Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012)

DNP  Xbox 360 Dashboard update handson fall 2012

Is it Fall again already? Must be time for another Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Every year Microsoft Drops the console a little bit of code to match the descending leaves, delivering new features, interface tweaks and additional content to hide behind the Xbox Live Gold paywall. Redmond’s latest update isn’t quite the overhaul it gave the gaming rig last year, but minor changes can have big effects. Join us after the break to see the machine’s latest update, and what it means for you.

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Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrome experiment explores new types of navigation, degrees of embarrassment

Chrome experiment reveals embarrassing wonders of bodily navigation

What you’re about to see, should you choose to click the source link below, is far from perfect. On the other hand, it’s clearly had a lot of effort and expertise put into it — not only by HTML5-savvy coders, but also by a troupe of performers from the Cirque du Soleil. It’s called Movi.Kanti.Revo, which is a fancy way of saying Move.Sing.Dream, and it involves navigating through an ethereal and slightly laggy landscape using only swaying gestures, your singing voice (mournful sobbing sounds also worked for us) and a bunch of APIs that conveniently fail to work on FireFox, Safari or Internet Explorer. It’s well-suited to those with a mic and webcam, preferably sitting in a open-plan and bully-ridden workplace, and if you don’t like it there’s always Bastion.

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Chrome experiment explores new types of navigation, degrees of embarrassment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 boosts accuracy and adds Android mic support

Nuance has pushed out a new version of Dragon Dictate for Mac, its OS X voice dictation package, taking on Apple’s own Mountain Lion speech recognition and throwing in smartphone microphone support too. Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 promises a 15-percent accuracy increase versus the previous version, along with the ability to transcribe audio files; meanwhile, if you have an iPhone or Android device, you can use that as a wireless microphone.

Apple obviously brought its own challenge to speech recognition systems in the latest OS X release, with Mountain Lion supporting native transcription. However, Apple’s implementation is server-based, and so Macs require a data connection in order to process voice commands and dictation.

In contrast, Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 is self-contained, as well as including support throughout Mountain Lion, so there’s no need to be online. There’s integrated commands for Notes and Reminders, along with better understanding of formatting such as abbreviations and numbers; Nuance has also tweaked the way corrections are made, so as to streamline the process and take less time away from actual dictation.

If you’re working from a recorded audio file, meanwhile, you can load a .wav, .m4a, .m4v, .mp4, .aif, or .aiff recording and – as long as it’s a single person speaking – have it automatically transcribed. There’s also support for 16kHz wideband Bluetooth microphones for improved wireless recordings, and which – when automatically recognized by the app – bypasses the initial voice training program altogether. If you have either an iOS device or an Android phone, you can now use the Nuance Remote Microphone App too.

Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 is up for preorder now, priced at $199.99. Those already using Macspeech Dictate or Dragon Dictate can save $50 as an upgrade; there’ll also be bundles with a compatible Bluetooth headset. Digital deliveries are expected to begin September 13, with in-store shipments from September 24.


Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 boosts accuracy and adds Android mic support is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Telenav’s Scout gives iOS users offline navigation in exchange for ten bucks

Telenav's Scout gives iOS users offline navigation in exchange for ten bucks

We know that iOS 6 will bless iPhone users with some in-house-made mapping, but that hasn’t stopped Telenav from bettering its own Scout navigation offering for Apple’s favorite handsets. Scout now does offline navigation by letting users download maps of the west, central or eastern United States over WiFi only. Plus, Scout now takes voice commands, so on your next road trip you can tell it to find the nearest Whataburger whether you have cell signal or not. Interested parties can head on over to the App Store to get their download on, but you’ll pay for the privilege — offline navigation costs $9.99 a year or $2.99 a month, though the free, data-dependant version of Scout for iPhone still includes speech recognition. Still not sold? Perhaps the video after the break will persuade you.

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Telenav’s Scout gives iOS users offline navigation in exchange for ten bucks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google voice search heads to iPhone to take on Siri

Apple has agreed with Google that their Google Now voice search engine will be allowed on the iPhone in the very near future. This announcement comes this week as Google also revamps the rest of their search abilities with a new initiative for “one million users” to join in and allow the company to integrate their Gmail search results with their regular worldwide search results – this doesn’t mean your Gmail account it out for everyone to see, but does mean that you’ll soon have one integrated system for yourself. As for the mobile version of voice search, Google’s working with iPhone will make a huge splash on the Siri-loving fans across the globe soon, and very soon.

This step-up of voice-enabled search will be coming to iOS via the iPhone first for the big A, but will also continue to be developed for Android as well. We had our own hands-on look at Google Now, part of the Google voice search system, back at Google I/O 2012 when it was launched. This system is available on Android devices running version 4.1 Jelly Bean now and will more than likely be coming to the iPhone in its entirety very soon.

At the moment, however, it only appears that the voice recognition element of Google’s search engine for the mobile platform will be pushed. The Google Now element, being a rather enticing bit of software for Android users on the horizon, will be staying on Google’s Mobile OS for the near future. Below you can see the Google Nexus 7 showing off Google’s new voice search abilities courtesy of Android Community.

Google mentioned once again that they’re nearing “Star Trek” software for the future, but at the moment they’re still taking “baby steps” – this projection of the future coming from Google senior vice president Amit Singhal. Have a peek above at Google Now and prepare yourself for a whole new iPhone experience as the new device appears later this year as well. Google has been booted from the basic build of the iPhone in both maps and YouTube, so we’re expecting a full frontal assault from them in the software world for iOS in the coming weeks – Google made, Google updated.

[via Mercury News]


Google voice search heads to iPhone to take on Siri is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Nuance’s Nina brings Siri’s smarts to customer service apps

Personal voice assistants such as Siri and S-Voice certainly help shift handsets, but their functions are limited in scope to what Apple and Samsung implement. That issue can be sidestepped thanks to Nuance, who have today introduced Nina, a voice recognition service designed to be implemented directly into customer service apps for iOS and Android. The service combines multiple technologies such as text-to-speech, voice biometrics, and natural language understanding, all processed in the cloud that helps carries out commands.

Nina is apparently the first voice assistant service that combines voice recognition with biometrics, enabling services and companies to implement the solution and potentially serve up information or allow customers to pay bills without ever requiring a password. In Nuance’s examples, users could interact with their banks to help find the nearest ATM, or ask more complex queries regarding household insurance policies.

One banking institution is especially confident in the new functionality provided by Nina, with USAA, a bank that serves the US military and veterans, announcing a partnership with Nuance that will see the new technology used in its mobile banking app. A pilot app is expected to be unveiled in August for certain members before full fledged functionality rolls out to all USAA members next year.

Anyone else who wants to make use of Nina can do so with the release of the SDK today. It will be available in US, UK, and Australian English, and Nuance says that more languages will be coming in the future.


Nuance’s Nina brings Siri’s smarts to customer service apps is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 available August 3rd for $99.99

If you’re sick of typing out all those articles, essays, and emails, maybe Nuance‘s Dragon voice dictation is the solution. The company has announced NaturallySpeaking 12 for the PC, boasting that there are over 100 new features and improvements made to the voice recognition engine. As you would expect, the NaturallySpeaking turns your voice into text, powered by Nuance’s voice recognition system famously used for Siri and the voice dictation feature in Mountain Lion.

Nuance claims that NaturallySpeaking is 20% more accurate than version 11 straight of the box, and as usual, the more you use the service the more it attunes itself to your voice, which will also increase accuracy. Nuance has added Smart Format Rules to version 12, with the voice engine adapting to the way a user presents formatting and punctuation. NaturallySpeaking still prompts users to tune the engine using their own documents and emails as well.

Email junkies will be pleased to hear that Gmail and Hotmail support are fully onboard, so actions and commands from both services can be activated simply by speaking. The support extends to Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 12 and up, and Chrome 16 and higher. Interestingly, you don’t need a swanky microphone for your PC either. Nuance has extended its Microphone app to Android, so you can use your smartphone as a microphone that connects to your PC over your local wireless network.

Pre-orders for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 begin today, with the price set at $99.99. The digital version of the software will be available to download on August 3rd, while all other versions will start shipping out on August 13th.


Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 available August 3rd for $99.99 is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Nuance borrows Siri tech for mobile helpdesk assistant

Nuance isn’t content to let Apple’s Siri and Jelly Bean’s Google Now grab the voice interface spotlight; the company has a voice-controlled personal assistant of its own in the pipeline, Nina. Billed as having the potential to “change the face of mobile customer service forever,” Nina isn’t targeted at harried users wanting to set calendar appointments and call their spouses, but at companies hoping to put a more friendly, intuitive face on their product support.

“She’s smart, intuitive, flexible” Nuance promises, “Nina just gets you.” Both iPhone and Android devices are shown, suggesting Nina will be cross-platform, and the enterprise focus is clear: ”She’s all business” Nuance insists, “Your business.”

Nuance may not be a household name – though their Dragon range of dictation software for PC and Mac is a mainstay of voice recognition systems – but the company’s technology is far-reaching. Apple’s Siri uses Nuance’s speech recognition, as does the new Dictation feature in OS X Mountain Lion, though of course heavily rebranded. Meanwhile, Google Now is based on a homegrown speech database initially helmed by Nuance co-founder Mike Cohen (and dressed up with various speech-centric acquisitions along the way).

Though the target markets are different, then, Nina is likely to be met with some degree of familiarity or recognition when it arrives this summer. Full details are in short supply, but we’re guessing Nuance will offer a white-label natural speech recognition system for companies looking to automate their customer services.

[via Stefan Constantine]


Nuance borrows Siri tech for mobile helpdesk assistant is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


BlackBerry 10 gets voice commands in latest dev update (video)

BlackBerry 10 gets voice commands in latest dev update

Those lucky enough to have their hands on a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device were treated to a nice little software update this week. While some were having trouble just getting it installed, others were able to fire it up pretty quick and found a nice surprise waiting for them — voice controls. Hold down the play/pause button on the side and you’ll be prompted to speak a command and offered a unified search interface. Sound familiar? It should, Android and iOS have both hopped on the speech recognition bandwagon, and its becoming an expected feature of a modern mobile OS. The fine folks over at N4BB were able to give the suspiciously familiar sounding virtual assistant a run through and, lets just say it’s a bit rough around the edges. Of course, thanks to the limitations of the alpha quality software there wasn’t much to actually test anyway. To see it in action check out the video after the break.

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BlackBerry 10 gets voice commands in latest dev update (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T releases Watson-powered speech API

Back in April, AT&T announced that it would be opening up its Watson voice recognition service to developers. The plan was for app developers to make use of the service in several different areas, such as SMS, voicemail to text, and general voice dictation. AT&T has now officially released the API to developers for free, so the various Watson SDKs can now be used in both native and HTML5 apps.

If you recall, Watson has been split into several different categories so the engine provides the best results. Those include Web Search, Business Search, Voicemail to Text, SMS, Question and Answer, TV, and Generic. Watson has been tuned to each of those specific tasks, so developers have the choice of picking out the best option rather than writing in unnecessary functionality.

Even if you’re not a developer, you’ve probably come across Watson being used in automated customer service helplines. There’s also an official Translator app for iOS that makes use of the technology, so take a peek if you’re morbidly curious. As for developers, you need only head over to developers.att.com to start building apps using the Watson API.


AT&T releases Watson-powered speech API is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.