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Nuance's Dragon TV offers voice recognition platform for connected televisions
Nuance isn't skipping a beat in Las Vegas, as the speech recognition company is busy launching a brand new platform that focuses on bringing its technology to connected TVs. According to the company, the platform, called Dragon TV, can be used to build customized voice and touch apps that run on televisions, set-top boxes, phones and tablets. Essentially, the technology will allow the viewer to use their voice to conduct searches, send messages and access plenty of other features, and mobile devices can be used to act as a remote to control the TV. Nuance's new platform is available now for OEMs, developers and operators to take advantage of, and supports Linux, Android and iOS as well as all major TV, set-top box and remote control standards. Head past the break for the full press release, and make your way to the company's site below to get more details.
Swype gets a new beta, adopts Dragon Dictation for speech to text (video)
Look, either you love or hate Swype -- there's just no two ways about it. Those that can't imagine life without the gesture-based virtual keyboard will probably only fall deeper in amour with it when greeted with the latest beta. Eagle-eyed observers might notice the microphone key in that image above has been replaced with a tiny flame logo that should be familiar to any fan of Nuance's voice-to-text apps. Swype now has Dragon Dictation baked right in -- a development we could have guessed was coming after the October buy out. Check out the epic video after the break for a few more details.
Daily Update for December 21, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Nuance gobbles up Vlingo, yearns to transcribe its own announcement
Apparently, if you can't (legally) beat them, you buy them. Such is the thinking over at Nuance, who has decided to acquire its competitor and former courtroom dance partner, Vlingo. Should make for some nice additions to the former's voice recognition tubes -- technology which powers everything from Apple's Siri, Dragon dictation and even various autos. No indications as to how many greenbacks exchanged hands, but the newlyweds were happy to boast their "complementary research and development efforts" will result in a company "stronger together than alone." We'll have to see about that. PR after the break.
Nuance to acquire rival Vlingo
Nuance, the company behind the Dragon apps and a whole slew of other popular software suites, has decided to acquire its rival Vlingo, another voice-to-text software developer. VentureBeat says it's for an undisclosed sum, but even though the two companies have sued and counter-sued over a series of patent applications, they're apparently putting those quibbles to rest, and instead will combine forces to beef up their voice-to-text solutions. Siri has apparently lit a fire under the voice control market lately, and of course voice recognition is a big part of that. Siri was very impressive as just an iPhone app, but with the full weight of Apple's hardware support (not to mention marketing budget) behind it, voice control is inspiring a lot of R&D and funding, both in Cupertino and elsewhere in the tech industry. Nuance has fought to be the de facto standard for a lot of voice recognition software in the past with its Dragon Naturally Speaking apps, and that kind of thing is likely to become even more popular going forward. Or as Nuance's own senior VP Mike Thompson puts it in a press release, "Inspired by the introduction of services such as Apple's Siri and our own Dragon Go!, virtually every mobile and consumer electronics company on the planet is looking for ways to integrate natural, conversational voice interactions into their mobile products, applications and services. By acquiring Vlingo, we are able to accelerate the pace of innovation to meet this demand."
Aldebaran Robotics announces Nao Next Gen humanoid robot (video)
Aldebaran Robotics' Nao robot has already received a few upgrades from both the company itself and other developers, but it now has a proper successor. Aldebaran took the wraps off its new and improved Nao Next Gen robot today, touting features like a 1.6GHz Atom processor and dual HD cameras that promise to allow for better face and object recognition even in poor lighting conditions. What's more, while robot's outward appearance hasn't changed much, it has also received a number of software upgrades, including Nuance voice recognition, an improved walking algorithm, and a number of other measures to cut down on unwanted collisions. As before, the robot is aimed squarely at researchers and developers, but the Aldebaran's chairman notes that the company is continuing to pursue its goal of providing a Nao intended for individuals -- a goal he notes is being aided by the contributions from its developer program. Check out the gallery below and the video after the break for a closer look.%Gallery-141472%
Jailbroken iOS 5 devices get Siri0us, tap into Nuance's dictation servers (video) (update)
Sure, it's leaps and bounds away from all the parlor tricks that Siri is able to perform, but now, jailbroken iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch devices -- that have been upgraded to iOS 5 -- may access the dictation portion of Siri's prowess. Thanks to Siri0us, the free app available through Cydia, users will gain the option to speak messages and search queries rather than type them, which could be a huge time saver -- unless there's a series of mistakes, anyway. Rather than accessing Apple's own system, the app works by tapping into Nuance's Dragon Go servers for speech recognition. Rather subversive, don't you think? If you'd like to get in on the fun (before Nuance breaks up the party), just check the video following the break. Update: Well, who didn't see this one coming? Nuance has pulled the rug out from under Siri0us, and the app has been yanked from Cydia while the developer searches for another speech recognition server. Happy hunting, dude.
The man who provided Siri's voice in the UK
Despite Apple's request that he remain anonymous, British voiceover artist Jon Briggs revealed to The Telegraph that he is the voice of Siri in the UK. Briggs received a call from an Apple PR representative last month after the iPhone 4S was launched, and was told that he should not talk publicly about Siri. Briggs was told by the PR rep that Apple employees were not authorized to discuss products. He responded by noting that he had recorded over 5,000 sentences over three weeks for a company called Scansoft. That company merged with Nuance, which provides the voices for Siri. As a result, Briggs had never had a contract with Apple, which is why he's gone public. When Briggs was doing the recordings, he was told to speak a very specific way, reading "flat and even." The recordings were then ripped apart to grab specific phonics to build the voice file that is used in Siri in the UK. Those phonics allow Siri to speak just about any word, even if Briggs hasn't recorded a specific word. Briggs's Siri persona is also used to create announcements at the Kings Cross railway station in London, and is heard in other applications as well. UK readers may also recognize him as the voice in the BBC quiz show The Weakest Link.
Nuance reportedly buying Swype for $100 million
It's only been about a year since Nuance traced Swype's finger gliding input method with QuickType, but it seems like the firm is ready for the real deal: Michael Arrington says it's nabbing the Seattle-based startup to the tune of $100 million. With competition heating up in the voice command space after Apple's Siri assisted iPhone upgrade, Nuance could be stocking up on more traditional input methods, or at the very least edging out the potential for more competition. There's no word just yet if Swype will replace or fade away in lieu of the firm's own traceable input brand, but we'll be sure to let you know if we hear something official.
Will Dragon speech apps remain in the app store for iPhone 4 owners?
It was a bit of a shock to learn yesterday that the terrific Siri app, now owned by Apple, will get pulled from the app store. It's being done, I'm sure, to encourage people to get the Siri technology built into the new iPhone 4S. Although an interview with the co-founder of Siri indicated that they had to cut some corners to get the app to work on "older" hardware. Still, it seems, shall we say, small of Apple to kill an app that seemed to work just fine, and did some of the tasks that the new incarnation of Siri will do on the iPhone 4S. One bright spot for those sticking with their current phones are the Dragon apps from Nuance. Dragon Dictation will take your voice and turn it into text for a note, an email, or a text message. Dragon Go!, which we have reviewed very positively, does much of what Siri does, connecting to Yelp, Google Maps, Open Table, various search engines and other web services so you can ask about a weather forecast, directions to any destination, and even the latest sports scores. Like Siri, the Dragon apps are powered by Nuance speech recognition software, and the processing is done in the cloud. Both the Dragon apps are free and work fine on the iPhone 4, 3GS, 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch, and the iPad. A Nuance spokesperson assured me today that both apps are doing very well, and the company has no plans to pull them from the App Store. Together the apps can give you a rough approximation of what Siri on the iPhone 4S can do, but it doesn't have the same integration with iOS as Siri so it won't be as slick. I'm hoping Apple will reconsider what I think is a customer hostile decision to yank Siri. How about you? Do you think Apple should have pulled the plug on the Siri app?
AT&T intros free Android accessibility solution for visually impaired (video)
If you or somebody you know is blind or visually impaired, then you'll definitely want to take note of AT&T's latest offering for its Android phones, which is certainly more charitable than its prior solution. For a limited time, the carrier is distributing a free, customized version of Mobile Accessibility, an app that provides voice cues and assistance for completing many common tasks on Google-powered smartphones. Users will find the ability to place calls, send email and text messages, set alarms, browse the web, find their current location and more. With voice synthesis provided by Nuance Vocalizer, the app traditionally retails for $99 in the Android Market -- so it might be wise to act quickly on this one. To learn more about Mobile Accessibility Lite, you'll find a quick video tour and the full PR after the break.
Daily Update for September 29, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Dragon Go for iPhone gets smarter
Dragon Go!, the all-purpose voice recognition search app from Nuance, is getting a significant upgrade today. In fact, it's almost a preview of some of the functionality we suspect will be in iOS5. The free app lets you speak conversationally with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Say things like "What's the best steakhouse in Kansas City", or "Find me some pictures of Lady Gaga", and the app will parse what you said and nearly always return useable results. The update, which should hit the App Store today, adds many more options, including the ability to launch popular movie and TV streaming services; get direct access to more of the most popular names in mobile content, like Spotify; get answers to the toughest of questions from Wolfram|Alpha and Ask.com; and, find friends on Google+. I tried some of the new functions, and was impressed. For instance, I said "Watch Mad Men on Netflix," and Dragon Go initiated a Google search. When I clicked on the resulting link, my Netflix app launched and the show started. I also successfully searched TUAW for articles and had it define words using Dictionary.com. For apps that require a login, you'll have to set up Dragon Go! to link with those apps, but that's not a difficult task. Vlad Sejnoha, chief technology officer at Nuance said "We're deeply invested in continuing to evolve Dragon Go! with new features, more content providers and richer app integration, and ultimately opening new doors for the consumer mobile destination experience. This is another step towards the mobile semantic web, and we've just gotten started." These new services join Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube and many others that were already built into the app. I find Dragon Go! and Siri (now owned by Apple) to be two of the best demos for the iPhone around. If you already have Dragon Go! you should see the update today. If you don't have it, download it and impress yourself and your friends. %Gallery-135166%
Changes to Nuance developer program will result in a flood of voice enabled apps
The company behind the Dragon speech recognition applications for computers and iOS devices has announced a new developer program that will allow software to access Dragon Voice technology at no charge. It could result in a tidal wave of apps that harness the power of the Nuance speech recognition and text to speech technologies. Many of our readers have no doubt used Nuance tech in apps like Siri, and Dragon Go. I talked with Kenneth Harper, Senior Product Manager for Nuance, who says opening up the technology is a way to help Nuance become an even bigger standard in voice technology, as well as introduce developers to the company. Harper says that the free developer service, called NDEV Silver, will apply to about 90% of the app developers for iOS. Developers will also have free access to Nuance's connected text-to-speech (TTS) capabilities in over 30 languages, bringing natural sounding text-to-speech in the cloud. Further, NDEV Silver members get access to Bluetooth hands-free voice applications. For larger corporate customers, Nuance will offer higher levels of services at what they call the Gold and Emerald level, but even these services will cost much less than the previous developer programs Nuance has offered. Harper wouldn't comment on how all this will tie in with rumored voice technology built into iOS 5 and new hardware that Apple is expected to announce soon, but since Apple now owns Siri, and has used Nuance technology in the past, it is likely there will be synergies. Many developers will leap at the chance to add very sophisticated speech features to their apps, and iPhones are likely to get even much more useful. The new developer program will also support Android and Windows Phone 7.
Nuance adds WP7 support, gives devs better service with NDEV Mobile developer program
You know Nuance right? They're the folks who make Dragon speech recognition software for Macs, iThings, Blackberrys, Androids and cars. Earlier this year, the company released its Dragon Mobile SDK to provide the tools needed to get folks talking to their phones, instead of with them. Now, Nuance has added support for Windows Phone 7 (no Mango support... yet) and upgraded its developer program to provide devs with more support so it's easier to make voice-enabled applications. Additionally, it's added eight new languages to its repertoire -- Canadian French, Americas Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Taiwanese Mandarin, and Cantonese -- with more to come. We got to speak with Nuance about its new program, now called NDEV Mobile, and were told it's broken into three tiers: Silver, Gold, and Emerald. NDEV Silver is the base level that gives devs free access to Nuance's text-to-speech and voice recognition technology. Gold service provides SSL data encryption and access to cloud-based speech recognition and TTS servers over the web (rather than using a client-side API) through per-user or per-transaction pricing models. At the top end, the Emerald level rolls out the red carpet with integrated custom vocabulary and grammar -- for creating apps that recognize industry jargon -- and dedicated account management. The company sees the Emerald tier appealing most to enterprise customers, but it's available to any dev willing to pony up for the extra Nuance TLC. So, intrepid app-makers, now that you've got the tools to make our phones understand us better than ever, how will you use them?
Nuance Dragon Dictate 2.5 for Mac review
Voice recognition. Or, more specifically, speech recognition. It's one of those technological wonders that we all seem to take for granted, while simultaneously throwing laughter its way for not being nearly sophisticated enough. Anyone that's used an early generation Ford SYNC system -- or pretty much any vehicular voice command system -- knows exactly what we're getting at. While processing speeds and user interfaces have made great strides in the past handful of years, voice recognition has managed to continually disappoint. It's not that things aren't improving, it's just that they aren't improving at the same rate as the hardware and software surrounding them. Even today, most new automobiles have to be spoken to loudly, pointedly and directly, and even then it's a crapshoot as to whether or not your command will be recognized and acted upon. For as much as we complain, we totally get it. Teaching a computer program how to recognize, understand and act upon the movement of human vocal chords is a Herculean task. Throw in nearly unlimited amounts of dialect and regional variation with even a single language, and it's a wonder that programs such as Nuance's Dragon Dictate even exist. Teaching a vehicle how to route calls, adjust volume and tweak a radio station is one thing, but having a program that turns actual speech into presentable documents requires a heightened level of accuracy. The newest build of Dragon Dictate for Mac (v2.5) allows users to seamlessly combine dictation with mouse and keyboard input in Microsoft Word 2011; it also gives yappers the ability to more finely control how Dragon formats text such as dates, times, numbers and addresses, while a free iOS app turns your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into a wireless microphone. We recently pushed our preconceived notions about this stuff aside in order to spend a solid week relying on our voice instead of our fingertips -- read on to see how it turned on. %Gallery-132799%
Ford bringing SYNC systems to base trim levels, drops from $395 to $295
Ford's been pushing SYNC in its autos since 2007, but you wouldn't have known it had you opted for the base trim level on your ride. Thankfully for those who appreciate the basics, that's a-changing. The automaker is aiming to entice more potential owners by offering the voice-activated infotainment systems across all levels for $295 (down from $395, where optional), starting with its 2012 Edge and Explorer models. To sweeten the deal even further, it'll also become standard on SEL variants for the first time -- before, it was a luxury previously reserved for Limited and Sport. Ford plans to roll out the system across its entire lineup in three years time, bringing the 2013 Ford Taurus, Focus, Escape and Flex into the fold. You know, options for all of you who aren't hip on the all-American, gas-guzzling SUV. Full PR past the break.
Dragon Dictate 2.5 offers support for Microsoft Word 2011
Nuance has announced Dragon Dictate 2.5, a free upgrade to the company's Mac voice control/input app for version 2.0 customers. The new version dramatically improves mouse and keyboard entry in Microsoft Word 2011, among other features. According to Nuance, Word 2011 is the most commonly used app for Dragon Dictate customers, so it makes sense that the company would put emphasis on adding more dictation functionality for the word processing market leader. Earlier versions of Dictate would get confused about where the insertion point or document elements were located when users switched between voice and mouse input (except in the company's own Notepad app or in TextEdit, where Dragon supported more complex behaviors). The recommendation against mixing dictation and keyboard/mouse editing has been so ingrained in the product's DNA that Dragon refers to it informally as the Golden Rule. Meanwhile, users of the corresponding Dragon NaturallySpeaking app on the Windows platform had far fewer restrictions. With 2.5 and Microsoft Word 2011, the Golden Rule is history; users can easily switch between voice and keyboard input at will, or between dictation and command mode within Dictate itself, all without disrupting Dictate's internal model of the document. This lends itself to a far more natural and workflow-friendly way of using Dragon; instead of having to stop and start between dictation and editing phases, just keep on going. Dragon SVP/general manager Peter Mahoney told TUAW that there's nothing specific to announce about enhanced support for Apple's Pages or other popular Mac productivity apps, but the company is looking at other integrations. "This is the first time that we've done this [on the Mac] for a meaningful application, and there was a lot of new invention in the way we created these integration models," he said. "Some of the approach we used in Word 2011 will benefit the Windows product, too... It's certainly something that we plan to expand to other applications over time." Version 2.5 adds the ability to dictate without distraction from the mouse and keyboard, and also adds a microphone option in the form of an iOS app -- Dragon Remote Microphone (Free) -- for those situations where you'd rather not be tied to a traditional headset, but where you do share a Wi-Fi network between your computer and your phone. There are new capabilities for controlling how Dragon Dictate formats text, and new voice commands even allow posting to Facebook and Twitter. Even doing searches on Google, Bing, Yahoo! or with Spotlight on the Mac can be accomplished with a voice command. The microphone can now be set to automatically "sleep" after a preset amount of time so that it won't recognize speech until you specifically wake it. For new users, a digital download Dragon Dictate 2.5 for Mac is available for $179.99 through the Nuance website; owners of the Windows NaturallySpeaking product can cross-grade for $99. Check out the slideshow below for a demonstration of some of the Word commands that are available in the upgrade.
Leak: future iOS update to introduce Siri-based voice control
When Apple snatched up Siri back in April, we had to wonder exactly what Cupertino was planning for the voice controlled virtual assistant. The answer, according to a new leak, is unsurprisingly obvious: iOS integration. A screenshot leaked to 9to5Mac flaunts an "Assistant" feature presumably built into a firmware update. To back up the screenshot, the aforesaid site dove into the iOS SDK and uncovered code describing Siri-like use of the iPhone's location, contact list, and song metadata. The code also outlined a "speaker" feature, opening a door for further Nuance integration in Apple products. Sound awesome? Sure it does, but keep it salty: 9to5's source says the assistant feature only just went into testing, and may not be ready in time for Apple's next big handset upgrade. Hit the source link to see the code and conjecture for yourself.
OS X Lion introduces new, multilingual, high-quality text-to-speech voices
First announced in March, then found in developer previews, one of the little-heralded new features of OS X Lion is its inclusion of several high-quality text-to-speech voices in 22 different languages. The last major addition to Apple's built-in OS X voices was Alex, a higher-quality voice included in Mac OS X Leopard back in 2007. While Alex was a breakthrough for text-to-speech Mac voices at the time, the over 50 new voices included in Lion outmatch him in several key ways. These new voices, sourced from Nuance, are not only available in several dialects of English but also, in an OS X first, in several other languages. Text-to-speech voices are now available in Arabic, three different Chinese dialects, Czech, Danish, two varieties of Dutch, Finnish, two French dialects, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, two Portuguese dialects, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, two Spanish dialects, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. Like a few other features of OS X Lion, Apple hasn't made these new voices easily discoverable unless you know where to look for them. It's also a bit of a misnomer to say they're "included" with OS X, as they are not included in the standard Lion install and require a separate download. In the Speech pane of System Preferences, clicking on the Text to Speech tab gives you an option for "System Voice" in a pulldown menu. This will likely be set to "Alex" by default. Clicking on "Customize" gives you access to the plethora of new optional voices, and you can play previews of each one before downloading them. (You can also listen to previews of these voices at NextUp.) Most of these new voices sound astonishingly natural, especially compared to the old, robotic, pre-Alex voices that were the bread and butter of text-to-speech in OS X's distant past. In particular, the Australian English "Lee" voice (now my default) and Mexican Spanish "Javier" sound incredibly lifelike to my ears. Selecting a checkbox next to a voice and clicking "OK" will present an alert asking if you're sure you want to download the voice. You'll find this alert welcome, because these high-quality voice files are huge, generally in the neighborhood of 350 to 500 MB each. If your bandwidth or hard drive space are limited, I wouldn't recommend downloading more than a few of these voices. I've generally shied away from utilizing OS X's text-to-speech functions in the past, because even "Alex" sounded jarringly artificial to me. The new voices aren't perfect and don't fill every dialectical niche (Richard Gaywood was dismayed there was no "Welsh English" voice, and I'm having to make do with Australian Lee rather than a full-fledged "Kiwi English" voice). That said, many of the new voices sound natural enough that having my Mac "talk" to me is now a useful feature, even though I don't have any accessibility requirements that make them necessary as they are for some users. In particular, Australian voice "Lee" makes my MacBook Pro sound like a bloke worth taking down to the pub for a pint, and that's a feature definitely worth having.
