Dragon Dictates Its Last Message

It's the end of an era: The last edition of NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software developed solely by Dragon Systems makes its debut this week.

NaturallySpeaking 5.0 features a new user interface, a host of usability improvements, and support for Intel's upcoming Pentium 4 microprocessor. It is the last voice recognition software suite made exclusively by the maverick speech technology firm Dragon Systems, which was acquired last year by Lernout & Hauspie.

Belgium-based L&H plans to combine core technology from its own speech recognition product VoiceXpress with Dragon's NaturallySpeaking in a yet-unnamed product expected to ship next year.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 5.0 will be available in September. Its improvements include a "streamlined" user interface that places a taskbar at the top of your screen, allowing easy access to Dragon tools and help menus. (See "Talk Fast: New Speech Recognition Software.")

Dragon has enhanced and expanded its support for desktop applications, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Outlook, Outlook Express, America Online, Netscape Messenger, and Eudora. A Quick Start guide is added, giving you step-by-step directions on how to install and use the software.

The product will be available in several versions. The starter Essentials edition handles Web browsing, e-mail, and chat, and is priced at $59. On the high end is the $249 Preferred USB edition, which is aimed at notebook users and includes a USB sound card.

Who's a Dragon Slayer?

Dragon NaturallySpeaking will do battle against IBM ViaVoice 8.0, which is expected to ship in August. IBM is tight-lipped about features of its upcoming release, stating only that it will have improved accuracy and usability. Also, Philips' Speech Processing division says it is tentatively planning to launch FreeSpeech 3.0, an update to its dictation product, this fall. (See "FreeSpeech 2000: Well Worth the Cost.")

For the past year, Dragon NaturallySpeaking has been the leading consumer speech recognition software program, with 40 percent of all unit sales, according to PC Data. Lernout & Hauspie's VoiceXpress is the second largest seller with 36 percent, trailed by IBM ViaVoice at 21 percent of sales.