Chapter 14
In This Chapter
Dictating messages for Facebook and Twitter on your iPad
Creating reminder notes via voice with your iPad
Correcting what you say
Searching the web with Dragon Search
Turning your smartphone into a microphone
Speaking Dragon on your Android phone
It was inevitable that once we started talking into mobile phones, we’d want to talk to them as well. Now, thanks to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you can have your phone or other mobile device take over the pesky task of typing your e-mails. If speed is your goal (and whose isn’t?), you can dictate and e-mail to your mobile device — iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android — and quickly dispatch it to your waiting minions. It’s (at least) five times faster than typing on that little keyboard!
This chapter covers the use of NaturallySpeaking dictation apps for your mobile devices. Typing with your thumbs makes most people feel like, well, “all thumbs.” Now, a way to forget all furious fumbling is close at hand (pun intended).
Nuance’s NaturallySpeaking mobile apps for Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, are incredibly easy. Mostly, you tap, speak, and send. If you like having to figure out how complex applications work, you’re out of luck. The integration with Apple products is nothing short of dead simple. You’ll be up and running as fast as you can download them.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 13 enables you to use the following apps with your Apple devices, and I give you the highlights in the sections that follow:
What’s great about Dragon Dictation is that it turns your mobile device into a mini-NaturallySpeaking hub, and it’s free. You get the same quality dictation with the added benefit of bypassing the mini keyboard for e-mail functions.
To get the Dragon Dictation app, go to www.nuancemobilelife.com/apps/dragon-dictation and click the Download for iOS button, shown in Figure 14-1. Or you can download it from iTunes.
This section explains how to dictate e-mails on the iPhone. Then I show you how to use Dragon Dictation with your iPad to post to Facebook and Twitter and create Notes.
To use the app after you’ve installed it on your device, do the following:
You see a Dragon icon and the caption “Dictation.”
On the screen, you see a red Recording button with the words “Tap and Dictate” above it, as shown in Figure 14-2.
The screen indicates that you are recording, as shown in Figure 14-3.
If you are dictating into your iPhone or iPod touch and are not using a wired headset, remember that the built-in microphone is located on the upper-left corner. Speak in that direction. On your iPad, you will see a message indicating where to speak when you dictate.
It is easy to end a recording. Tap the arrow icon (see Figure 14-4) on the bottom-right corner of the screen and choose Settings. Tap on the “Detect end of speech” setting to turn it on. Then, when you stop dictating, the recording stops without having to tap it. In that window, you also see other options for your dictation: SMS, Email, Copy, Facebook, Twitter, and Settings.
An e-mail form pops up, complete with your message. Send it as you would any other e-mail.
Like Dragon Dictation for your iPhone, you can use your iPad to send e-mail, and you can also
To post to Facebook and Twitter, do the following:
You see the recording screen.
A window opens, showing you several choices (see Figure 14-6).
A sign-in screen pops up, asking you to input your screen name and password.
You’re asked if you want to send your message.
After you set up your logins, you’ll be able to seamlessly post your message.
To create notes with Dragon Dictation, follow these steps:
You see a split screen. On one side, you see your list of notes. On the other is the dictation of your last note, as shown in Figure 14-7.
You see that your dictation is recorded and will be in your list of notes until you either delete it or do something else with it. With the Notes app, you can record and save passages of text, send them as an e-mail, or post to a social network.
The correction process is a bit different when you dictate with your mobile device versus working on your PC. On your PC, you have the luxury of correcting on a good size screen where you can employ several ways to make corrections. You can select Copy from a list of options, spell it, or type it. You can do that with the small screen (not the spelling function), but the experience is different because of the touchscreen.
If you have NaturallySpeaking on your PC, you will quickly become familiar with all the different ways to command your assistant. Use this book and other Nuance training resources to build a backlog of knowledge and understand how the application works and what your options are. It becomes second nature, so that when you add a mobile device, you’re more than halfway there. You’ll instinctively know what to do.
On the flip side, if your first introduction to NaturallySpeaking is on a mobile device, you don’t have the benefit of already knowing how things work in the PC version. You’re starting from scratch. Given the high quality of the mobile apps, it’s still easy to get things up and running. Form a frame of reference for how dictation corrections work. Following are four ways to make corrections that are specific to the Apple mobile devices:
Whether you’re on the go or multi-tasking, your iPhone can be a real lifesaver. You can search the web to locate the nearest restaurant, find a new oven, or get sports equipment. The hitch is that it’s hard to navigate on a tiny screen. Dragon Search simplifies the effort in two ways:
To download the Dragon Search app, go to www.nuancemobilelife.com/apps/dragon-search and click the Download for iOS button. Or you can download it from iTunes.
To perform a search and customize the app for your own searches, follow these steps:
You are presented with a screen that reads Tap and Speak.
It will be placed into the Google search box just as if you typed it.
In this example, say, “Best iPad Apps.”
Up pops the search results in Google. You can either tap a link or select one of the other icons above the search from the Search Carousel, as shown in Figure 14-8. The choices are YouTube, iTunes, Google, Wikipedia, and Twitter Search.
This shows you what Twitter users are saying about “Best iPad apps.”
You can continue to do this or start a new search. Dragon Search makes it very easy to find what you’re looking for — hands free.
If you like using Dragon Search, you’ll love using Dragon Go! Nuance created this free downloadable app for use with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and 5C, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and iPad. (You must have iOS 4.0 or later.) It’s also available for Android devices too.
Dragon Go! makes searching with your mobile device almost too easy. (Read: almost.) If you haven’t tried any of the other NaturallySpeaking mobile apps, this is the one to start with. You don’t need any other Nuance software on your PC, and there is absolutely no software to train. You can use this app to find entertainment and shopping venues, or you can use it to find something serious and important. The choice is yours.
For this example, I use the iPad and do something fun. To get started, do the following:
Synch it as you would any other iPad app.
You’re asked if you would like to use your current location with this app.
Nuance asks this question so that it has permission to use your personal location to search for things in your area and get driving directions.
After you click OK, you’re asked to select the region in which you live and are asked to accept the end user license agreement.
The main title screen appears, as shown in Figure 14-9.
In this example, I said, “New movies, near me.” The addition of the phrase “near me” tells Dragon Go! to search theaters based on my location. A search is returned that shows my local movie theaters and the movies playing.
To get a closer look at the movies, I pull my fingers apart to enlarge the screen, as shown in Figure 14-10, and then sweep my finger left to see the movie times. If they are available, I can buy tickets online.
The searches are enhanced with the use of the Dragon Search Carousel (refer to Figure 14-8). But in Dragon Go! you will also be directed to searches in the following search engines including additions such as
Of course, you can also use the other existing Carousel choices: YouTube, iTunes, Google, Wikipedia, and Twitter Search.
If you want to share what you’ve found with friends, all you have to do is tap the “up arrow icon” as shown earlier in Figure 14-5, and choose one of the icons for sharing, as shown in Figure 14-6.
Mobile devices have really spoiled us. The idea that we might not be able to roam around wirelessly dictating our e-mails suddenly seems so “last century.” After the thrill of dictating to your PC wears off, you go searching for the next big thrill. So, how about using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch 4, or Android device as a wireless microphone?
Using NaturallySpeaking version 13, you can download an app called the Dragon Remote Microphone Application. It turns your smartphone into a microphone. After you install it, you can dictate wirelessly from your smartphone to your computer using any Wi-Fi or home network connection. And guess what: It’s free!
The application works really well right off the bat, regardless of which type of device you’re using:
Use Bonjour (an Apple app that helps computers find each other if they both are running Bonjour) to connect your smartphone with your computer so it recognizes both halves of the wireless connection.
You can download the app from www.nuance.com/dragon/remote-microphone/index.htm or iTunes. If you have iTunes on your PC, I recommend that you load the application from there because it’s so easy. You can also choose to download the Android app here. Just click Download Now and make your selection.
Regardless which device platform you’re using, create a new User Profile specifically for the Remote Microphone Application. If you don’t do this, you won’t be able to connect your remote mic with your PC.
Once you install the app, launch it from the icon on your device. You’ll see a large Dragon icon button in the center of a speakerlike screen. To ensure that the remote mic is the source you are using, make sure that if you hover your mouse over the DragonBar mic icon you see the words, “remote mic.” To operate remotely, with NaturallySpeaking running on your PC, try the following:
For example, you can say, “Open Word,” and the Microsoft Word application on your PC opens and is ready for dictation. If you want to dictate into the DragonPad, you can do that just as you would if you were dictating from headphones. Make sure to save and close your application.
There are lots of exciting new developments for Android devices. With the introduction of OS version 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, and it’s updates (like Jelly Bean and KitKat), Android developers have improved the operating system’s dictation capabilities. Following are some additional applications that you can use with your Android device.
Are you jealous of all the questions that iOS users get to ask their virtual assistants? Now you can have your own assistant on your Android device, and it’s free. It’s called Dragon Mobile Assistant and it lets you ask questions and make requests of your own. Want to make a call? How about send a text message? Yes, you can. In fact, you can now send and receive text messages completely hands free.
One of the really fun uses available in the latest version is your ability to share your location. You tell the assistant, “Tell <person> where I am.” The person gets a Google Map showing where you are. They can tell you where they are if they’re using Dragon Mobile Assistant too.
You can download Dragon Mobile Assistant from Google Play by going to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.balerion&hl=en.
Swype is a Nuance application for the Android smartphone. It provides very exciting keyboard functionality as well as dictation. You can download it at www.nuance.com/landing-pages/products/swype. On this page, you’ll also find the list of supported languages.
Swype is a booster shot for your Android keyboard. It lets you communicate by tracing on the keyboard with your finger to form words. Tracing is just like it sounds. You use the keyboard with continuous motion and you can actually see the tracing your hand is creating. As you begin tracing a word, you’re given choices. If you see the right choice, tap it and save yourself the trouble of finishing the word. Over time, you can move pretty quickly by working this way.
You can also use your finger to write as you do when you just can’t find anything digital to write with. Then magically it becomes digital — whew, that was close! It recognizes what you write and turns it into text. What’s interesting is that it takes handwriting recognition to the next level. The reason is that it takes advantage of the predictive nature of the NaturallySpeaking application. In order for Dragon to be able to pick the right word when you dictate, it has algorithms that predict which words most likely go together. By using those same statistics for handwriting recognition, it can be more accurate in the choices it presents to you.
But what about dictation? When using Swype, you can dictate into open windows, and your speech becomes text, just like in applications you use with NaturallySpeaking on your PC. This means that you can dictate e-mails, post to social media, send instant messages, and pretty much do anything that involves a text window, like web searching.
Here are some features you may want to try:
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