Here is a very quick video showing a brief demo of spelling mode and the phrase training recognition window.

MacSpeech have just released the next free upgrade for registered users of MacSpeech Dictate, version 1.2

Included in this release are bug fixes and some new functionality including Spelling Mode.

Full details in the official MacSpeech press release:

http://www.macspeech.com/article_info.php?articles_id=306

Nuance, the owners of the Dragon voice recognition engine are at the top of their game. Voice recognition is not easy and they have dedicated years to perfecting the technology.

So, when a heavyweight like Microsoft comes along and thinks its easy it can go badly wrong. Have a look at the video below when Microsoft did a demo of their voice recognition to the world.

MacSpeech Dictate - Powered by Dragon from Nuance :-)

G'day Alistair

Currently this functionality known as deferred transcription is not available with MacSpeech Dictate. But, it is coming and is coming soon I have heard, soon being before the end of this year.

This is a function which I too am very keen on. I will post here as soon as its available.

Update to the original post.

MacSpeech have recently updated their site with a list of known symptoms of a bad data disk and also a first aid repair download for if you think you have a bad data disk, much better than waiting for a new disk in the post !

Details from here:- http://www.macspeech.com/article_info.php?articles_id=296

An article appeared on the MacSpeech website a few weeks ago warning of some issues with some Dictate data disks. Now that we are getting stock in Australia these problems are starting to surface here.

http://www.macspeech.com/article_info.php?articles_id=293

What are the symptoms of a bad data disk?

Typically, once you select on a profile Dictate will just die.

I have had a few customers with this issue, although it is not the fault of ours, the Australian distributor or MacSpeech in the US it is still very annoying for the people who have waited patiently for their copies.

The Australian distributor MacSense are doing an excellent job of very quickly replacing the faulty disks. If you think you have a bad disk contact your supplier directly and they will give you instructions on how to get it replaced.

I will post a video shortly showing how to use your replacement data disk.

We now have a small quantity of MacSpeech Dictate in stock. So if you are quick jump online and order one. We expect more in early April.

A couple of days ago when I started up MacSpeech Dictate I got my first minor update. From what I understand this will be a regular thing in the coming months as feedback and bugs from us initial users are fed back to the US and fixes and enhancements are released.

This first minor release provides enhances AppleScript support, documentation improvements and some minor bug fixes.

Here is the official press release for this minor upgrade from MacSpeech:

http://www.macspeech.com/article_info.php?articles_id=294

This short video demo will show you how to create a simple text macro command. The purpose of the command is to get MacSpeech Dictate to type out regularly used text that you might typically speak often. For example the standard end to an email or in this case my usual opening line in my YouTube videos.

Want to just sit back, relax and web browse. Take a look at how easy it is with MacSpeech Dictate.

MacSpeech Dictate comes with a number of built-in voice commands. These commands can be used to modify the text that has been transcribed by MacSpeech Dictate. For example if you need to delete a word or capitalise a word there are built-in commands for that.

 Below is my second video which is an attempt to show some of the built-in commands in action. Remember this is only my second day transcribing using MacSpeech Dictate. Remember also I have only voice trained for five minutes. This post has been written using MacSpeech dictate :-)

So my cross grade copy of Dictate arrived in the post today and I have been itching for a spare half an hour to install and play.

Installation was a breeze and very quick. I have only been a Mac user for about three weeks now and I am impressed with how quick and easy it is. Install took around 5 minutes, you install the product then pop in the data disk and tell the software that you are running Australian English.

Next was the voice training. I have the VXI USB headset which looks to be well suited for this kind of thing. Training just involves reading the text on the screen and watching it turn green as you do. I find this very difficult to try and speak in my normal voice and also a little weird talking to  computer. The voice training is around five minutes although Dictate will cut you short, as in my case, when it has enough data on your voice to be able to recognise what you are saying.

So next I went straight to my email to try out some dictation. I have to be honest I was blown away with the accuracy it was amazing. So I happily dictated a couple of long emails and then turned my attention to doing a demo. Please excuse the amateur nature of the video, I am new to this, but just wanted to show you how good Dictate is just a few minutes after install and training.

MacSpeech Dictate has arrived in Australia. I received my cross grade from iListen this morning and have already installed dictate. The installation process took only a couple of minutes, the voice training took less than five minutes.

This post is my first attempt at dictating using MacSpeech Dictate, I have to be honest I am blown away by the accuracy of this software.

This post was transcribed using MacSpeech Dictate with 100% accuracy.

The first video demonstration of MacSpeech Dictate has just appeared on YouTube. This is a great four minute video and shows you just how good Dictate really is. Yet more positive praise from this user including the comment "In less than 5 minutes, I was already going at 98% accuracy."

http://cerebreality.com/?p=121#comment-40

With Dictate shipping across the US the reviews are coming in thick and fast. Here is another good honest review with a couple of good screen shots of Dictate in action.

http://macapper.com/2008/03/16/macspeech-dictate-solid-voice-recognition/