Speech recognition software appears to be the next frontier of technology. Companies like Nuance probably have Apple (News - Alert) to thank for that to a large degree. Siri has been the voice recognition software that everyone fell in love with. Now people are looking for that kind of digital, personal assistant to be attached to things other than tablets and smartphones. Nuance (News - Alert) knows this and is looking to bring a kind of Siri cousin to Ultrabooks and All-in-one desktops.
Dragon Assistant has been around in one form or another for quite some time. There was even a time Dragon was actually the No.1 voice recognition software out there. Tablets like the iPad used to depend on Dragon in order to show what it could do for business people who wanted to craft e-mails and documents. Siri has surpassed Dragon in popularity but Nuance is hoping that it can find its own niche.
Dragon Assistant will be going live in a big way later this fall, and the company is hoping the launch will change the way people use the ultrabooks and desktops. Even people who are good typists can find some way in which Dragon assistant can come in handy. There is something to be said for being able to write an e-mail or handle other basic commands of a computer through your voice.
The name of the business game these days tends to be finding a way to multi-task. Figuring out just what kind of Dragon software a person should use could be a bit difficult. There are actually four different Dragon programs that are hitting the market. Dragon Home is the most basic version and it is selling for $75. This program allows for people who want to write school papers, e-mails and grocery lists. Dragon Premium is priced at about $150 and allows for working in spreadsheets and putting together presentations.
Dragon Professional is quite a bit of a step up and is selling for about $600. This allows for custom commands and includes high-level transcription tools. The biggest and most expensive version is the Dragon Legal. This program has a price tag (News - Alert) of $800 and includes the functions that Dragon Professional has, along with some specific commands for legal documents.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson