November 2001 NGTVoice
- L&H Dragon Announces Ver. 6.0 Release/Upgrade
- System Recommendations
- Windows XP
- Keyboard Shortcuts for Office Apps
L&H Dragon Announces Ver. 6.0 Release/Upgrade
Lernout & Hauspie have announced the pending release of NaturallySpeaking
Preferred and Professional version 6.0. This feature rich upgrade includes
several significant product enhancements and new feature sets including the
ability to spell words directly in the text window, an full Excel command
interface, and several exciting developments within the core language models.
In addition, it offers improved overall accuracy and the ability to weed out
utterances like uhms
and ahs
; natural language commands that can
be used with many third party software programs; L&H's RealSpeak, a
text-to-speech engine that provides a human-sounding voice for editing
documents or listening to e-mail messages; and the ability to create
customized voice commands.
There currently is no definitive release date, but all purchases of NaturallySpeaking Professional/Preferred from this point forward will receive a complementary upgrade to version 6.0 when it becomes available. We anticipate the product release around Thanksgiving and the upgrade release around the middle of December. This is for Pro versions, with Preferred versions being released shortly thereafter.
In addition, anyone wishing to purchase a NaturallySpeaking upgrade for their current NaturallySpeaking software will receive a discounted purchase price of $99.00 for Professional and $129.00 for Medical/Legal Suite if a pre-purchase is made between now and December 31, 2001. This is a $50.00 discount from the anticipated upgrade list price. Contact your NGT Consultant for additional information or to place your order.
System Recommendations
To PIV or not to PIV?
PC133/DDR/Rambus?
The choices are starting to come at us fast and furious regarding the options on new computer systems. At this juncture, we're building with PIV technology in the NGT VoicePro desktop series and using an MSI motherboard that supports PC133 RAM. For those of you interested in the current situation and future of RAMBUS technology you may want to read Red Herring's last issue for their take on this technology.
Now is a terrific time to look at laptop computer purchases. Manufacturers are switching from the 18 micron to 13 micron processor and, you can get a good price on older style systems that still offer outstanding performance. Additionally, the general buzz is that the mobile PIV will be available next Spring so, attractive pricing should continue for several months. Contact us at NGT if you'd like information or a quotation for a speech optimized notebook system or a budget system for the road warrior on the go.
Windows XP
We've been very pleased with the Windows XP Home and Professional operating systems. NGT, Inc. was fortunate enough to be selected to beta test the software, so we've had the opportunity to get very familiar with it over the last several months. We're about ready to start building our NGT VoicePro desktop computer systems with this and will be migrating to XP from Windows 2000 (Which has been very well received by the market, and is currently used by NGT internally.).
A few things to keep in mind prior to upgrading: Many third party software applications, like virus checkers, etc. need special updates in order to support Windows XP. You would want to make sure to have these in hand prior to undertaking an upgrade. In addition, it has been our general experience that systems seem to operate better when a full installation of the operating system software is done, as opposed to an upgrade. I think this will be particularly the case when upgrading from the 9x operating systems since Windows XP uses the NT kernel. Also, we always recommend that you backup any critical files and programs on an external medium prior to undertaking an upgrade--like maybe backing up your NaturallySpeaking User file.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Office Apps
The latest issue of Woody's Office Watch referenced a list of useful shortcut keys, which provides an Excel spreadsheet download with all of the most important MS Office application hotkeys. The website has full download information for this executable file. I think many of our readers will really appreciate the information, and the fact that the data is laid out by application in an Excel format.
You can also get a copy of the shortcuts for Microsoft Word by opening the macro tool and typing in ListCommands. When printed, this list is approximately 20 pages long. It's very useful for writing macros and for people who need to access functionality through the keyboard instead of using a mouse.
As we move through the autumn season, and winter approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family's a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!
-Ed. Rosenthal
Page Last Updated: Sunday, June 01, 2008
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