PaperPort Notes App Adds OCR Functionality

Nuance's PaperPort Notes app for iPad received a major update. The highlight of the update is the ability to take a picture of text to add the text to your notes. The Optical Charactor Recongition (OCR) feature is slower than other competing apps but is accurate. The improved cameras on the newest iPads allow OCR to work well. To learn about the other features of the free PaperPort Notes app click here. Click here to download the app.

Click read more below to view screenshots of PaperPort Notes.

Apple Announces Dictation For the Mac

Apple announced a new feature called dictation that will allow users to talk to their computer and have their words transcribed into text. This feature is similar to dictation on the iPhone 4S and The New iPad. The feature will be built into OS X Mountain Lion. Dication is simular to the Windows and Mac program called Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Apple says the following about dictation,

 

" Now you can talk anywhere you can type. Dictation converts your words into text. It uses the built-in microphone on your Mac, so there’s no need to set anything up — just start speaking instead of typing. When you say “comma” or “exclamation point,” Dictation punctuates for you. The more you use Dictation, the smarter it gets. It learns voice characteristics. And it recognizes people from your contacts so it enters names accurately. Dictation supports English (U.S., UK, and Australia), French, German, and Japanese."

PaperPort Notes App for iPad: Notetaking with Dictation

Paperport Notes is a free app for the iPad. The app is made by Nuance the maker of Dragon Dictation. The app allows users to take notes by typing, writing with a stylist or by dictation. Paperport Notes also allows users to import pictures and web pages into notes as visual reminders. Another useful feature allows users to record audio notes of a class or meeting while they are typing or writing notes. The audio notes will allow you to go back and review the class or meeting if you missed an important part. Once you have completed your note you can save in as a PDF or use cloud services such as Dropbox.

Click read more below to view more images of Paperport Notes.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a speak recognition program that allows you to control your computer and dictate with your voice. Dragon NaturallySpeaking includes a headset with a microphone for uses with the program. Dragon NaturallySpeaking has excellent speak recognition accuracy at fast speeds. Dragon allows users to browse the web, write emails and compose and edit Microsoft Office documents with your voice. In addition Dragon can transcribe audio files into text after it was recorded. For example, if you are on the go you can record your voice with an audio recorder and then uses Dragon to make a text document from the audio file. Dragon has numerous commands that you can use to control your computer. You can say, "search the web for..." or "correct that" or "strike that" or 'scroll down" along with many other commands. Because their are so many commands there is a learning curve for new Dragon users. Luckily once you learn the commands that you will use most Dragon can improve the time it take you to perform common tasks. Dragon's speech recognition accuracy is very good out-of-the-box but you can train Dragon by reading text aloud to help improve the accuracy. Creating text documents with Dragon is also quicker and easier with voice. Using Dragon it is easier to get your ideas down on paper and using voice is much quicker than typing. If you have an iOS device you can use it as a remote microphone using the Dragon Remote Microphone available here. To learn more about other Dragon products from Nuance click here, here and here. This product was provided complementary to the reviewer.

Dragon Express: Control Your Mac by Voice

Today, Nuance released Dragon Express for the Mac. Dragon Express allows users to preform key functions solely with the sound of their voice. The app is available here on the Mac app store for $49. Dragon Express can send emails, search with spotlight, post Twitter and Facebook updates, search the web and more. Dragon Express is an introductory product designed for people who are new to voice recognition. Dragon Express lacks many key features of the more expensive Dragon Dictate. See the comparison chart below to see the difference between Dragon Express and Dragon Dictate.

Dragon Express uses Nuance's great speech recognition technology to accurately turn your voice into text. Nuance claims that using Dragon is three times faster than typing. To learn about Dragon apps for iOS click here. Stay tuned for more about Dragon Naturally Speaking. Click read more below to view screen shots of Dragon Express and read the press release.

Todays "Let's Talk iPhone" Event Accessibility Implications

Today Apple is set to announce the next version of the iPhone along with iOS 5. The announcement will have major effects on iOS users with disabilities. iOS 5, the next version of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch operating system, will include many major accessibility enhancements. To learn more about iOS 5 accessibility click here. The hardware announced tomorrow will also effect the assistive technology world. Click here to learn more about the next iPhone's impact on accessibility. What ever Apple announces tomorrow check back on the assistive technology blog for the accessibility angle of the new products.      

What does iPhone 5 and iOS 5 Mean for Assistive Technology?

Mock up of possible iPhone 5 design

Apple's next iPhone is rumored to be announced in a couple of weeks. What will the new iPhone mean for assistive technology? The iPhone is a powerful tool for people with a variety of disabilities. It has built in text-to-speech, support for braille displays and much more. How will Apple's announcement effect you? Read on to find out.

At the event Apple will most likely unveil at least one iPhone with a faster processor, more RAM and a better camera. Apple may surprise us with more features as well, but we'll focus on those three. A faster processor means that apps will run faster enabling apps such as Read2Go and ZoomReader to work better and faster. The faster processor will also open the door to exiciting new assistive technology apps. A better camera will benefit people using OCR apps, magnification apps, money reader apps and much more. The new camera will be able to recognize text more accurately and magnify printed text with higher resolution. The new iPhone will run iOS 5 which includes many new accessibility features.

iOS is the most accessible mobile operating system to date and with iOS 5 it will get even better. iOS 5 will run on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Apple has said that iOS 5 will available in the fall. iOS 5 will include many new accessibility features to help make the device easier to use. Hearing aid compatibility will be built into the iPhone allowing people to hear the iPhone better. Another new feature allows users to select text and then have it read back to you using a built in text-to-speech voice. Another rumored feature will convert a users voice into text for easier text input. iOS 5 will also be able to use the iPhone flash as an indicator light which will be helpful to deaf users. Custom vibrations will allow users to set their own vibration patterns to quick identify who is calling. Yet another cool feature called assistive touch will help users with low motor still access their iOS device. To learn more about assistive touch click here. There are even more accessibility features coming in iOS 5. iOS 5 will include a feature for every type of user and will be a free upgrade. To learn more about iOS click here, here and here.

Apple's announcement will be many new exciting bring new assitive technology features to users. Click read more below to see a video about iOS 5. Stay tuned for more information about iOS 5 and the new iPhone.

Merriam-Webster Voice Activated Dictionary

Using a dictionary can be very difficult if you do not know how to spell the word you are looking for. The free Merriam-Webster app for iOS and Android solves this problem. The app allows the users to speak their search into their device just with their voice. The speech recognition is very accurate and speedy. Voice activation allows users to search for word that they can not spell. In addition to voice search, the app includes a pronunciation button which allows you to hear the correct pronunciation of a word. The app uses Nuance's speech recognition engine for voice activation. To download the free Android app click here. To download the free iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad app click here.

To learn more about other apps with Nuance speech recognition click here. To learn about accessibility features in iOS 5 click here and here.