I’m not too sure why nearly every single software or hardware that has to do with Apple normally comes with the ‘i’ prefix, but hey, if it works just fine, there isn’t much to complain about as this would be but a minor gripe. MacSpeech has taken the opportunity to introduce its MacSpeech Dictate software for the Mac that utilizes Nuance’s speech processing engine to create one of the (claimed) most accurate commercial speech dictating software ever, even more so than iListen that was released way back in 2000 (and having seen a fair number of revisions since then).

Before you get too excited and start looking for a website where you can order or download this program, be prepared to be disappointed as MacSpeech Dictate is not shipping just yet since the software is still in beta. Those at the Macworld showfloor were not given the green light to spend some time with it – instead, a demo was shown to interested parties. Unfortunately, we all know that demos can be rather misleading at times so it remains to be seen whether performance in actual real life usage will actually pan out to be as claimed. Apparently, the demo showed that “training” the software to recognize your voice takes approximately 10 minutes (I wonder what happens when you get a sore throat?). You get a 95% accuracy rate with that, and from that point onwards, the software is smart and dynamic enough to learn based on your speech.

You get voice commands that enable you to correct errors should they appear, while there are also other commands which allow one to open, close, switch, and even control different Mac applications. Should your Mac be used by more than a single person who is interested in Dictate, the software is capable of storing a few profiles for individual voice. Those who do not speak in an American English accent will be pleased to note that Dictate has made allowances for other accents such as Australian English.

Source: Ars Technica