Nuance Communications Introduces Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, Breakthrough New Release of World’s Leading Speech Recognition Software
New Release Sets Performance Standard for Speed and Accuracy; Delivers Innovative Features to Search the Web, Find Documents or Files and Send Email by Voice
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 8 August, 2008 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading provider of speech solutions, today unveiled Nuance’s Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® 10 software, a breakthrough new release of the world’s best-selling speech recognition software. With Dragon, people can write documents and emails, search the Web, and even control their PC entirely by voice, saving time and boosting productivity. Because most people speak at least three times faster than they type, Dragon makes it possible to get things done more quickly by voice than by relying on keyboards and mice alone. Dragon 10 is nearly twice as fast as the previous release and can deliver accuracy up to 99 percent, while never making a spelling mistake.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking software from Nuance is used by millions of people – in the office, at home, at school, on the road, even in the operating theatre – to get more done faster by voice. The new release of Dragon delivers what matters most in speech recognition – superior levels of accuracy, seamless integration with the most popular PC applications, and unrivalled ease of use – and introduces new features that promise to help anyone get more done, faster.
Get it right the first time
For more than a year, Nuance has hosted a typing test on its Web site to highlight the boost in speed and accuracy that is delivered by Dragon (try it yourself at http://www.nuance.com/talk). After testing 35,000 people, Nuance found that the average typing speed was 35 words per minute (wpm), down from previous estimates of 40wpm. Even more significantly, the data showed that the average accuracy was only 58%. Dragon’s near-perfect accuracy means less time spent pecking away at the keyboard and more time actually getting things done – at speeds of up to 160wpm. Significant improvements to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognition system have yielded an accuracy improvement of up to 20% over the previous release, resulting in speech recognition accuracy levels as high as 99%. In fact, the product actually learns from corrections over time, making speech a more natural and satisfying experience. And, perhaps best of all, Dragon will never misspell a word.
Dragon Voice Shortcuts
New Dragon Voice Shortcuts collapse common multi-step tasks into direct voice commands. Now you can send emails and schedule meetings, search the Web for information, products, news and more, or search your desktop faster than ever by saying what you want. For example:
• “Send email to Peter Mahoney and Steve Chambers” – Dragon opens the user’s email program, creates a new email and puts the appropriate contact names into the “To:” box.
• “Search maps for Italian restaurants in Wellington” or “Search the Web for Madonna concert schedule” – Dragon opens the default search engine and Web browser to enter the spoken words in the search field and return the results. Users can also search specific sites by voice including Google, Yahoo, eBay, Wikipedia and YouTube.
Quick Voice Formatting
Quick Voice Formatting commands allow users to issue a single voice command, such as “Bold ‘Quick Voice Formatting’” to make formatting text faster than ever. In addition, an extensive set of natural language commands means users don’t have to memorise complex instructions. In Microsoft Word, for example, a user can say “make that bigger”, and the font size increases instantly.
Type as fast as you talk
With Dragon, spoken words appear on the screen almost instantly, making speech a faster, more natural approach to connect with your PC. Most people speak about 120 words per minute, but type fewer than 40 words a minute. Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets users create documents and emails about three times faster than typing.
Cut the cord from the PC
Nuance will be offering selected Dragon NaturallySpeaking editions bundled with a Bluetooth headset to deliver a truly hands-free, untethered experience. The Bluetooth wireless headset gives users the freedom to move around near their computer while dictating. Selected editions also support a range of digital voice recorders enabling voice notes to be later converted to text with Dragon.
Talk to your favourite applications
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 lets people speak their minds quickly with today’s most popular applications, including Microsoft Word and Outlook, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and popular instant message clients such as AOL Instant Messenger.
Changing Lives, One Voice at a Time
Dragon NaturallySpeaking gives people an easy way to get more done in less time – whether it is sending an email, writing a report, capturing an old family recipe or updating a blog. In order to appreciate the power and flexibility of Dragon 10, two Australian Dragon users tested the new product:
• Ian Wilson, Managing Director, Boyden Global Executive Search, commented, “Having had the opportunity to test and review Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 before its formal release to the market, I am delighted at the noticeable improvements in both response speed and accuracy. In addition, using the new search functionality features can significantly enhance productivity. For me, one of the most satisfying aspects of using Dragon NaturallySpeaking is being able to capture thoughts and concepts quickly. I recognised many years ago there had to be a better alternative to typing – and there is with Dragon!’
• Peter Mitchell, Solicitor, commented, “As a sole practitioner with no support staff and an enormous amount of written material to be submitted and prepared for court work, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a key productivity tool for me. While using Dragon 10 in the trial period, I have already noticed improvements in both speed and accuracy of the program. Dragon 10 is a big improvement.”
To see more ways that Dragon helps people to speak their minds, please visit http://www.nuance.com/dragonstories/readstories.asp.
“Speech technology has reached a critical turning point where it is now fundamentally changing the way that we interact with the world around us,” said Bob Anderson, APAC Director of the Mobile and Consumer division of Nuance. “What was once a ‘Star Trek’ dream is now a reality – on our mobile phones, in our cars, on our navigation devices, and now on the desktop with Dragon. With its near-perfect accuracy and easy-to-use interface, Dragon has touched millions of people by creating a more productive and natural experience at the desktop. There’s no need to take time to train the software or learn arcane steps or commands anymore – people can simply start talking and see their ideas flow directly onto the page. It really is incredible to see.”
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 is also US Section 508-certified to cater for hands-free use of the PC for those with disabilities and to assist people with carpal tunnel syndrome or other repetitive stress injuries. Dragon NaturallySpeaking has been shown to reduce temporary labour costs and insurance premiums by reducing repetitive stress injuries and worker compensation claims.
The latest release of Dragon NaturallySpeaking comes from the world’s expert in speech recognition – Nuance. Nuance speech technology touches millions of people every day as they interact with their bank or airline reservation system by voice, dial by voice from their cell phone, or interact with their car’s navigation system.
Availability
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard, Preferred and Professional are available immediately through Nuance and its global network of reseller partners, software retailers and professional sales organisations.
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard: RRP $199 (incl. GST)
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred: RRP $399 (incl. GST)
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred Mobile: RRP $529 (incl. GST)
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Professional: RRP $1499 (incl. GST)
For additional information on all products, features, pricing and volume licensing programs, please visit apac.nuance.com or call Mistral Software on 09 271 4661.
Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its 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’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.
Nuance, the Nuance logo, Dragon and NaturallySpeaking are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
The statements in this press release, relating to future plans or future events or services, are forward-looking statements which are subject to specific risks and uncertainties. These could involve particular market trends, competition factors and other risks described in the documents submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results, events and services may vary significantly from the forecasts. The reader is warned not to rely on these forward-looking statements without reservation, since these are simply reflections of the current situation.
The Right Edition for Every Person and Profession
The Dragon NaturallySpeaking family makes speech recognition available for everyone – at home or in the office – through various targeted editions:
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional is the ideal solution for busy professionals – such as those in the government, insurance and education industries – to create documents and emails, fill out forms, and streamline workflow tasks – all by speaking. Additionally, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Professional supports sophisticated macros for automating document-intensive business tasks and dramatically improving productivity, and also offers complete enterprise network support, including new security features, a special management guide for IT professionals and support for Citrix deployments.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred gives small business and advanced PC users the power to create documents, reports and emails three times faster than most people type. People can surf the Web by voice or dictate and edit in Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and most other Windows-based applications. Dragon Voice Shortcuts in Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred collapse common multi-click tasks into simple voice commands, and users can also create custom commands to insert blocks of texts or bitmaps – such as name, title, and signature – with a single utterance.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard is the perfect solution for a home PC user looking to make PC interaction easier, faster and more fun. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard, people can talk to the computer and watch the spoken words instantly appear in documents, email and instant messages. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard even lets people surf the Web simply by speaking.