Table of Contents:

WELCOME

Welcome to a special version 10.1 edition of Dragon News!

  • In this edition we announce the launch of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10.1, the latest release of the software that adds support for Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems. Find out what this release means to you.
  • We’re also extending an invitation for you to have your say in the future development of Dragon via a new online survey; we encourage you to participate and help shape Dragon into what you want it to be!
  • There is a special offer to upgrade to version 10.1 if you’re on previous number. (version 10.1 is free for version 10 customers).
  • If you use Dragon for dictation and would prefer to engage a third-party transcription service, be sure not to miss the section on WinScribe’s Digital Dictation Workflow Management Suite. Work more efficiently using integrated Dragon speech recognition and managed workflows.
  • As usual, there are some great tips and tricks for getting the most out of Dragon, this time focusing on improving accuracy and more effective voice commands.
  • Exciting news is that Dragon has been launched into the world of Social Networking; find out about the new Dragon blog and Dragon Facebook page.
  • In the In Their Own Words section, read how Paul B. uses Dragon to help him produce advertising copy which reads as if it were truly conversational.
  • And last but not least, in the Q&A section we answer the most frequently asked questions about the release of version 10.1.

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INTRODUCING DRAGON NATURALLYSPEAKING 10.1

The much anticipated release of Dragon 10.1 software adds support for Windows Vista 64 operating systems, with upgrade options now available for Standard, Preferred and Professional versions.

What’s new in Dragon 10.1?

The Dragon 10.1 upgrade introduces the following functionality:

  • Installs and runs on Microsoft Vista 64 systems
  • Extends Dragon’s Web capabilities to Internet Explorer 8 and Mozilla Firefox 3
  • Enhanced documentation, including a Commands Quick Reference sheet and updated Installation Guide and Users Guide, as well as updated Help files and tutorials.

How do I get the upgrade?

If you are an existing Dragon 10.0 customer, you can download the upgrade for free by clicking here. Note that a valid serial number is required to download your Dragon 10.1. Australian residents can phone 1300 550 716. (9 am - 5 pm AEST)  to order a CD (A$10 for shipping and handling).

If you are running Dragon Version 8 or 9, please speak with your Dragon preferred reseller for details of upgrade pricing or take advantage of the upgrade offer in this edition.

User profiles created in previous versions of Dragon will be converted to version 10.1, with all customizations preserved.

The Q&A section in this edition of Dragon News is devoted to the Dragon 10.1 release. Please refer to that section for more information.Back to Top

DRAGON PRODUCT FEEDBACK – TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

Play a part in the design of future versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking!

Our product development team uses customer feedback – both positive and negative – to identify the specific product areas you would like to see improved.

  • Is Dragon working the way you thought it would?
  • How useful are the advanced features?
  • What areas of the product need improvement?
  • What new features would you like to see introduced in future versions?

We’ve created a survey to help us gather your valuable feedback, which should take about 10 to 15 minutes of your time to complete. Please help us to deliver the improvements you’d most like to see by accessing the survey clicking here.

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BUY DRAGON 10.1: THE BEST IS NOW EVEN BETTER...

The world's best speech recognition software has just been replaced. That's right, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred is here - now engineered to work with Windows Vista™ 64-bit Editions. And while earlier versions were good products, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred is faster, more accurate and includes an array of hot new features. In short, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred makes all previous versions of Dragon obsolete.

As a registered Dragon customer, you're invited to upgrade to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred for great savings. Just click on your country below to order.

Select your country to purchase  
Australia A$149 save $100
Hong Kong HK $767 save $392
Malaysia RM 349 save RM 190
New Zealand NZ $169 save $150
Singapore SG $149 save $60.99
Other countries USD $99 save $50.99

Click your country to order. Hurry, this offer ends soon!

Try Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 10 without risk for one full month. If you're not completely satisfied, simply return it within 30 days of your purchase and we'll refund your money.

*Offer includes shipping and GST (where applicable). Offer limited to 3 units per customer. Offer expires 30 June 2009.

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WINSCRIBE’S DIGITAL DICTATION WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT SUITE
Integrating Speech Recognition with Workflow for Increased Efficiency

Do you currently use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for dictation? Would you prefer to send your work to a third-party for reviewing and editing? If so, WinScribe’s Digital Dictation Workflow Management Suite may be the solution for you.

WinScribe offers a suite of dictation, transcription and workflow management solutions that provide flexible voice recording and speech recognition options based on the Dragon speech recognition engine. With WinScribe you can:

  • Dictate anywhere with multiple recording options including your BlackBerry, PDA, PC, mobile recorder or phone.
  • Choose work types and destinations where work is to be typed, then view, from anywhere, the progress of each job through the system.
  • Recall a previously submitted job for either further editing if the job has not been typed, or for playback to assist in proofreading.

WinScribe offers users two ways to take advantage of speech recognition technology. You choose the method that works best for you and take advantage of both.

  • Client-side speech recognition allows you to:
    • View, edit and correct text on your PC for ‘on the fly’ document creation and completion.
    • Set the status of the document. For example, if you get interrupted during dictation, simply mark the document as either Partially Corrected, Fully Corrected or Not Corrected. Using WinScribe’s workflow routing, you can send the recording and text to a transcriptionist for editing and completion.
    • Copy transcribed text, move it to a Microsoft Word document, send it as an email, print it, or save it within WinScribe using voice commands or WinScribe’s built-in Word toolbar.
    • Quickly and easily create reports and documents using templates.
  • Server-side speech recognition enables you to:
    • Have the server perform speech recognition unattended while you continue with further dictation or other work.
    • Increase recognition rates by selecting an appropriate recognition profile and dictionary.
    • Maintain the same dictation practices as you do not have to learn special words or phrases. The recording will be automatically converted to text by the server.
    • Allow a typist’s corrections to the text to be sent back to the WinScribe server. WinScribe’s built-in adaption technology ensures ongoing improvement in recognition rates and “trains” the speech engine to recognize the author’s vocal nuances. This means that your staff no longer needs to transcribe documents, but instead, proofreads the text and correct errors as they go.

To request a whitepaper on WinScribe solutions, email Winscribe.

Additional information available at www.winscribe.com.

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TIPS AND TRICKS: IMPROVE ACCURACY AND PRODUCTIVITY

Many Dragon customers achieve high accuracy rates out of the box. But for some, accuracy rates improve steadily over time. The more you use and personalise Dragon, the better it “learns” your voice and continuously improves its understanding of what you want it to type or do. If you feel like Dragon isn’t listening to you well enough, here are some tips to “tame the beast” and obtain increased accuracy.                  

  • Personalise Your Vocabulary

Just as you would add personal contacts to the address book of your email application or your phone’s contact list, personalise your Dragon vocabulary to pre-empt recognition errors. Visit the Accuracy Centre found under the Tools menu of the DragonBar to add individual words and phrases or to automatically add words to your vocabulary based on your existing documents and email.

  • Delete “Competing” Words

Some words and phrases sound alike (e.g., Schaefer, Schaffer, Shafer, etc). If a word you never use is recognised for a word you need to use, delete the unused word from Dragon’s active vocabulary using the Vocabulary Editor’s Delete button.

  • Correct Misrecognised Words

For best results, select the word just before and just after the misrecognised word as well, and correct them as a phrase from the Correction dialogue box. We also recommend that you train the word or words that were recognised instead of what you intended. If you just delete misrecognitions and do not use the Correction dialogue box, recognition accuracy will not improve, and Dragon will continue to make the same misrecognitions. But if you teach Dragon properly, it will never make the same mistake again. After correcting misrecognitions and training words, be sure to save your speech files before closing Dragon.

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TIPS AND TRICKS: MORE EFFECTIVE VOICE COMMANDS

In addition to entering text and data by voice, Dragon also supports voice commands that let users control most basic applications and navigate screens and menus by voice. These commands allow users to format text, launch applications, open files and navigate menu items, or even work on the Web. If you find that Dragon is not executing your commands as you expected, try the following techniques:

  • Recognised Commands

If you say a phrase that produces no action, check to see there is a thick blue border surrounding the words Dragon “heard” in the Results Box. When you say a command, the border of the Results Box should turn blue to indicate that Dragon understands what you said as a command and not dictation. If the box does not have a blue border, Dragon does not recognise it as a valid command. For a list of the most common commands, refer to the Sample Commands window; open this window by clicking Sample Commands within the Help menu of the DragonBar or by saying “What Can I Say” within any open application. You can also visit the Customer Portal of the Dragon Web site to download our free Command Quick Sheet.

  • Timing

Remember that commands require a brief pause before and after they are spoken to distinguish them from dictation words. If the length of this pause appears to be a cause of recognition difficulty, click on the Tools menu of the DragonBar and select Options. Under the Commands tab, adjust the “pause required before commands” slider to better suit your needs. Also remember that you should not pause within commands.

  • Forced Commands

You can force Dragon to recognise what is said as a command by holding down the hotkey CTRL while you say your command. Like other Dragon hotkeys, this is customisable in Dragon’s Options dialog.

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DRAGON SOCIAL NETWORKING

Nuance is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative - Dragon has entered the world of social networking! With more and more people interacting online, these new initiatives allow us to open up a direct dialogue with you – our customer. The feedback you provide through these sites is incredibly valuable to us, allowing us to create better products and serve you better.

  • The Speaking about Dragon blog. This blog was launched a few weeks ago. So far, the feedback has been incredible. Visit the blog
  • Dragon Facebook page. We have just launched our new Facebook page. If you are a Facebook user,  please become a fan.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS – HOW DRAGON HAS IMPROVED MY WORK

Paul B. - - I speak Dragon because I “speak” when I write. I write advertising copy. It’s a different form of writing than most others. Advertising copy has to read as if it were “conversational”. You have to sound like you’re actually talking to a person who’s a prospect for your product. A lot of writers have a tough time typing words on a keyboard and making the final result sound as if they’re speaking to somebody. That’s where Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a tremendous help. When I’m putting together a package for a client, I have to make the copy sound as if I’m actually talking to somebody personally, who’s sitting right in front of me. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the only answer I’ve found to create this effect. I can envision them in my mind’s eye, and as I “see” them, I can tell them all about the benefits and features of the product that I want them to use. It’s just like they were sitting across from me. Thanks to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I not only get the effect that I want with the copy, but I also save hours and hours of time. When you’re working under a short deadline, it makes all the difference in the world to get the copy to the client on time. It would be fair to say that without Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I wouldn’t be able to run the creative side of my business as well as I do. Everything about it is perfect for my needs.

To read the complete collection of user stories, visit Dragon Stories.

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Q&A – YOU ASKED, WE ANSWER

With the new Dragon 10.1 upgrade just being released, we thought you might have a few questions. So we’ve compiled some of the most frequent Questions and Answers for you.

You asked:
“How much will it cost to upgrade?”

Answer:
Registered users of Dragon 10 are eligible for a free download of version 10.1. Special upgrade pricing will be available for customers of previous versions of Dragon for a limited time.

You asked:
“Is this a patch release or a full release?”

Answer:
Dragon 10.1 is a full release. This means that a full installation is required to upgrade to version 10.1.

You asked:
“I don’t have Windows Vista 64, do I need this release?”

Answer:
Dragon 10.1 works on both Windows 32-bit and Windows Vista 64 operating systems. The primary new functionality for Dragon 10.1 is support for Windows Vista 64. In addition, Dragon 10.1 fixes a number of bugs that were identified in Dragon version 10 and adds support for Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.

You asked:
“Will Dragon 10.1 work on Windows XP 64?”

Answer:
Dragon 10.1 is not supported on Windows XP 64. Dragon 10.1 has not been tested on Windows XP 64 (although it does install and run).

You asked:
Will Dragon 10.1 work on Windows 7?”

Answer:
We have tested Dragon 10.1 on the current beta release of Windows 7 and it appears to operate adequately. However, since Windows 7 is beta software, we cannot support these configurations.

You asked:
“Can I download the upgrade?”

Answer:
Yes. The download will be available for registered users of Dragon 10. Because this is a full release, the image size is large (almost 2 GB), so we only recommend downloads over high-speed Internet connections.

You asked:
“Can I get the upgrade on a DVD?”

Answer:
Yes. We will make DVDs available for upgrade customers. There will be a small shipping and handling fee for the DVD. Australian customers can order directly by phoning 1300 550 716. (9 am - 5 pm AEST) to order a CD (A$10 for shipping and handling). Customers in other countries should contact their reseller.

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