Speech Recognition Hits the Road 
Dragon Systems offers a $249 pocket-size speech recorder

by David Essex, special to PC World 
September 16, 1998, 3:22 p.m. PT 

Speech recognition is hitting the road, in the form of a handheld dictation
device that captures speech to be transcribed later on a PC. 

Dragon Systems' $249 Dragon NaturallySpeaking Mobile is a 2.5-by-4.5-inch
cellular phone-like device designed for professionals who use traditional
dictation devices, and mobile workers who must do hands-free text entry.
Weighing less than four ounces (without batteries), it can record for up to
40 minutes using its built-in memory. Additional plug-in flash memory
modules--the same kind used in digital cameras - can boost capacity to 2
hours.  

Announced on Tuesday and expected to ship in mid-October, the unit downloads
digitized voice recordings through the PC's serial port. Dragon's
NaturallySpeaking Preferred software, which is included, then converts the
recording to PC text. Product Manager Paula Crerar said the handheld product
has "close to the same accuracy" as its nonmobile predecessor, which exceeds
95 percent in most tests. But since the mobile product's microphone may be
held at varying distances from the speaker's mouth, recording quality may be
less than that of the desktop version, Crerar explained. 

Mobile's two-step operation could improve NaturallySpeaking's usability,
commented Dataquest analyst Chris Le Tocq. The desktop version's "only
failing is that it sort of requires that the user relearn the skill of
dictation," said Le Tocq. That's because it shows recognized text in near
real-time on screen but at varying speeds, depending on its quickness at
recognizing particular words. Users are tempted to fix words as they go
along. Dragon's NaturallySpeaking Mobile avoids this problem, so it should
offer "a better user experience," according to Le Tocq.  

NaturallySpeaking won raves last year as the first low-cost, PC-based program
that could recognize natural-sounding continuous speech. It was quickly
followed by IBM's ViaVoice, and later by Lernout & Hauspie's Voice Express.
Olympus sells a competing mobile product, the D1000. This sells for under
$400, bundles ViaVoice and requires an optional PC card adapter.