Nuance Dragon Mobile Assistant launches on Android, but only on ICS for now
Dragon Go! has been given the elbow, with the slightly more professional sounding Dragon Mobile Assistant taking its place. Nuance has expanded on its predecessor's verbal commands, with new functionality for maps (you'll be able to bark direction requests at the new app and it'll plan the route), alongside a hands-free wake-up feature activated by saying "Hi Dragon" -- we hope you have a high embarrassment threshold. Other Siri-esque features include weather updates and dictated SMS and email responses. The beta app can be downloaded below, although compatibility is limited to Android Ice Cream Sandwich and above for now. Nuance is promising more features and increased availability later this year.
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Nuance Reveals Dragon Mobile Assistant
Immediately Downloadable in Beta for Android, Dragon Delivers Elegant, Intelligent Mobile Assistant Experience
Burlington, Mass. – October 24, 2012 – Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced the beta availability of Dragon Mobile Assistant for Android. Dragon expands the natural language understanding and artificial intelligence capabilities first showcased as part of the successful Dragon Go! application. The Dragon Mobile Assistant sends texts, makes calls, sets appointments, and delivers direct access to open content on the mobile web from more than 200 content providers.
"Consumers loved the original Dragon Go! and wanted even more", said Michael Thompson, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile, "So we totally redesigned the experience in a conversational way and added the most popular personal assistant features."
For example, people can say:
· "Tell Natalie, 'I'm on the way to the office and will grab you a Starbucks'"
· "Schedule a meeting for 2 p.m. tomorrow with John Smith"
· "Get directions to the New England Aquarium"
· "How's the weather look this week?"
· "Send out a new Tweet, I can't believe that finish to the game!"
Dragon also offers a hands-free personal assistant experience. Simply wake up Dragon by saying "Hi Dragon." Or, listen to inbound text messages in Driver Mode.
"Nuance is investing deeply in Natural Language Understanding and conversational dialog technologies", said Vlad Sejnoha, chief technology officer, Nuance, "We will continue to add new innovations to the Dragon Mobile Assistant to explore what's possible, and to push the limits of intelligent voice interfaces across all mobile form factors, including phones, tablets, PCs, cars, and televisions."
Availability
Dragon is available in beta for free in English on Google Play in the US, supporting Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and above, with expanded availability and new features planned before the end of 2012.
