SNIPPETS
THE VOICE OF DRAGONS
Unfortunately, while we didn’t suddenly acquire a pet dragon in the office, we did have the
chance to test the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 software by Nuance Communications Australia.
A speech recognition software that turns your voice into text and actionable commands for
your computer, Dragon 13 claims to be more accurate than its predecessors in understanding
different types of accents (which was one of our considerations when
we were putting the software through its paces) and increases your
productivity since talking is faster than typing.
Installing the Dragon 13 was a breeze and idiot-proof. Pop the CD into
your drive, navigate the easy-to-understand prompts, choose your
preferred microphone, and you’re good to go. When you launch an
application that the Dragon13 is compatible for, such as the Microsoft
Office suite or your email software, Dragon13 will ask you whether
you prefer to talk rather than type. Whenever you’re sick of talking
to yourself and prefer the click-clacking of your keyboard, the Stop
button is just a click away.
The real test was in the software’s understanding and accuracy. We’re
glad to say that as long as you speak clearly into the microphone, your accent doesn’t matter.
Even when we came across tricky words (three and tree comes into mind), Dragon13 was able
to discern between both, with mistakes few and far between. When the occasional error popped
up, it was easy to rectify with a few voice commands. Sadly, Dragon13 doesn’t understand our
local lingo – kopi siew dai, teh peng, etc. – and spat out its own valiant but hilarious attempts at
translating our Singaporean gibberish.
We highly recommend the Dragon13 for mothers working from home who are nursing infants or
busy folks who have a lot of things on their plate but still need to craft that important email while
working on meeting notes. We also used the Dragon13 during our meetings, which made it incredibly
easy to write the minutes afterwards. Now, if only there was a way to command a dragon with this…
The Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 software is priced at S$239 for the Premium version and
S$119 for the Home version. It’s available for download and purchase at www.getdragon.com.sg
and at selected software retailers.
We’re giving away two copies of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium in our Christmas
giveaway on the next page! Head on over and find out how you can win these and more!
6
Family & Life • Christmas 2014
elebrate
C
New Year
hristmas and ur family at
the C
Season with yo
Traditional Christmas turkey with chestnut stuffing and
cranberry sauce, Honey baked ham with apple sauce and
Roast Beef Rib Eye are just some of the
delicious food awaiting you.
Attractive prices for children and the large playground
makes this venue ideal for families
• 4-course pre-Christmas Dinners
• 4-course Christmas Eve Dinner
• Christmas Lunch Buffet
• 4-course Christmas Dinner
• 4-course New Year