Dragon Naturally Speaking

There's probably not a computer enthusiast out there that at some point in their life hasn't been a Star Trek fan. Most of us can readily remember Captain Kirk or Captain Jean-Luc Picard carrying on high-level, mission critical conversations with the computer on board the Enterprise. Much to our dismay the current computer technology coupled with the artificial intelligence necessary to mimic a real life interchange of this type hasn't quite made it to our doorsteps. On the other hand, voice recognition software has made giant strides in recent years, so much so that it peaked our interest in doing a product review.

We thought we'd research an array of products and choose the best available to present to our readers. WRONG! As it turns out there is only one commercially available voice recognition product currently available. This product is uniquely named Dragon Naturally Speaking and is the brainchild of a company named NUANCE, formerly ScanSoft. We immediately went to NUANCE's website where we read the following product overview:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9 gives small business users and PC enthusiasts the power to create documents, reports, e-mails and more—all by speaking! Fast, easy and amazingly accurate, it’s over three times faster than typing. Just use your voice to dictate and edit in Microsoft® Word and Excel®, Corel® WordPerfect®, and virtually all Windows®-based applications. You can even dictate into a handheld device when you’re away from your PC, or use a Bluetooth microphone! It’s never been easier to use—no script reading required, so you can get started right away!

Needless to say we were enthused! If Dragon Naturally Speaking performs as advertised it will be a must-have for Bjorn3D and quite possibly a number of our readers. After exchanging a few emails, NUANCE sent us a copy of their Preferred Edition of the product for review. We fully intend to determine in short order if the product overview is accurate or just marketing hype. So without further ado ... Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Nuance:  The Company

Nuance is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Our technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses, experience Nuance by calling directory assistance, getting account information, dictating patient records, telling a navigation system their destination, or digitally reproducing documents that can be shared and searched. Making each of those experiences productive and compelling is what Nuance is all about.

We comprise the world's largest portfolio of speech and imaging products backed by the expertise of our professional services organization and a partner network that can create solutions for businesses and organizations around the globe. So whether it's switching to speech to improve customer service or business productivity, or simplifying the way people work with documents, Nuance has the solution.