Amazon.com Product Description

Teach this bird to talk and gain a hilarious PC companion forever. What a riot. You've never seen anything like this on your PC before--this hilariously funny virtual pet is a real character. Talk to him and he'll talk back. Raise your parrot from a baby, and remember to feed, water, and bathe him to be rewarded with lively conversations. Train him to answer your questions, fly, move about his home, and more when you ask. You can even teach your parrot to speak and obey commands in different languages.

Jump-start your parrot. Use the basic training wizard to train your parrot fast. Includes suggested conversations for multiple themes such as sports, weather, and politics for instantly hilarious dialog with your parrot. Talk to him. Your parrot will memorize what you say, and repeat it, plus it will learn what to say in response to certain phrases or questions.

The parrot lives in his own, multiroom home. You can tell him what to do, and where to go, or click on certain areas to get your pet to fly, play, eat, bathe, and more. Includes stereo headset noise-canceling microphone (a $29.95 value), and a talking screen saver. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Talking max Version 2.0
You want a pet but don't want the hassle of pet care, what do you do? Well you might want to check out Talking Max 2 by Lernout and Hauspie and enter the world of virtual pets. Talking Max 2 is easy to install and you'll beup and running in now time flat.

The application comes with a tutorialthat will show you how to make Max talk and work. The tutorial is adefinite must if you are going to get this application to run correctly.The configuration is easy and the software does come with amicrophone.

The microphone is small and easy to find a place for; thesmall drawback is distance and location. I found that if I turned my backto the microphone Max had trouble understanding commands. A better morewide range microphone would ease this problem.

While the application iscute and fun to have around, for the home business computer this mightbecome a distraction. Children will certainly enjoy themselves and thissoftware does make a great gift. With a few minor adjustments I can seethis product in a great number of households.

Great graphics, good follow through
If Max represents the future of virtual pets, then it is a great start. Yes, all the parrot essentially does is parrot back your own wors in a more birdlike tone, but the graphics look beautiful and there is just somethingcool about telling this bird where to go. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Meet Marnee, the Totally Voice interactive speech assistant. With Marnee, you can put your keyboard and mouse aside and manage your appointments, to-do lists, and more--hands free. This voice-activated personal information manager can be loaded onto your PC or laptop and is a snap to use. All you need to do is ask your computer for information or tell it to perform a variety of tasks. Marnee recognizes your command and follows up with a verbal confirmation. Totally Voice lets you multitask to the max with minimum effort, freeing you to focus on the work that matters most.

Using Dragon Systems's Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a widely used speech engine, this program quickly trains Marnee to recognize your voice. Ask to schedule an appointment and consider it done; you'll also get a verbal confirmation. If you'd like a reminder, all you need to do is tell Marnee, and, at the scheduled time, you'll get a verbal reminder. Set your appointments and reminders far into the future or a few hours in advance.

Each time you begin working, a special screen shows you your appointments, callback list, e-mails, reminders, and to-do tasks for the day. You can also build interactive contact databases and to-do lists with Marnee's help. Then, all you need to do is dictate tasks to your computer. You can even have Marnee help with phone calls. Just say, "Get so-and-so at home," and Marnee accesses the phone number and dials it for you! The program also keeps a handy call log that you can update with your own call notes.

And if that's not enough, this cutting-edge program lets you dictate e-mail and reads it back to you. Marnee organizes e-mail, too. Totally Voice is compatible with several personal information managers, including Microsoft Outlook, and it will verbally walk you through basic functions, like sending an e-mail. It even comes with a headset, so Marnee can start working with you right away. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

wally review
I can not give a review until use it

Science Fiction Becomes Reality with Totally Voice
This is a really exciting software product because besides being a very nicely designed contact and appointment manager with "to-do" list and "reminder" functions, it lets you do everything Totally by Voice. Now here's the best part: it's not just speech recognition (comes with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech engine) - your computer will start talking to you! When the Totally Voice program is installed and launched, every thing you ask or tell it will generate a verbal response.Sure you can have e-mails and addresses or phone numbers from your contact list read to you but you can also say "how do I send an e-mail?" and your computer will start talking and take you through the process interactively. You can schedule a "reminder" to meet someone for lunch and at the designated time, your computer will say "It's time to go meet Bob for lunch, you better get going". This is a cutting-edge program that represents the first step in the realization of a reality predicted by science fiction for years... talking computers. So get ready to put your mouse and keyboard aside and just TALK WITH YOUR COMPUTER! This is a fun AND useful program. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

ViaVoice Standard Edition 9.0 has the voice recognition features needed for the small office or home office environment. ViaVoice Standard Edition comes with a noise-canceling headset microphone with earphone speaker, designed for voice recognition on the PC. Dictate, edit, and format text in ViaVoice SpeakPad, or in popular word processing applications such as Microsoft Word 97, 2000, and 2002.

Use basic voice commands to access and surf the Web in Internet Explorer. ViaVoice Standard Edition recognizes new words as you use them and adds them to your vocabulary, improving dictation accuracy the more you use the program. ViaVoice Standard Edition also features the natural dictation of numbers, dates, times, measures, and prices. With the Text to Speech feature, ViaVoice can read back both your typed and dictated text, making editing your documents easier.

An improved Analyze My Documents feature allows ViaVoice to recognize your writing style and the words you use frequently, leading to greater accuracy. You can then increase and customize your vocabulary through Vocabulary Manager. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

"Doesn't play well with others"
This is a quote I read somewhere regarding ViaVoice V.9 about its compatibility with other software on your Windows system.I got ViaVoice 9 up and running pretty quickly (and installed the mic after a bit of hassle due to Windows, not the software.) It does indeed recognize words well (though I'd have to put in a specialized dictionary of scientific terms like "proteomics" because ViaVoice thinks I said "show me your picks.") And it's fun hearing "Woodrow" the pencil-shaped cousin of the evil Clippy read in a voice borrowed from Stephen J. Hawkins.

But, though this works well in Speakpad, installing ViaVoice totally hosed my Microsoft Word, to the point I have to de-install the ViaVoice and HOPE I can get away without de-installing and re-installing Word. The software seems to change some kernel dll and this is NOT A GOOD THING.

If you need speech and read-back ability, and you can live with quirks like this, I'd say, it's a cheap way to get speech recognition software on your PC. (Might work for a budget-limited person with special needs.) But if you are going to dictate to Word or even USE Word without the speech, this is a no-no. Find another software package.

Unusable Product
This product is a total disaster.The ratio of correctly translated words to words the software misinterprets is roughly 8:1 at best. In my estimation it is unusable.Stay away!

ViaVoice 9 Standard Edition is a step up!
This is my third purchase of a ViaVoice product. The first two (Version 7, and Millenium Edition) were disappointing. I think it might have been because I didn't have a powerful enough processor with enough memory to run the application. The third try has been a charm! (I'm now running on a 500-Mhz, 256-Meg Pentium III.)

The installation was quick, easy, and straightforward. Based on other reviews (and experience with earlier releases), I expected 95-98% accuracy. My expectation was that the errors would be throughout the dictated document. To my surprise, they were localized to short phrases that were easily corrected, much easier than I found in earlier releases of the product.

I do have to be fairly consistent and clear in my speech, but I found that it adjusts to my own way of speaking quite well. What I was also surprised about was that I didn't have to speak each word with unnatural, uncomfortable distinction. I could speak as I normally do, in phrases rather than individual words. The tool does a great job of understanding what I'm trying to dictate.

My earlier experience required lots of mouse clicks after locating errors that had to be corrected. The current product can locate and correct errors through voice commands without having to touch the mouse or keyboard. I really found this to be significantly more productive than I expected. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

ViaVoice for Windows Personal Edition is voice-recognition software designed to be easy to use for beginners. After the setup assistant trains ViaVoice to analyze your voice, you can start using the included headset microphone to speak to your computer instead of typing. ViaVoice starts with a 160,000-word vocabulary that you can build on by adding new words as you use them. You can dictate directly into Microsoft Word 97 and 2000,easily creating e-mail, letters, reports, and other documents.

Features include the ability to analyze your voice, leading to greater accuracy. SpeakPad, a speech-enabled word processor, is included with ViaVoice. Natural Commands make working with Word easier as you use everyday language rather than "computer speak" to command functions within this popular word processor. You can teach ViaVoice new words for greater accuracy when you use special words, terms, nicknames, acronyms, pet phrases, addresses, and idioms. And your voice will become the easiest way for you to quickly navigate basic Web commands within selected browsers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Relief for Carpal Tunnel Sufferer!
I purchsed this software to transcribe tapes, and it has really given me some much needed relief from heavy typing.I'm able to wear both the headphones for the transcriber and for via voice, and I just dictate what I'm hearing from the transcribed tape!The easiest way to dictate, I found, is directly through the pad, and just cut and paste into word.Also, regardless of how poor you think your oratory skills are, speaking in your natural tone of voice helps the software to "learn" your voice pattern much quicker.I have found that even when I stumble over words that I use all the time, if I just do the voice analyzer after every session, it becomes more and more accurate.For a girl with a southern twang and drawl, that saying a lot! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

ViaVoice is IBM's voice recognition technology that lets you control your computer with your voice instead of a keyboard or a mouse. You talk and your computer types; or your computer talks and you listen. ViaVoice simplifies many computer tasks from creating text to sending e-mail to surfing the Web. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

cant beat it for the price
i personally have a newer version of this software and believe it to be outstanding, my daughter is currently using this program, however and loves it she has cut her homework time in half and it has allowed her to get much more accompolished by using this software, at first there were a lot of sceptics, and if you are one of them, then simply try this out, and you'll change your mind. and also i use to get cramps in my wrist and this product has allowed me to get my work done with no pain i love it, the only reason i did not give it five stars is because of the extra money i had to spend to get a better headset for it, but it was well worth it. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Ever wish you could eat lunch, file papers, and send an e-mail all atthe same time? Well, ViaVoice for Macintosh 2.0, Enhanced Edition, offersseveral new features that allow you to free your hands so the rest can follow.

Most impressive is Direct Dictation, which allows users to dictate text directlyinto AppleWorks, Microsoft Windows, Outlook Express, or Internet Explorer. Justplug the microphone into the USB port on your Mac, put on the headphones, andadjust the SpeakPad so that it's about an inch from your mouth. Tell ViaVoicewhat application to choose, and start dictating. Over time, the system will getbetter at recognizing your voice, and dictation response time will shorten. TheEnhanced Edition has a 64,000 word vocabulary, and features specializedvocabularies for users who work in computers, business and finance, "chatter'sjargon," and cuisine.

To use the Internet, just say, "Surf the Web," and then tell ViaVoice whatbookmarked site you'd like to go to. The user interface is consistent with theMac Human Interface Guidelines. Corrections can be made with your voice--nokeyboard strokes are necessary--and, if you need the system's attention for acommand, pause and say, "Computer."

While it's still available only in English, ViaVoice for Macintosh is a greatcommunication tool for people who either don't like to type, don't know how totype, or could use an extra hand. --Dana Van Nest ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good product, but updates are a must
This is a good product overall and works well for me now that it is installed. (Perhaps it is just my "clean Midwest accent".) The manual states that the software does not support G3 upgrade cards, but my PowerLogix card works fine with the software so far.

Cons:Lots of little problems requiring update and system tweaking.

I found that updates proved critical for the software to load and work properly on my machine. After purchase, go to the IBM website for the product (see info included with the software) to request the latest update CD. This is a reason to be cautious about buying an opened box version of this (on eBay, for instance): You will need a unique support code from the back of the manual to request the update CD or to get technical help. The update is important if you wish to use the program with Word 2001.

If you have problems installing, go to the IBM website for info and updates as there are strange little problems with the product, like having to reset your system time zone to New York in order to install. (?)This is the reason for 4 stars instead of 5. These problems should have been taken care of in the testing stage and I found them quite annoying to take care of in order to install the program. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

With the same accuracy and ease-of-use found throughout the ViaVoice 10 product family, ViaVoice Personal Edition provides an exciting introduction to natural, continuous speech recognition on personal computers. Speak to your computer instead of typing--use your natural voice, and watch your words appear on the screen.

You can use ViaVioce's own SpeakPad, a dictation-oriented word processor, or Microsoft Word 97, 2000, or 2002 to dictate text for letters, reports, memos, papers, faxes, or anything else you can think of. There's no need to grab the mouse if you make a mistake; ViaVoice features voice commands to format, edit, and correct your dictation. You can even create voice shortcuts to insert blocks of text like greetings, addresses, and quotes directly into your documents.

ViaVoice comes with over 300,000 vocabulary and backup dictionary words, and you can add your own terms, names, acronyms, and other words. ViaVioice for Windows Personal Edition 10 also comes with a stereo headset microphone. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Buy
I bought this program to transcribe text from a word processor to my computer and I've been delighted with the results.The only reason I don't give it five stars is that the system requirements they give are sorely understated.The computer I was using origninally had 256M RAM and was running at 533MHz, and I had continual problems with voice recognition.Now, I have 512M RAM and am running above 1GHz, and the difference in ease of use is like magic.All of these programs (from the reviews I've read) understate system requirements this way.Sure, you can (probably) get the program to run with their minimum; but to perform the way you'ld expect...not gon'na happen.That said, this is a great buy for the money and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Extremely useful; reliability problems
I have mixed feelings about this program, which I have used extensively in my one week of ownership.It is one of the most useful and freeing programs I've ever found.Suddenly, entering notes for lengthy research projects became a breeze.However, this program crashes constantly.Although I am able to recover the text after a crash, the dictation portion is lost -- and I am unable to execute the correction procedure necessary for the program's effectiveness and voice recognition accuracy.This program was designed for dictating letters and similar, brief documents.I have learned, now, to break up note-taking sessions into smaller documents.Once you get past a couple of pages of dictation, you risk crashing the program.

Good system
I bought this system three weeks ago for transcription purposes. It is easy to install and comes with a headset that is pretty sturdy. You can teach it how to recognize the way you speak with the ability to constantly add new words. I am sure you could pay more for this type of product but why would you want to? This one will do the job. ... ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

These days, just owning a Macintosh sets you apart from the crowd. You like to think your own thoughts, go your own way. Chances are you often find yourself burning with new ideas, but your fingers can't keep up with your brain, right? No problem. With ViaVoice, just speak to your Mac and your thoughts are on the screen.OK, maybe not everything you do on your computer is for fun. But with ViaVoice for Mac, even such tasks as an overdue report or the letter you owe Aunt Edna can become faster, easier, and a lot more interesting. And because more than one person can use ViaVoice for Mac on the same computer, maybe you can get someone else to dictate that letter. ... Read more

Features

• Easy to learn & use
• Use your natural speech
• 260,000-word dictionary

Reviews (6)

not for handicaps
This software was useless to me. I am handicap but with `good' speech. It could not recognize my speech.

The headsetwhich comes with this product is made in China. It is too small for a `average sized' American male with average length of hair.

All sound functions of the Mac are disabled by this software.

Native Spanish speakers were able to use this [speaking English].

Talk about a killer app!
Why is this application not in headlines everywhere? It is absolutely astounding, almost like magic. Like the box says, "revolutionary, not evolutionary." I decided to give it a try after seeing that it wonMacworld 2000 "best of show" this year.I think this productsignals the beginning of a whole new era in user interface. Just amazing.

Excellent software, approaching perfection.
I found this software beyond reproach.In only one day I was writing letters to people with about 95% accuracy.Since then it has improved to about 99%.This is a very smart piece of software that improves itselfconstantly, becoming ever more accurate.The secret is to put on a voicelike that of a documentary host, speaking clearly and learning toaccentuate your words properly.Since getting this software I haveincreased my own linguistic ability.Unless you like to speak gutter slangand slur your words you will find this software to be a real time-saver.

I said, "Below" not "Be Low" average...
I will make this short and sweet. I had high hopes in this software cuz I have to retype lots of text, some at 6 pt. size. So, rather than using Omnipage, I thought buying this software would be the answer to my prayers,read the paragraphs, cutting time and saving my fingertips. I come torealize that this software still makes many mistakes and I find myselfspending more time proof-reading the document word for word, looking formistaken words. I spent more time correcting the software's errors, somany, I felt I could have saved my $80 and a whole lot of time typing thematerials in for myself. I found that OmniPage OCR actually had less errorsthan this Soft Where... I said "Software" !

Beyond Mere Novelty, Short Of Pure Utility
While Apple has offered ambitious attempts of its own at system-level speech recognition on the Macintosh for several years and even at present, it has been wise to promote IBM's entry into the Mac space. IBM hasrenowned chops in the voice rec department and proves it admirably withViaVoice for Mac 1.0.

Initial training of the application requires acertain amount of diligence but is eventually rewarded by a remarkableaccuracy and flexibility in the transcription process. It will require somepatience and a conscientious effort by the user to accommodate the verycomplex nature of computer-based voice recognition. We may be but a yearfrom 2001, but ViaVoice will not turn your computer into 'HAL' by anyestimation. A combination of careful speech and fingers close to thekeyboard may prove to be the most practical strategy when using thisproduct.

It should also be noted that--as is ever the case withCPU-intensive applications such as ViaVoice--current-generation,high-performance hardware is recommended if not realistically required foroptimal results.

No doubt ViaVoice will be improved in future versions,but this initial effort is already a marvel of software engineering. Andit's a true 'Mac-savvy' product. I commend IBM for some fine work. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The newest version of ViaVoice takes great steps toward a complete natural-language solution. Gone are the days when you had to speak to your computer in a stilted, word-by-word patois--ViaVoice works better if you speak with a natural rhythm, though a little slower and more precisely than in normal conversation.

Once the program is installed, the ViaVoice VoiceCenter bar sits at the top of the screen. Whatever you say into the supplied noise-canceling headset is interpreted as either dictation or a command. The program works with Microsoft Word, but if you use a different word processor, ViaVoice's own SpeakPad text editor will take dictation just as happily. You can then cut and paste your text into the application of your choice.

When you first start using the program, you need to train it to understand your voice. This takes around 20 minutes, and further training can improve accuracy. Getting used to your voice is only half the battle--understanding your vocabulary is just as important. Particularly if you use specialist words in your work, getting to know your jargon can be crucial.

ViaVoice 10 Standard understands a wide range of dictation-specific commands, such as "Go to end of line" and "New paragraph," to help navigate around your document. You can work entirely by voice, but most people use a combination of voice dictation and mouse clicks for maximum productivity.

No speech recognition system is 100 percent accurate. To cope with the occasional mistake, ViaVoice 10 Standard provides the correction window, where a numbered list of likely alternatives is shown whenever you select dubious text. Saying "Pick [number]" substitutes the word or phrase at that position in the list.

ViaVoice 10 Standard can search through your existing documents, adding words not in its extensive vocabulary to its word list. This is a cunning shortcut to boosting recognition accuracy. --Simon Williams ... Read more

Reviews (2)

voice direct continuous express 4.0
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS SOFTWARE FOR ANYONE. I HAVE HAD IT FOR 3 MONTHS AND AM STILL TYPING AS I TALK BECAUSE I CAN NOT GET THIS SOFWARE TO UNDERSTAND MY VOICE. I AM SHURE THERE IS MANY OTHER VOICE SOFTWARES OUT THERE THAT ARE A LOT EASIER TO WORK. I AM RATING THIS A BIG 1.

type by talking
This can be a very use full item. But does it really know all the words sound, (made up words also) in our laungauge, appsalutly not! It works well, & I would like to recomend it to anyone with a lot of typing to do. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Hear-Say is a dynamic and versatile application that compresses standard wave files (.wav) up to 140 times the digitized size of the original voice message. In addition to the obvious application as a voice e-mail tool, Hear-Say voice annotations can be embedded into most standard word processing programs (such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect) and into individual cells of a variety of standard spreadsheet programs so information can "come alive." Free PlayBack software is included. Distribute it to friends, family, or business associates so they won't miss a beat. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Just what the doctor ordered! Voice Xpress for Medicine is a speech-dictation product that allows you to create medical documentation by simply dictating to your PC. It works with virtually all Windows applications so that you can create documents by speaking to your word-processing system, create spreadsheets by dictating to your spreadsheet application, and send e-mail and faxes by speaking to your e-mail and fax system.

The Medical Compendium Edition contains one vocabulary compiled from several specialties and is designed for the general practitioner who needs to create reports, documents, referral letters, journal articles, etc. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

L&H Voice Xpress Personal Finance is designed to complement the two most popular personal finance programs: Intuit Quicken and Microsoft Money. Now, no matter which program you prefer, you'll be able to perform your favorite functions by voice. And, thanks to our exclusive Natural Language Technology, there are no complicated phrases or menus to memorize, just "Say It Your Way" to control your personal finance program. For example, instead of hunting and clicking through menus, simply say "go to my checkbook" and Voice Xpress Personal Finance opens your register. It's a faster and more flexible way to work.

With Voice Xpress Personal Finance, you just slip on the included headset, speak normally, and get started. No more agonizing over menus and dialog boxes to find the function you want. Nothing could be easier or more natural. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Limited
Some of the commands and navigation feaatures I assumed would be availableweren't. You could not program a phrase to execute a macro, you need thefull L&H version for that.I found it easier just to click and typethan spell out my password and tell the computer how to navigate etc. ... Read more

Features

• Customize your alert message; adjust the amount of time between alert and appointment
• Choose from 11 award-winning voices
• Hear your appointments; listen to your upcoming tasks
• Speaks any information you enter into the Microsoft Calendar or Tasks
• Listen to information while your hands or eyes are occupied

Features

• Voice access to any clickable object, no mouse needed
• Easy to use; works in any Windows application
• Pop-up hints guide you; effectively speed up computing tasks
• Easily transcribe documents or enter large amounts of data
• Avoid or compensate for repetitive-motion injuries

Features

• Voice-activated typing and computer navigation
• Built-in, 60,000-word vocabulary and the ability to add words
• Pop-up hints guide you; effectively speed up computing tasks
• Avoid or compensate for repetitive-motion injuries
• Easy to use; works in any Windows application