MacSpeech Dictate Updated to 1.3

We were privileged to be the first dealer to test MacSpeech Dictate when it premiered at MacWorld in 2008. It was fast, accurate and wonderfully elegant. Yet, while it was built on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine, it lacked many of the more important features of Dragon such as corrections and phrase training.

With the new 1.3 update of Dictate, these features are not only added, they work very, very well. We've been testing this new update - which you can download through the software updating function of Dictate - and we're impressed!

There are several new enhancements to MacSpeech Dictate 1.3:

"Cache Document" and "Cache Selection" commands

The "Cache Document" command is significantly revamped to be functional in other applications. This command places the entire text from a document into Dictate's cache. The "Cache Selection" command places selected text into cache. These commands allow a user to effectively navigate and edit other documents by voice.

Searchable Help

The help "book," available under the Help menu, is indexed and searchable.

Menu Bar Status Item & Dock Icon Badging

Microphone status indicators have been added to the Dock icon and the menu bar. The appearance of the Status item is controlled via Preferences.

"Press the Key" Commands

"Press the Key" and "Press the Key Combo" commands will input the specified keyboard keys. You can also use modifiers, such as Command, Control, Option and Shift.

"Cancel Training" Command

A "Cancel Training" command has been added to the Available Commands window. Use this command to close the Recognition window.

Recognition Window Output

Recognition window output is now handled without auto-formatting. If a user adjusts the capitalization of a word in a Recognition window entry, Dictate will not change it to match context. To adjust capitalization for that word in the document, use a "Lowercase the Word" or "Capitalize the Word" command.

Removed "Force Quit this Application" command

Oops! Seems like Dictate, at times, would mis-interpret a phrase and users where finding their applications quitting without saving. To force quit using Dictate 1.3, you can dictate "Press the Key Combo Command Option Escape."

There have also been several "fixes" as part of the 1.3 update:

• Phrase training a word or phrase and replacing it with a longer word or phrase would sometimes result in a failure of the subsequent use of "Go to End."
• Application that do not have certain expected bundle information will no longer cause Dictate to crash when launched.
• If there is no dictation area available and the Recognition window is the target, a message is displayed in the Recognition window asking the user to open a new document or select a text area.
• Continuous rapid switching dictation modes no longer crashes Dictate.
• The command "Train Vocabulary from Selection" now copies the indicated contents to Dictate for training.
• "About this Application" now works properly.
• "Capture (Selection/Screen)" now functions as intended.
• Under some circumstances if a user issued two commands far enough apart they would be considered separate commands but within a particular time frame and Dictate would crash. Not any more.

If you are a Macintosh user and would like to make your writing more efficient, you should definitely consider MacSpeech Dictate. We're sold on it, and very excited to a be a leading dealer for this product.

Note: the version we offer at American Dictation includes a higher quality headset than the boxed version found in more retail outlets. We have found a significant improvement in Dictate's accuracy with the use of a better headset. Additionally, we have had great success in using the wireless Plantronics CS50 USB headset with Dictate.