to the new 11.5 for free. Once you are a Dragon user make sure to check out Nuance I Speak Dragon campaign for the chance to win and iPad 2!

If you do already own Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 be sure you tell us what you think of it by clicking submit your review below, and do not forget to follow us on Twitter @technuttyblog.

Get Google Chromebook Without Buying A New Netbook

Nicholas Griffin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:00:50 +0000

You may have seen all of those fancy Google Chromebooks hanging around, you want yourself but release that you have only just bought a netbook and don’t want to fork out for a new one. Well now you don’t have to buy one because you can run Chrome OS on your own netbook.

As Chrome OS is open source, this is even free to do so anyone with spare time can compile their own version of the operating system, the best part though the hard bit has already been done for you, from which Hexxeh has been building Chrome OS builds for some time making them available to the public from here.

This software makes it easy to try out Chrome OS, by running it on a virtual machine, and can be booted from a USB drive to install on a suitable netbook, with dual-boot availabilities.

The best laptops/ netbook that can run Chrome OS are those that have been recently released with x86 capabilities, but success does vary from installation to installation with some lacking wireless or audio features or refusing to wake from sleep mode.

But any Intel Atom system should be okay to use, along side any Intel Centrino laptops, check out a list of laptops with availabilities here. We tried this with our HP MIni 210 which we did wonder if it would work as it was not on the list but we thought we would give it a go anyway.

To start of the installation we got ourselves a blank USB drive which was 4GB, but minimum of 2GB will do, this is where we will write the Chrome OS image, which can be downloaded here. You will also need some sort of image writing software, which you can download from here, once on the page select the download for your OS.

Once you have downloaded the image writer software you need to open it up and plug your USB in, once the software has loaded select Diskimage and load up the OS you just download, once that is done you will need to boot up your USB and follow the instructions, and you should have Chrome OS running within a few seconds.

What do you think? Did you manage to run Chrome OS on your netbook? Send us a picture and tell us how you did it.

Drop us a line or two in the comments below.