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Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac adds audio transcription

Dragon Dictate 3 for OS X is on the way, with a lot of improvements and one standout feature -- the ability to transcribe a recorded digital file.

According to the company, Dragon Dictate lets you transcribe recorded audio files so you can capture your thoughts while they're still fresh in your mind using a digital voice recorder, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Simply establish a user profile for a digital voice recorder, and Dragon Dictate quickly and easily transcribes the recorded audio files. Dragon Dictate for Mac supports .wav, .m4a, .m4v, .mp4, .aif, and .aiff audio file formats, as well as any recorded notes using the free Dragon Recorder app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (fourth gen). Dragon Dictate 3 also supports a wide variety of Bluetooth headsets for input.

Other features include a claimed 15 percent improvement in accuracy and the app has beefed up its correction methodology. As before, Dragon Dictate allows you to control your Mac by voice and it supports commands for dictating into the Mountain Lion Notes and Reminder applications.

The application is available for pre-order now at US$199.00. Owners of previous products like MacSpeech Dictate or Dragon Dictate can upgrade for $149.99. Downloads will be available on September 13, and boxed orders begin shipping on September 24.

This is a welcome update for people who like to use speech recognition software. I've dictated large parts of a book I wrote using Dragon Dictate and I use it frequently for emails and reports. Of course Mountain Lion has built-in speech recognition with a feature called Dictation, but I find it a hit-and-miss proposition. Sometimes it works pretty well, sometimes it is completely unresponsive.

The Dragon Dictate product, unlike the Apple Dictation feature, does not require an internet connection to work.

We'll get a review copy of this latest Dragon Dictate soon, and will have a detailed review once we've given it a thorough test drive. Screenshots are below.

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